Amazon App lovers everywhere might soon have something to rejoice about. According to a report by FierceWireless, Amazon is considering offering a new section of its semi-popular App Store called “Unlocked” which will provide premium apps and content.
There doesn’t seem to be a whole lot of information available right now, but this is clearly a move by Amazon to try and push its lagging App store to the forefront for fickle Android and iOS users.
TechCrunch suggested that the “Unlocked” storefront will be similar to Amazon Prime, which costs $99 for a year’s subscription. While I doubt that the new storefront will be that pricey, if it provided users with free access to apps that would normally cost money, I could see it being quite popular. The promotional material suggests that in-app purchases would also be included with a subscription.
Apps that have been highlighted in the internal presentation of this new program included Sega America’s Sonic Dash and UsTwo’s Monument Valley game along with a couple Microsoft Office apps aimed at Android users and Ultimate Guitar Tabs & Chords.
A move like this is something that Amazon desperately needs in order to stay competitive with Google Play, as their store not only has less than half as many apps as Play, but also requires users to manually download via a website and change security settings in order to be usable.
Actual dates as to when it should be available have not been announced, but you can take a peek at some screenshots of the presentation and more information on the
TechCrunch article. Personally, I’m not really big into subscription services, but this is one I could almost see myself using. How about you? Would you use it? Let me know in the comments!]]>
