About a year and a half ago, Amazon launched its Underground program that promised “Actually Free” apps that didn’t cost the user anything. Fast-forward to today, and Amazon has revealed that the program is coming to an end.
Amazon says that it’s going to discontinue the Underground Actually Free program, with plans to completely shut it down in 2019. Different parts of the program will shut down before then, though.
Amazon will stop taking new app submissions for the Underground Actually Free program on May 31, 2017. However, developers already in the program can continue submitting updates to existing apps until 2019, and they’ll continue to get paid for the time that customers spend in their apps, too. Android devices will lose access to the Underground Actually Free store in summer 2017, but they’ll continue to be able to shop for physical goods, access Prime Video content, and use previously installed apps.
Owners of Amazon Fire tablets will be able to access the Underground Actually Free store and use their previously installed apps until 2019. However, Fire tablet access to the store won’t extend beyond current devices, so any new tablets that Amazon launches won’t have access to that shop.
Amazon said that the Underground was a “long-term program” that’d continue to gain new benefits, but it looks like the company changed its mind about those plans. The good news is that customers that’ve already downloaded apps through the program will still be able to use those apps and developers will continue to get paid for them. If you’ve been using the Underground Actually Free program to score free Android apps in the past, though, know that you don’t have much more time to download other apps before the program shuts down for good.
