Amazon and Walmart Sidestep Apple’s App Store Guidelines

Apple’s revised app store restrictions have not been popular with third party developers, publishers and other companies. Many have been figuring out new ways to deliver their content on iOS devices while avoiding giving Apple a cut of their profits. On Wednesday, both Amazon and Walmart launched web-based services that sidestep Apple’s App Store.

Amazon released a web-based app called Kindle Cloud Reader for Kindle owners to access their digital libraries on their computers or other mobile devices. The Cloud Reader syncs all your Kindle books and magazines so you can start reading on your computer, and pick up where you left off on your onclick="javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/www.ipadngravy.com');" target="_blank" title="iPad" href="http://www.ipadngravy.com">iPad. Early reviews seem positive, but there have been reports of a few glitches, and some are not happy that it can only be used with Safari or Chrome.

Walmart also launched their Vudu web streaming app on Wednesday. The new service allows users to rent or buy over 20,000 movies and watch them online. There is a Vudu icon for the iPad home screen that redirects you to the Vudu website where you can access Walmart’s library. Just like Netflix, Vudu also allows you to stream content through other devices like the PlayStation 3. Rental rates are around $4 to $6 dollars.

In July, onclick="javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/www.theipadguide.com/content/onswipe-helps-publishers-get-around-app-store/7178371');" target="_blank" href="http://www.theipadguide.com/content/onswipe-helps-publishers-get-around-app-store/7178371">Onswipe helped magazines like Marie Claire create tablet-friendly versions of their websites to avoid having to create apps for tablets.

[onclick="javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/www.walmart.com/cp/Video-on-Demand-by-VUDU/1084447');" target="_blank" href="http://www.walmart.com/cp/Video-on-Demand-by-VUDU/1084447">Vudu]/> [onclick="javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/read.amazon.com/');" target="_blank" href="https://read.amazon.com/">Kindle Cloud Reader]