Amazon Mobile App Distribution Blog

How To: Upload Files to Your Distribution Portal Account via FTP

When uploading multimedia or binary files to your Amazon Mobile App Distribution Portal account, files larger than 100 MB must be uploaded using FTP. To upload your larger assets using FTP, simply follow the below instructions:

 

On the Images & Multimedia or Binary File(s) tab in your app details, click on the FTP instructions and naming convention link to obtain the app-specific naming conventions you will need to upload via FTP.

 

 

 

FTP Upload Steps

 

 1.  Select the app whose file(s) you will be uploading using the dropdown

 

 

2.  Use the generated name list to rename any assets over 100 MB to the specific file name provided—this file name is how Amazon will know what app and asset field to apply the file

 

 

3.  Using the FTP client of your choice, login and upload your renamed files using the specified FTP server and username—if needed, reset your password to have a new one sent to you

 

4.  You’re almost done! Simply review and submit your app once your files appear uploaded

 

Allow up to 20 minutes for an e-mail confirmation that your assets are processed and available. You will also receive an e-mail if the uploaded asset is invalid or misnamed. E-mails will be sent to the e-mail address you have provided us in your Distribution Portal profile. Once the asset has been uploaded, finish any remaining steps and review your content one last time. After you have satisfied all the asset requirements, you will be able to submit your app to have it reviewed for inclusion in the store.

 

For more information about the FTP naming convention, click "Read More".

 

How To: Update Your Apps in the Mobile App Distribution Portal

As part of our series of “how to” blog posts, we’d like to provide updated instructions on how to update your app and app’s metadata using the Amazon Mobile App Distribution Portal. Whether you’re submitting new screenshots, an updated description, or a totally new version of your app, these instructions will guide you through the process of getting the updates to your users.

 

Updating Metadata (screenshots, descriptions, etc.)

 

1. Go to the My Apps section in the Distribution Portal.
2. Click on the current live version of your app.
3. Click the “Description” or “Images & Multimedia” tab, depending on what you would like to update.
4. Click the “Edit” button (in the bottom right corner).
5. To remove an existing image, tap the “X” in the top right corner. To add a new image, click the “Upload Image” image.
6. Click the green “Save” button in the bottom right corner.
7. Click the “Submit App” button.

 

Updating to a New Version

 

1. Go to the My Apps section in the Mobile App Distribution Portal.
2. Hover your pointer over the app for which you are creating an updated version, and then choose “Add Upcoming Version” from the menu on the right.
3. If no metadata updates are required with the new version, tap the “Binary File” tab, then tap the “Upload Binary” image.
4. Review and certify your app for Export Compliance.
5. Click “Release Notes”, and then click “Edit”. Add in release notes. Click “Save”.
6. Click the “Submit App” button. 

Best Practices for In-App Purchasing from Amazon Game Studios

At Amazon, we love apps—so much, in fact, that we develop many mobile apps ourselves, and even have an in-house game studio. On the heels of the recent press from the Localytics report that the leading Android tablet is Kindle Fire (with 33% of market segment share worldwide and more than half in the US), we wanted to post some best practices for using in-app purchasing from our colleagues at Amazon Game Studios—developers of the recently released game Air Patriots.

 

This post is from Ernie Ramirez, Executive Producer, Amazon Game Studios:

 

 

Air Patriots is a new type of tower defense game where players control a squadron of airplanes by drawing the attack paths they use to engage the enemy. Air Patriots launched on November 1, 2012, on Amazon, iOS, and Google Play. Although our monetization on Amazon has been great (generating 73% higher ARPU than iOS, and both stores generated similar total revenue), we had some key learning during our initial launch. For example, our focus groups indicated that the two things customers would like to buy were more maps & more planes, in that order. This meshed with our goal of providing Air Patriots customers “big value” for in-app purchases. We reasoned that we would emphasize additional maps for purchase because it would give customers significantly more play time and provide a feel that they paid for something really big and worthwhile.

 

We originally structured Air Patriots to provide gamers 2 of the 7 maps for free, with the remaining 5 requiring an in-app purchase. Additional airplanes were available using the in-game “soft currency” (gears). As a test, we also included a fully-loaded helicopter available via in-app purchase. It turns out that, after launch, the helicopter was our top-selling individual in-app item, and customers were responding negatively to the 5 additional maps. We received feedback that customers were feeling arbitrarily blocked from progressing in the game, which was not our intention!

 

We updated the game—reduced prices of our in-app items, increased the amount of maps available with the in-game “soft currency” and offered more planes for sale with in-app purchasing. Customers responded immediately—the sales picked up and we started receiving reviews describing the game as “so darn addicting—pay a couple bucks for different planes. So cool!”

 

To recap, here are a few things that we recommend to other mobile game developers:

 

• We discovered that selling main-line game content like levels or expansion packs via in-app purchasing in a freemium game risks making customers feel arbitrarily blocked and frustrated
• Customers prefer to buy things that improve their performance and/or give them new abilities to make them feel “stronger”

 

To learn more about the Amazon In-App Purchasing API and Amazon Mobile App SDK, head to our documentation here. To get started with our program, go to the Amazon Mobile App Distribution Portal, and once your app is submitted, submit a request to get your app marketed.

Games Using Amazon GameCircle Have Higher Engagement and Monetization Rates

In a recent study of more than 500 games that utilize in-app purchasing on Amazon, we found that mobile games using Amazon GameCircle’s leaderboards and achievements monetized significantly better than other games.

 

For the three-month period from November 2012 to January 2013, games using GameCircle produced 38 percent higher conversion rates and 33 percent more in-app orders per paying customer than games that didn’t use GameCircle. Conversion was measured by calculating the percentage of app users that made at least one in-app purchase. Combining the impact of both of these variables, GameCircle-enabled games earned 83 percent more average revenue per user (ARPU) than non-GameCircle games. 

 

 

The free-to-play (or freemium)  model, where consumers download and play a game for free, has become one of the most prominent business models in mobile gaming today. However, the biggest challenge for game developers following the freemium model is figuring out how to generate more revenue by converting non-payers into payers and keeping those paying users engaged.

 

Many of Amazon’s mobile game developers have discovered how GameCircle’s services–Achievements, Leaderboards and Whispersync–have contributed to their success at Amazon. GameCircle lets players connect with other players to compare achievements and compete for higher scores. These social elements get the competitive juices flowing, which may increase a user’s willingness to pay for in-game content, leading to higher conversion rates for developers. “PlayFirst's games on Amazon have performed above and beyond our expectations, and we believe GameCircle has enhanced our ability to connect and engage with Amazon customers, encouraging more play sessions," said Paul Chen, VP of Business Development at PlayFirst.

 

GameCircle also offers new discovery mechanisms that are an important factor helping drive increased engagement rates. For games that have integrated with GameCircle, players can see their friends, achievements, and leaderboard activity before launching the application, since all of this information is visible right from the user’s game library. Leading games such as Skylanders Cloud Patrol, Diner Dash, and Temple Run 2 have already integrated with GameCircle. The image below showcases how a user’s library is populated with GameCircle meta-data.   

 

This added visibility is a powerful engagement tool. A related study that we conducted in January 2013 found that, on average, games using GameCircle over-indexed on the number of player sessions (defined by the number of times users opened the applications on their device) by 32 percent when compared to the average for the entire games category. For freemium games that monetize by selling in-game content, this enhanced level of engagement is critical to expanding customer lifetime values. "We see superior engagement, retention and monetization from players who download our games from Amazon. The GameCircle integration is helping us achieve 40 percent better per user monetization rates compared to non-Amazon players," said Sean Thompson, Vice President of Mobile Deluxe.

 

For you, GameCircle represents another opportunity to provide gamers with a more seamless and entertaining in-game experience, which can lead to increased engagement and monetization. Please visit the following links if you would like to learn more about the Amazon GameCircle and In-App Purchasing APIs.

Come Meet Amazon at MWC, SXSW

We’re on the road again—this time, we’re heading to Barcelona for Mobile World Congress before heading south to Austin to attend SXSW. We’d like to give you a heads up about our sessions and other conference activities. If you’re going to be attending these conferences as well, we hope we will see you there!

 

Mobile World Congress

Making Money with Mobile Apps: Best Practices from Amazon on App Monetization

Wednesday, February 27^th - 10:35am to 11:15am CET

 

Speaker: Aaron Rubenson, Director, Amazon Appstore for Android

 

App Planet, a mini-conference within Mobile World Congress, is a place where mobile app developers can gain knowledge and network with other developers. Aaron Rubenson will be speaking about monetization trends in mobile apps and games and information about new services available to mobile app developers.

 

South by Southwest (SXSW)

We will be at Austin Convention Center during the SXSW Trade Show from March 10^th through March 13^th. Stop by our booth and learn more about distributing your mobile apps and games through Amazon, meet with our marketing and technical representatives, and get information about running your apps in the cloud from our friends at Amazon Web Services. We hope to see you there!

 

In addition, we’re hosting a session during SXSW Interactive. Colleen Hoover, one of our panelists, will be doing a book signing at our booth on Sunday, March 10^th at 11am. 

 

Democratization of Publishing: Survive and Thrive

Sunday, March 10^th - 5pm to 6pm CST

 

Speakers:

Aaron Rubenson - Director, Amazon Appstore for Android

Libby Johnson McKee – Director, Kindle Direct Publishing, North America

Colleen Hoover – New York Times best-selling author of Slammed and Hopeless

John Densmore – former drummer and founding member of The Doors

 

The publishing industry is evolving as authors, indie app and game creators, and musicians are empowered to self-publish and distribute real-time, on-demand content to millions of potential customers. There are more opportunities than ever to get content in front of the right audiences, but discovery continues to be a challenge as the distribution channels fragment. Hear from industry leaders on what the future might hold, and tips for getting the right eyeballs on your content.