Amazon is pulling back on some of its formerly “strict” restrictions regarding Android in-app purchases.
Amazon will no longer limit developers from charging more than $20 for premium digital content when its sold (via in-app purchase) inside of mobile and gaming applications available in the Amazon Appstore for Android.
“With our parental controls functionality now updated, in-app items over $20 may now be submitted via the developer portal,” Amazon told Android developers in an email this week, according to TechCrunch.
Amazon famously has a one-click payments flow, which in a normal case could make a Kindle especially risky to hand to a child or toddler. But the device has parental controls. If they’re set up properly, all purchases require an Amazon.com password or a 4-digit PIN. Kindle owners can set this up from the ‘Settings’ menu on their device.
The change in policy for Amazon is a welcome reality for developers who now stand to potentially generate substantially greater revenues with such restrictions out of the picture.