Amazon Underground aims to make Android apps and games 'actually free'

Internet retailer will suck up the costs of in-app purchases on customers' behalf, paying developers $0.002 per minute their apps are used

In-app purchases may have become the dominant way for developers to make money from charging for their apps, but Amazon's new app takes a sledgehammer to the model.

Well, in a sense. Amazon Underground is an app for Android smartphones that offers a catalogue of apps and games with their in-app purchases all reduced to zero. Users can still "buy" virtual currency and items, but Amazon will pay for them - touting an "actually free" slogan.