We’ve received a number of emails from readers regarding their inability to install the Amazon Appstore for Android on their AT&T Android phones.  The required “Unknown Sources” option in the Applications Settings menu is missing, which prevents the app from being installed. 

Unfortunately, there is no way – without a little hacking – to install the Appstore on these phones; AT&T has purposely removed the option to install third-party apps, i.e. apps outside the Android Market.  And that, as they say, is that.

In the end, only customer complaints have any hope of changing this ridiculous end-user lockout.  But until AT&T allows third-party apps to be installed, if you want the Amazon Appstore -or any non-Market apps – on your AT&T Android phone, it must be rooted.

Rooting is not for everyone; it’s essentially jailbreaking the phone to allow for greater flexibility in how the device operates.  There are methods for rooting many Android phones, including the AT&T Atrix 4G (see How to Root the Atrix 4G and How to Root the Samsung Captivate).  If this interests you, proceed with caution.

In late March, Engadget reported that AT&T is working on allowing the Amazon Appstore to run on their Android devices, though no details have been forthcoming in the six weeks since the story ran. 

If you’d like to let AT&T know how you feel on this subject, give their customer service a call or make a suggestion at the AT&T SuggestionBox page.