Today I tried out Amazon's new Android App Store. Their App Store is a new offering aiming to monetize off of the Android phone OS system's increasing popularity. By arranging some limited exclusive offerings, Amazon offers some compelling reasons to adopt their new service. Unfortunately for them, their service does not deliver where it counts, and I will only be using their new App Store when no other alternative exists.
User interaction is the first area requiring attention. I received an e-mail from Amazon asking me to try out the store, so I clicked on the link from within my Android phone. Instead of taking me right to the store, or right to a download, I was taken to a login page where I had to sign into my Amazon account. Then I clicked a link for the store download, and was again prompted for an e-mail address where I was e-mailed instructions on how to go about downloading and installing the store. Finally, after 2 e-mails, and entering my e-mail address twice, I was able to install the App Store and begin actually using it.
Now that I had the store installed, I thought it would be trivial to download the free App offering of the day. I couldn't have been more wrong. I clicked on the app I wanted, and because it was free I thought, ok, I can download it now. Instead, I was prompted to sign into Amazon (again). Now that I was once again signed in, I was prompted to set up 1-click purchasing. I would not be allowed to download my app otherwise, I was told.
At this point I began questioning whether it was even worth all this effort for a free app. In the spirit of persistence, however, I continued. I confirmed my address and contact information, despite nagging thoughts that they really don't need any of this for a download (free or paid). Finally, after inputting all this information, Amazon asked me for my cell phone number so they could tie the one click setup to my phone. Since I don't use the phone for phone service, but just in WiFi mode, I have no number. I consider it a huge oversight on Amazon's part to require this for the 1-click purchasing.
Frustrated that I could not set up the 1-click as I was told I had to, I backed out of the entire thing. Out of exasperation, I tried downloading the app one more time. Much to my surprise, it actually worked. Apparently, if you don't use the 1-click for purchasing, you just have to sign completely in to Amazon every time you want to buy (or download free) anything at all. They don't tell you this, however, until you get to the end of the 1-click setup.
Side by side, Google's Android Marketplace is far superior to Amazon's Android App Store in almost every way. Not only can you browse, select, download, and install applications on your phone from your computer's web browser, but you are not required to give Google any information about address, credit cards, etc. in order to download free apps. Additionally, you only have to sign in to the App Store once (so they know what device to send the app to) in order to complete any purchase. The Marketplace is also tied into Android, so you don't have to download anything special or tweak any system settings to make it work either.
All in all, if I were to download, install, and run identical apps onto my phone from both Amazon's App Store and Android Marketplace, the Marketplace would be far faster, easier, and simpler to user, and wouldn't leave me wondering if unusual charges will be showing up on my credit card. Until Amazon can address these usability concerns, I wouldn't recommend using their App Store at all.
What do you think? Have you had occasion to try out Amazon's Android App Store yet?
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