Amazon has enabled in-app purchases for e-books, manga, and other digital content on the Kindle app for Android, the same app you would download from Google Play. Although this has only been live for a few weeks, Amazon has not drawn attention to this matter. This is excellent news for anyone who wants to buy books in the app without having to open a web browser, purchase books, and then sync them with the app. There are fewer hoops to jump through.
When the Kindle app first launched on Google Play, it was easy to buy books. However, Amazon removed the ability to purchase books in the app in 2022 when Google mandated that all in-app transactions must be conducted through Google. Amazon did not want to pay 30% of each book sold. Other companies quickly followed suit, such as Audible and Barnes and Noble.
Massive changes have been made in the European Union, India, and other countries to force Google and Apple to use alternative billing systems for app developers. This allows companies like Amazon to sell digital content and use their billing system instead of everything going through Google.
Meanwhile, in the USA, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California ordered Google to make a series of changes to address its anti-competitive conduct. Starting November 1st, 2024, it must allow app makers to charge users with their billing systems outside the Android ecosystem for three years.
It is terrific that readers can once again purchase e-books on the Kindle app from Google Play. Many more people read on their smartphones and tablets than on a Kindle e-reader. I am waiting for the iPhone and iPad’s Kindle app to allow purchases again.
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
