Test Drive is a phrase that makes you think of vehicles. Now, even Android device owners can try their hand at various applications before they pay for it, thanks to the new Test Drive feature introduced on Amazon AppStore.
Users can run apps in a simulator in the Browser with the help of their mouse. All they have to do after selecting the App is to click on the ‘Test Drive Now’ button.
On other platforms, users can download a trial version of the app, which involves data charges. This is not the case on Amazon AppStore.
Test Drive is an innovative approach used by Amazon AppStore to sell apps. It is currently offered only to USA based users.
Customers are allowed to Test Drive the full version of an app for 30 minutes, after which they have to decide whether they want to buy it.
Currently, only 20 different apps provide the Test Drive facility, and the company intends to introduce this feature for other apps soon.
Android AppStore has been lagging behind Apple in the application approval process and in terms of total number of apps. Now Amazon AppStore has come out with Test Drive, but still has to prove it is ahead of Android’s open market approach which lets the market decide how good an app is.
However, Google is not comfortable with dealing in license issues, whereas Amazon is completely at home with it. There is an outside chance that due to competitive pressure even Apple may be driven to offer a similar feature to users.
But we have to remember, Apple has rarely followed its competitors; it follows its own heart in the market. In the end, more than being a competitor, Amazon AppStore may end up benefiting Google and its Android platform.