How to become an Amazon Developer

When I tell people I work at Amazon I usually get asked 2 questions:

• Can I have a free Prime membership?
• or, How can I become an Amazon Developer?

Unfortunately, there is no magical guide to the question they are really asking, which is: 'How can I get a job at Amazon?'. However, learning about the whole world of Amazon development (that doesn't actually require you to work at Amazon) definitely can't hurt your chances!

As a React Native Developer Advocate for Amazon Appstore, I've learned that being an "Amazon developer" can mean anything from creating apps for Amazon devices, to integrating cloud computing solutions. Amazon's ecosystem provides numerous paths for developers to explore, so, this article is a guide of the different opportunities and where to get started:

Amazon's Developer Ecosystem

1. Amazon Appstore

The Amazon Appstore is Amazon's equivalent of Google Play / Apple's App Store. It is used for distributing apps, primarily for the Amazon Fire devices e.g. Fire Tablet. To build Apps for Amazon Appstore you can use Java / Kotlin for native Android development or React Native / Flutter / other cross-platform frameworks.

To learn more how to become an Amazon Appstore developer:

• Checkout out the developer portal
• Experiment with samples on GitHub
• Join the developer community
• Watch tutorials on YouTube
• Read our blog
• Follow me and my Team (Gio, Chris, Neha, Olivia & Moses)

2. Amazon Web Services (AWS)

AWS is Amazon's cloud computing platform, offering over 200 fully featured services. You can use AWS for multiple things ranging from building scalable web apps to managing and orchestrating containerised applications!

To learn more on how to become an AWS developer:

• Check out the developer portal
• Get AWS certified (e.g., AWS Certified Developer - Associate)
• Join the developer community

AWS Amplify

AWS includes, AWS Amplify which is a set of tools and services for building full-stack applications in iOS, Android, Flutter, Web, and React Native. Amplify allows you to rapidly develop and deploying full-stack web applications as well as build cross-platform mobile apps with integrated backend service. This means you can use AWS Amplify to build apps for Amazon Appstore!

To learn more on how to build Apps with AWS Amplify:

• Watch how we (Appstore x Amplify) built, monetised, submitted, and scaled an app all in an hour here
• Check out the developer portal
• Join the developer community
• Take a course

3. Alexa Skills Kit

Alexa Skills Kit (ASK) allows developers to create voice apps for Alexa-enabled devices.

To learn more on how to to become an Alexa developer:

• Check out the developer portal

Hopefully this helps!

If you feel catfished by the article title and are interested in working directly for Amazon, you can check out our open roles here. Otherwise, do let me know which journey you are excited to take or are currently on ⬇️

Comments

[Md Sohal Rana]

I need a job. Please help me.

[VavaXX2]

• know app dev routine, know how agile dev works
• know AWS, know CDK
• know Typescript
• know Typescript well
• know what a monorepo is and how they are used in corp env
• know Amazon leadership principles
• raise the bar

[Neha Sharma]

When I met you 2nd time, I asked you - "What Amazon has a AppStore?"

This blog will guide folks to start their career at Amazon. Thank you for writing.

[Henry]

So, do you have a free Prime membership? 🤔

[Anisha Malde]

Unfortunately not 😭

[Rhonda Kay]

This is great! I am close to being able to begin work on my Amazon TV app. I'll let you know how it goes. There is a lot to Amazon, but I'm excited about their products.

[Anisha Malde]

Please do and if you need any help feel free to reach out :)

[Nick Stewart]

Thank you!

[Luis Mesa]

I was an SDE 2 and spent a little over a year there, I was relocated by Amazon to Europe and I advice everyone to test the waters but keep an eye out for a better company. Amazon isn't it. I have rejected offers from Meta, Microsoft and Atlassian and I have worked for Novell, IBM, Amazon, ING, SwissRe and now Oracle.

[ASSOU Mourad]

Hi thank you for this interested resources it will help folks to start out developping amazon app. I have just one question I was wondering considering the volume of amazon users around the world is it profitable to develop an application on amazon rather than other platforms ?

[Anisha Malde]

Hey, sorry Im not sure I understand your question, are you asking for the business value? If so my colleague @trag covers it in this talk. Let me know if you are looking for something else!