Submitting an Android App to Amazon

Are you curious about the process of submitting an app to Amazon? These are the steps I took.

According to Amazon’s developer page at https://developer.amazon.com/public/solutions/devices/fire-tablets, you develop Amazon apps with Android Studio Beta, and your project should build by Gradle. My project was neither of these and it still was accepted. I chose an app already made with Cordova CLI, proofed by Eclipse, signed and zipaligned via CLI, and successfully uploaded to Google Play, and uploaded it to Amazon with just a few graphic asset size changes. Here are the steps I took.

These steps assume you already have an app that was successfully uploaded to Google Play, and you’ve already set up a developer account with Amazon. Those steps are not covered here. A sample workflow of using Cordova CLI is here: https://iphonedevlog.wordpress.com/2014/06/20/using-cordova-3-5-cli-on-mac-os-x-mavericks-to-build-android-apps/

You’ll need to remove references to the iTunes and Google Play stores or it will be rejected.

Submitting an updated app

The process for submitting an updated app is slightly different than for new apps. Here is the sequence of steps needed. For submitting a new app, skip this section.

Reference: https://developer.amazon.com/public/support/submitting-your-app/tech-docs/device-targeting

1. Remember to remove links to app stores other than Amazon in your app. Linking to iTunes or Google Play will be cause for app rejection.

2. Sign in: https://developer.amazon.com/home.html

3. Test your apk first to see if it passes muster. Open the following page and drag your apk to the drop location:
https://developer.amazon.com/public/resources/development-tools/app-testing-service/dashboard.html

4. Drag your app to the area and wait for results.

5. Click on Submit to Amazon Appstore.

6. You will be asked if you want to replace the binary. Yes.

7. On the next page, make sure all info is correct. Scroll down and change the Binary alias, if desired.  (I update it to reflect the latest version.)

8. Scroll down and click on Save.

9. You’ll find “Upcoming Version (Incomplete).” That’s because the “Release Notes” tab does not have a green check circle. Click on that tab then on Edit for the release note section, and give details about the update. Click Save when done.

10. All of your tab’s green dots should be lined up in a row, and Upcoming Version (Ready to Submit) should appear. Click on Submit App at bottom.

11. Upcoming Version (Under Review) now appears. It has been submitted to the Amazon Appstore review team. Wait for an email to tell you of its acceptance status.

Submitting a new app

Sign in with your Amazon.com account at:
https://developer.amazon.com/public/solutions/devices/fire-tablets

Test your apk first to see if it passes muster. Open the following page and drag your apk to the location and wait while it is tested:
https://developer.amazon.com/public/resources/development-tools/app-testing-service/dashboard.html

I received the notice, “Compatibility test successfully completed. We did not find any of the common issues that can prevent an app from being published to the Amazon Appstore.” Also, for the Compatibility Test, for Amazon phone and tablet devices, “No Issues Found.” For other Android devices, “No Issues Found.” Meanwhile, the test was still in progress for Fire phone and Fire tablets. When finished, the same message was given for both: “No crash or error detected.” Good news! (Thank you, Team Cordova!)

Preparing App Assets

I clicked through to submit the app to see what happens next. I was presented with the Amazon Developer Console, which had fields to fill out for various app details. Several fields were already filled out through my existing Amazon account and its analysis of the uploaded app. Here are the app assets they require before an app can be submitting and presented to the review team. Use this form to prepare for app submission.

General Information tab

App title:
App SKU:
version ID: (generated by Amazon)
Application Key: (generated by Amazon)
Category:
Developer Select (view report to see if your qpp qualifies for benefits)
Customer Support email Address:
Customer support phone:
Customer support website:

Availability and Pricing tab

Where would you like your app to be sold?
Are you charging for this app? Base list price and denomination:
Marketplace list prices:
Has this app already been released? (Leaving this field blank will make the app available after it has been approved. Publishing of an approved app will begin at the time entered and will be available on Amazon several hours after. Times are shown and entered in the Pacific Time Zone.)
When would you like this app to be available on Amazon? (Leave blank if you want it available immediately after reviewer acceptance.)
Free App of the Day (FAD) eligibility (If your app is being considered, we will contact you with more detail about the program and what to expect as your app goes through the approval process.)

Description tab

Language:
Display Title:
Short description: (A shorter version of your app description for use on mobile devices.
Maximum characters: 1200.)
Long Description: (A description of your app for use on the Amazon.com website.
Maximum characters: 4000.) I notice that line returns are not honored. Everything is in one paragraph. However, after viewing the Amazon.com product page, it honored the line breaks. I went back to the Developer Console and changed it.
Product feature bullets. (Three to five concise app features, each on a new line. These product features will appear on the Amazon.com website.)
Keywords (Search terms used to increase the discoverability of your app. Use a comma or white space to separate your terms.)
Save and add a translation.

Images & Multimedia tab

Drag the files into the Upload Image square.

Small icon: 114 x 114px PNG (with transparency. Must be 24 or 32 bit or it will be rejected). This is the same size as the iPhone icon@2x.png file.

Large icon: 512 x 512 PNG (with transparency).

Screenshots:
From 3 to 10 PNGs or JPGs 800 x 480px, 1024 x 600px, 1280 x 720px, 1280 x 800px, 1920 x 1080px, 1920 x 1200px, or 2560 x 1600px (portrait or landscape).

Optional assets:

Amazon Fire TV Screenshots:
Between 3 and 10 PNGs or JPGs 800 x 480px, 1024 x 600px, 1280 x 720px, 1280 x 800px, 1920 x 1080px, 1920 x 1200px, or 2560 x 1600px (portrait or landscape)

Promotional image (recommended):
1024 x 500px (landscape only) PNG or JPG

Upload Video(s):
Up to 5 MPEG-2, WMV, MOV, FLV, AVI, or H.264 MPEG-4 720 – 1080px wide (4:3 or 16:9); 1200 kbps or higher.
Please SFTP files larger than 150 MB (link to instructions provided).

Content Rating tab

Binary Files tab

Apply Amazon DRM? (yes or no)
Binary file (file details already given)
Device support (list of devices Amazon says is supported. In my case almost all of them were pre-seleted except for Amazon Fire TV and Amazon Fire TV Stick.) From the resource link: “Select which devices are supported by this APK. For the first binary, support is turned on by default for all Amazon Fire phone and tablet devices, and all non-Amazon Android devices, including BlackBerry 10 devices. You must explicitly turn on support for Amazon Fire TV devices. If you turn on support for a Fire TV device, you must also indicate which types of controllers are supported.

“For subsequent binaries, previously selected devices will be unavailable. Also, you may only target one binary for all non-Amazon Android devices, including BlackBerry 10 devices. This means that if you select only some of the non-Amazon Android devices, only those devices will be targeted and you will not be able to target the remaining non-Amazon devices with a subsequent APK. Amazon devices may be targeted individually, meaning that you may provide as many binaries as there are Amazon devices.”
Language Support:
Export Compliance (checkbox) I certify this App may be imported to and exported from the United States and all other countries and regions in which we operate our program or in which you’ve authorized sales to end users (without the need for us to obtain any license or clearance or take any other action) and is in full compliance with all applicable laws and regulations governing imports and exports, including those applicable to software that makes use of encryption technology.
Use Amazon Maps Redirection: (checkbox) Amazon devices do not support the Google Maps API. However, the Amazon Maps API provides interface parity with the Google Maps v1 API. By using Amazon Maps Redirection, you can automatically redirect Google Maps v1 API calls from your app to the Amazon Maps API, providing a seamless maps experience in your app with no coding changes. The redirection occurs ONLY on Amazon devices.

Portions of the Amazon Maps API are provided by HERE North America, LLC (“HERE”). Your use of Amazon Maps Redirection is subject to the terms of the Amazon Maps Schedule, including the HERE Materials Terms and Conditions (links given).

Binary alias. (This name is used to distinguish between multiple binary files. Alphanumeric characters, dots (.), and underscores (_) only.):
Testing instructions. (Please detail any special requirements to test your app. Maximum characters: 4000.)

Submitting new app

When all these were taken care of, I clicked on Submit App. (Each tab has a checkmark to indicate that that section was completed.) The following screen indicated that it was “Under Review.” That was Fri. 1:30pm. I received an email that evening at 9:41 to inform me that it passed all tests and was available in the store. 8-hour service! Not bad.

Unlike the Apple store and Google Play, you cannot outright remove an app from the store through the Developer Console; you notify Amazon and they will do it for you.

If you are curious about an app layout in Amazon.com, my app is located here:
http://www.amazon.com/Steve-Husting-Pocket-Hymnal/dp/B00QB3D084/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1417273958&sr=8-1&keywords=husting+pocket+hymnal