Amazon Underground is a one-of-a-kind experience where apps, games, and in-app items are 100% free for customers, and Amazon pays developers based on the amount of time your Amazon Underground app is used. With Amazon Underground, you can turn all of your Android users into revenue-generating customers. Get paid starting from the very first minute your Amazon Underground app is used while your app is part of Amazon Underground. With Amazon Underground, you can focus less on how to monetize your apps and focus more on creating great user experiences. Most Android apps are Amazon Underground-eligible. Getting started is easy. Just create a developer account and submit your app today.
The Amazon Underground Schedule describes the program eligibility requirements in detail. As you consider submitting your app to the Amazon Underground program, make sure that it adheres to the following general requirements for the program:
Freemium apps with all IAP entitlements granted at the beginning of the game. You can remove IAP entitlements if all entitlements are available to the customer in the game, for example, you unlock all levels or make all race cars available.
Freemium apps with all consumable IAP items included in the game with a list price marked to free. (In-game currency is an IAP item with a list price marked to free, stars/gems are IAP items with a list price marked to free.)
Apps that support passive streaming content, such as a radio station app or app to watch videos. An interactive game that leverages streaming technology would be eligible and would probably make a good candidate for Amazon Underground.
You might feel like you can make your app even more fun and engaging for users by re-balancing your app in some way for Amazon Underground. While the [Amazon Underground eligibility criteria and design guidelines][underground/amazon-underground-eligibility-and-submission-checklists] currently discourages app re-balancing, Amazon may make exceptions to this guideline in the future. See [App Rebalancing Requirements for Amazon Underground][underground/app-rebalancing-requirements-for-amazon-underground].
Make the necessary code changes, branding changes, and re-build your app with a new package name as instructed in [Migrating Your App to Amazon Underground][underground/migrating-your-app-to-amazon-underground].
Prepare to migrate any user data, such as game levels achieved or user communities, as described in [Migrating Users' Progress Between App Versions][underground/migrating-users-progress-between-app-versions].
Amazon Underground is a unique form of app monetization where you will be paid for the usage time of your app rather than by individual downloads and purchases. This section provides an introduction to how payments work with Amazon Underground. For more details on payment with the program, see [Monetizing Your App with Amazon Underground][underground/monetizing-your-app-with-amazon-underground].
As part of Amazon Underground, you will be paid for the number of minutes that customers have used your app. To determine usage time, at the end of a reporting period (usually 24 hours), Amazon calculates the total time aggregated (in milliseconds) and rounds this number to the smallest unit of currency for your marketplace. For example, in the US, this number is rounded to the nearest cent. For more details on calculating usage time see [Monetizing Your App with Amazon Underground][underground/monetizing-your-app-with-amazon-underground].
For your apps that are enrolled in Amazon Underground, you will be paid based on the amount of time that customers spend using your app. You can review your Amazon Underground payments on the Reporting tab of your account in the Amazon Apps & Games Developer Portal. Please review the Amazon Underground Schedule for complete program terms.
When a user launches an Amazon Underground app for the first time, a welcome message in the form of an interstitial ad plays. In subsequent times t
