Emulator frontend Emulation-Station has been removed from the Amazon Appstore, less than a week after its launch. The reasoning for the app's removal, is, according to Amazon, Emulation-Station, "facilitates emulating and pirating of games from third-party sources without explicit authorization from those sources", despite Emulation-Station merely acting as a frontend, and not actually including any emulators in the app.

The development team behind ES-DE has instead decided to go ahead with self-publishing the APK for the Android version of their frontend. In order to get the app now, you'll need to join Emulation-Station's Patreon, for $5.50 USD a month. You'll then be given access to the Android APK that you can install on your device. The devs note that you can cancel Patreon support after a month, and still keep the app and get future updates for it.

This is the second time in the past week that an emulator has been targeted specifically for "facilitating piracy", following Nintendo's lawsuit against the Yuzu Nintendo Switch emulator. If you did happen to purchase ES-DE from the Amazon Appstore, you can at least still install it, however the developers urge anyone who made the purchase to get the app refunded, as Amazon will not be paying the developers because the emulator frontend is "illegal".

News 2024-02-28: Amazon has decided to remove ES-DE from their Appstore because "The app facilitates emulating and pirating of games from third-party sources without explicit authorization from those sources." Everyone that knows anything about emulation knows that this is not true, and especially not for a frontend that does not ship with any games or any emulators. We have attempted to appeal this decision but Amazon has refused to reinstate the store entry.

Therefore we have decided to self-publish the APK instead of relying on any app stores. As a first step you can join our Patreon to receive a download link to the APK. Note that this is NOT a subscription, you can turn off recurring payments at any time and you will still receive future APK updates. But if you do choose to support the project long term in these difficult times then it's much appreciated. I have worked four years on ES-DE without making any money from it, and it's almost like a second job now. Supporting us financially instead of pirating the app is a way to make sure development will continue and that ES-DE has a future long term.



Please spread the word of what has happened and if you did buy the app from the Amazon Appstore then ask them for a refund and don't hesitate to criticize them for their decision. We have not yet received any money from amazon and due to them claiming that ES-DE is illegal we doubt that will change. Anyway, it seems like you can still install the app from the Amazon Appstore app if you have bought it, but there will obviously be no further updates published there.

Source

 

[Searinox]

There aren't even emulators in this app... are they just going by aesthetics to remove an app because their wealthy friends are thumbing their noses? What we have allowed this world to become...

 

[LoggerMan]

All app stores should have a way to add free apps that the App Store owner wouldn't approve, but lets you install them the same as you would install any app on any computer.

 

[TomSwitch]

All app stores should have a way to add free apps that the App Store owner wouldn't approve, but lets you install them the same as you would install any app on any computer.

They need to protect folks from

Pig Butchering​

 

[Clydefrosch]

if only anyone could reasonably claim that these are not used for piracy in 99.999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999992% of the cases

 

[asdfzxc920]

I don't know why everybody's treating this like some calculated maneuver on Amazon's part. The app store is almost entirely automated, it's been that way for years.

 

[tech3475]

All app stores should have a way to add free apps that the App Store owner wouldn't approve, but lets you install them the same as you would install any app on any computer.

Android/Fire OS does allow sideloading, you just have to enable it in the settings.

 

[Viri]

It would be pretty entertaining to watch Nintendo sue Amazon over them selling their emulation devices that contain copyrighted roms. Two giant corporations fighting it out.

 

[ZeroT21]

There's no such thing as copy-righted roms, if I just dump my own backups

 

[Jacobh]

For those pointing out that Emulation Station is legal, App Store content policies exclude content that is legal all the time. Amazon, Apple, Google only care about what it means for their business when making these decisions. Amazon tends to have more lax policies since they care less about their App Store than the others and that’s why this was in Amazon’s App Store at all for even the time it was.

 

[BigOnYa]

Android/Fire OS does allow sideloading, you just have to enable it in the settings.

The new update that just rolled out for Fire OS devices, disables this. There is still ways to sideload, but that was the easiest option. -ADB
https://gbatemp.net/threads/amazon-...se-it-facilitates-piracy.649659/post-10367597

 

[Xzi]

The new update that just rolled out for Fire OS devices, disables this.
https://gbatemp.net/threads/amazon-...se-it-facilitates-piracy.649659/post-10367597

Even if they were continuing to allow emulators on their app store, disabling sideloading would still be reason enough to avoid Amazon electronics. They're just glorified Chinese products sold at a markup anyway.

 

[Ryab]

There's no such thing as copy-righted roms, if I just dump my own backups

I mean I'm not in support of this removal but you are technically wrong here. DMCA laws do prohibit bypassing of any form of copy protection.

 

[Kioku]

The new update that just rolled out for Fire OS devices, disables this. There is still ways to sideload, but that was the easiest option. -ADB
https://gbatemp.net/threads/amazon-...se-it-facilitates-piracy.649659/post-10367597

Imagine blocking one of the best things about Android.. Presumably due to a gross misunderstanding of what "security" means.. Or, with a company like Amazon, to appease the shareholders.

 

[smf]

That is indeed the same Amazon, it is also the same Amazon that allows retroarch to still be on their store.

To be fair, there are a load of emulator developers who would be happy if retroarch would be removed from the internet and violating licenses etc

The whole patreon thing is offensive to developers who work for free. All these front ends should be free too, not some cash grab.

 

[ZeroT21]

I mean I'm not in support of this removal but you are technically wrong here. DMCA laws do prohibit bypassing of any form of copy protection.

You're right, but try telling that to the internet

 

[shadow1w2]

So they can't allow an emulation frontend but a fake solitaire app that generates auto pay micro transactions secretly in the background ike a virus is totally okay?
I have family who got caught in that, had to call up the bank and deal with rude amazon "support" who tried to evade the issue.

Really surprised they'd even bother to notice a friendly little front end when they ignore such nasty trick apps and put them up on the featured list.

Maybe it's giving them too much attention and they are afaird someone will notice their nasty little schemes if taken to court and someone digs it up as an example of their nasty practices.

 

[tech3475]

The new update that just rolled out for Fire OS devices, disables this. There is still ways to sideload, but that was the easiest option. -ADB
https://gbatemp.net/threads/amazon-...se-it-facilitates-piracy.649659/post-10367597

They haven't blocked ADB entirely, just the ability for apps to make local ADB connections:
https://www.aftvnews.com/amazon-blo...-warning-and-giving-developers-the-runaround/

As per the comments, sideloading isn't affected.

 

[BigOnYa]

They haven't blocked ADB entirely, just the ability for apps to make local ADB connections:
https://www.aftvnews.com/amazon-blo...-warning-and-giving-developers-the-runaround/

As per the comments, sideloading isn't affected.

I sideload 3rd party apks from my Pc to my Fire devices using ADB connection, so yes it does affect sideloading, for some, including me.

 

[tech3475]

I sideload 3rd party apks from my Pc to my Fire devices using ADB connection, so yes it does affect sideloading, for some, including me.

Which apps? I just tested installing Kodi to my updated Max using ADB connect from my laptop and it worked fine.

 

[BigOnYa]

Which apps? I just tested installing Kodi to my updated Max using ADB connect from my laptop and it worked fine.

I have not tried to install any recently, but will try later when get a chance. But from what I am reading online, there will be issues for some. Also maybe you have not got the new FW yet, they push it out in waves, not all at once to everyone.