Following the launch of its Test Drive service, which enables consumers to test apps from a PC web browser, Amazon is beta testing a similar service to allow users to test products on Android smartphones.
The service enables apps to be trialled on handsets, “where a majority of app purchases take place,” without the need to download or install any software.
In a blog post, the online retailer said that developers do not need to do anything to participate – and it “strives to make all apps available for Test Drive.”
However, apps which need access to certain features, such as keyboard, multi-touch, microphone, camera, gyroscope, NFC or GPS, are not currently supported.
The company said the service is powered by its Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) infrastructure. When a potential buyer clicks on the “test” button, a copy of the app is launched which can then be accessed by the user.
It said that the process runs in real-time, allowing customers to explore the features of an app in the same way as if it was running on a handset.
“The more we remove friction for customers who want to try apps, the more apps they will try,” Jerry Heinz, general manager of Test Drive, said.
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