Amazon’s Android app has been removed from the Google Play store after it was revealed the app contained an app store hidden within.
TechCrunch reports the company’s flagship app is no longer available via search from within Google Play, although its direct link is still live. The change was first spotted by German site Caschys Blog.
There’s also a recently launched application called Amazon Shopping which is similar to the original, but no longer includes the Appstore section.
“We launched a new Amazon App for Android Phones on September 9 that … enables customers to discover and purchase all of Amazon’s digital catalog, and provides customers access to the Prime Instant Video player and unlimited streaming of over 40,000 movies and TV episodes,” Amazon said in a statement.
“Google subsequently changed their Developer Distribution Agreement on 25. As a result, we removed the app from Google Play and published the Amazon Shopping app.”
That September 9 update includes a new category called “Apps and Games” which wasn’t just a list of apps, but a complete app store in and of itself, within the main Amazon application. TechCrunch speculates that Google was not OK with Amazon, a competitor to Google on devices and app discovery, operating such a store.
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