SEATTLE – In what can only be described as another episode of “Tech Companies Yanking Features No One Asked Them to Remove,” Amazon has announced that its Android Appstore will be discontinued on August 20, 2025. That’s right—if you’ve been relying on Amazon’s alternative to Google Play for your favorite apps, you’re about to be out of luck. But don’t worry! Amazon says the Appstore will still be available on Fire TV and Fire Tablets, because why serve the broader Android ecosystem when you can keep everything locked inside your own walled garden?
Oh, and if that wasn’t enough, Amazon is also bidding farewell to its Amazon Coins program, which was supposed to be a fun way to save money on app purchases but is now just another casualty of Amazon’s latest corporate spring cleaning. As of February 20, 2025, you can no longer buy new Coins, and if you have a stash left over, you’ve got until August 20 to spend them—or risk having them turned into digital dust.
What Happens to My Amazon Appstore Apps?
Great question! And, unfortunately, the answer is about as clear as a foggy Seattle morning. Amazon has said that apps “will not be guaranteed to operate on Android devices” after August 20, 2025. This is corporate speak for “Good luck, buddy! Hope you didn’t rely on that app too much!” While some apps may continue working indefinitely, there’s no guarantee that updates, security patches, or re-installations will function properly once the Appstore is gone.
This means that if you’ve downloaded anything from the Amazon Appstore—whether it’s games, productivity tools, or that one random app you bought for $0.99 because it was on sale in 2013—it might be time to find an alternative source or pray that the developer moves the app to another store.
For those who think they can just uninstall and reinstall the Appstore after the shutdown, Amazon’s FAQ includes a section on how to reinstall it, but, let’s be honest—if the entire Appstore is being nuked from Android, reinstalling it probably isn’t going to be much help.
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Amazon Coins: The Digital Monopoly Money You Forgot You Had
Amazon Coins were introduced as a way to get discounts on app purchases and in-app transactions. The idea was simple: buy Coins in bulk, get a discount, and use them to pay for apps instead of using your credit card directly. But, in a move that should surprise absolutely no one, Amazon has decided to phase out the program.
As of February 20, 2025, Amazon Coins are no longer available for purchase, meaning if you were planning to stockpile them like some kind of app-based cryptocurrency, you missed your chance. Any existing Coins in your account must be used by August 20, 2025, or else Amazon will allegedly refund you—though details on how those refunds will work remain vague.
If you’ve got Coins left, you’d better start spending, because there’s no option to mix payment methods. You can either use all Amazon Coins for a purchase or use an entirely different payment method—no in-between.
What happens if you don’t have enough Coins to cover a purchase? Amazon says you can either find something cheaper to buy or use a credit card instead. Considering most people have long since forgotten they even had Amazon Coins in the first place, this is going to be a fun surprise for those logging in after August 20 wondering where their digital currency went.
How Will This Affect Users?
The death of the Amazon Appstore on Android is a big deal for users who relied on it as an alternative to Google Play. Whether it was due to a lack of access to the Play Store, privacy concerns, or just a preference for Amazon’s ecosystem, many users built their app libraries around it. Now, they’ll have to migrate their purchases elsewhere—if that’s even possible.
Some possible scenarios include:
- Developers moving their apps to other platforms – If an app was exclusive to the Amazon Appstore, users will need to hope that the developer decides to list it on Google Play or another third-party app store like APKMirror or Aptoide. Otherwise, once it stops working, that’s it.
- Subscriptions and in-app purchases becoming a nightmare – If you have an active subscription to an app that you downloaded from the Amazon Appstore, you’ll need to manage it before the shutdown. Amazon provides steps to cancel or update subscriptions through the Appstore app and website, but once the store disappears, any auto-renewing subscriptions tied to it could run into issues.
- Lack of updates and security patches – Without an Appstore to manage updates, apps could become outdated and potentially vulnerable to security threats. This is especially concerning for users who downloaded productivity tools or financial apps through Amazon’s store.
For developers, the shutdown is equally frustrating. While Amazon hasn’t provided much information on what will happen to existing app listings, it’s safe to assume that devs will either have to find another storefront or lose their Android user base entirely.
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Why Is Amazon Doing This?
Amazon hasn’t given an official reason for discontinuing the Android version of its Appstore, but there are a few likely explanations:
- Low user adoption – Despite Amazon’s best efforts, the Appstore never truly took off as a major competitor to Google Play. Most users only interacted with it if they owned a Fire Tablet or got a free app promotion.
- Increased focus on first-party devices – Amazon has been pushing its Fire Tablets and Fire TV devices harder than ever, and keeping the Appstore exclusive to those products means tighter control over its ecosystem.
- Cost-cutting measures – Running an app store isn’t cheap, especially when dealing with developers, payment processing, and customer support. Given Amazon’s recent trends in shutting down less profitable ventures, this move aligns with their pattern.
- Legal and regulatory issues – The tech world is seeing increased scrutiny on app store policies, and Amazon may have decided it wasn’t worth dealing with the potential legal headaches.
What Should You Do If You Use the Amazon Appstore?
If you’re one of the (probably not many) people who use the Amazon Appstore as your primary way to download apps, here’s what you should do before August 20, 2025:
- Back up your apps – If you have anything installed via the Amazon Appstore that you can’t live without, look into backing up APK files in case you need to reinstall them later.
- Spend your Amazon Coins – You’ve got until August 20 to use them, or you might get a refund (but don’t hold your breath).
- Cancel or transfer subscriptions – If you have app subscriptions through Amazon’s store, move them to another platform before the deadline to avoid issues.
- Find alternative app sources – Whether it’s Google Play, Samsung Galaxy Store, or third-party APK sites, it’s time to start looking for a new home for your apps.
Final Thoughts: Another One Bites the Digital Dust
Amazon’s decision to axe its Android Appstore and Amazon Coins is another reminder that digital services can disappear at any moment, often leaving users scrambling to figure out what to do next. If you were deeply invested in the Amazon Appstore, this is probably a frustrating announcement. But if you were like most people and forgot the Amazon Appstore even existed, well… consider this a nostalgic farewell to yet another abandoned tech experiment.
So pour one out for the Amazon Appstore and its weird little Amazon Coins—gone but not necessarily missed. Unless, of course, you were sitting on thousands of Coins, in which case, we hope you enjoy the refund process.
