Amazon Launches Appstore Developer Select Programme in the UK
Popular developer programme also expands to Germany, France and Spain
Developers investing in the best possible Amazon Appstore experience earn premium placement for their apps, 500k U.S. based mobile ad impressions, AWS credits, and the ability for customers to earn Amazon Coins for purchasing their qualifying apps and in-app items
LUXEMBOURG – July 1, 2014 – Amazon today launched Appstore Developer Select in the UK. Appstore Developer Select is a free programme for developers who optimise their apps and games for Amazon’s Appstore and Fire OS, which is built on Android. Developers in the Appstore Developer Select programme will receive a broad range of marketing and economic benefits that will help improve app discovery and increase sales even further. Appstore Developer Select apps receive premium placement in the Amazon Appstore, 500,000 ad impressions on the Amazon Mobile Ad Network for the U.S. based version of an app, and automatic inclusion in the Amazon Appstore Coins Reward category.
Additionally, developers who make their programme qualifying app available in the US marketplace and enhance it to include the immersive new features in Fire phone can qualify for a special 500,000 Amazon Coins offer and create campaigns where customers based in the US earn those Coins when they purchase apps and games.
With today’s launch of Appstore Developer Select, customers will receive Amazon Coins when they purchase Appstore Developer Select apps, games, and in-app items, allowing them to select new apps and games from the over 200,000 apps available in the Amazon Appstore. Developers in the programme also receive credits, equalling 25% off their first $2,000 in AWS services annually.
To qualify for Appstore Developer Select, apps simply need to be optimised for the Amazon Appstore and Fire OS and include relevant Amazon APIs where available, such as GameCircle, In-App Purchasing, and Mobile Ads. Optimised apps are those that render natively in high definition (HD) and use the entire screen without distortion, pixilation or stretching. It’s simple for new developers to get started in the Amazon Appstore, since 75% of Android apps tested just work without additional coding needed. Developers can also test their app in less than 10 minutes with the easy to use drag and drop testing tool in the Amazon Apps and Games Developer Portal. The Appstore Developer Select programme is available immediately and existing Amazon Appstore developers with qualifying apps will be automatically enrolled. Other developers should optimise their apps to begin receiving benefits. Developers can learn more about the benefits and how to optimise their apps at https://developer.amazon.com/select.
“Mobile app developers have told us that getting their apps discovered across the numerous devices customers are using is one of their biggest challenges,” said Mike George, Vice President of Amazon Appstore and Games. “With the Appstore Developer Select programme, we’re addressing these discoverability concerns by providing developers with enhanced merchandising opportunities. In addition, we’re helping drive sales by offering Coins rewards on high quality, engaging apps for customers.”
Amazon Appstore customers automatically receive 75 bonus Amazon Coins for their first purchase of any Appstore Developer Select qualified app or in-app item, which can be redeemed on over 200,000 apps, games or in-app items in the Amazon Appstore. Customers also receive up to 30% back in Coins on future qualified app purchases. Since the launch of Amazon Coins, already customers have purchased hundreds of millions of Coins across the US, UK, Germany, France, Italy and Spain.
Developers should review the Appstore Developer Select programme summary and submit their optimised apps at https://developer.amazon.com/select. Existing developers, Alt12 and Fluik Entertainment, believe that this programme will address one of their greatest needs, improving discoverability of their apps and games.
"We already strive to create high quality apps for the Amazon Appstore and have found it very easy to integrate Amazon APIs such as Mobile Associates and mobile ads,” said Jennifer Wong with Alt12 Apps. “With this programme, Amazon is rewarding us with one of the most critical needs we have as developers - to get our apps in front of more customers.”
“As a self-publishing developer working hard to build engaging, high quality apps, a programme like Appstore Developer Select helps us get noticed by showcasing the highest quality apps for consumers,” said Victor Rubba, CEO of Fluik Entertainment. “Discoverability is a challenge we often face and with Amazon providing featured merchandising and 500,000 mobile ad impressions we will be seen by more customers which leads to more purchases and a stronger ROI with Amazon.”
Today’s launch of the Appstore Developer Select programme is the latest offering in an array of services that make Amazon the most complete end-to-end ecosystem for developers building, monetising and marketing their apps and games. These capabilities include:
- The ability for app developers to use Amazon Web Services’ (AWS) technology platform for their infrastructure needs. Building blocks such as Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2), Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3), and Amazon DynamoDB allow developers to focus on what differentiates their app rather than the undifferentiated heavy lifting of infrastructure.
- In-App Purchasing on Kindle Fire and Android. This enables developers to offer their digital items in apps and games while allowing end users to simply use their Amazon accounts to make the purchase.
- Mobile Ads which helps developers monetise their apps by displaying high quality, relevant display ads from brand advertisers, including Amazon.
- HTML5/Web App Resources enables developers to distribute and sell web apps on Kindle Fire and select Android devices in nearly 200 countries across the globe.
- GameCircle which includes capabilities like Achievements, Leaderboards, Friends and Whispersync for syncing games across Android and Kindle Fire, and leads to better engagement with games.
- A/B Testing enables developers to simultaneously test up to five different in-app experiences with a portion of their customers, evaluate performance, and roll out changes to everyone without having to republish their app.
- Analytics provides usage metrics on daily and monthly active devices, sessions, retention, and in-app purchase revenue. When using this service, developers can quickly assess how, for example, launch day is going or how a new feature might be affecting retention.
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