Motorola Phones Were Hijacking Amazon App Links

Some Motorola phones were routing users through an affiliate tracking link before launching the Amazon shopping app, and Motorola claims it was accidental. The company told The Verge that this behavior was “unintended” and has been “promptly corrected,” but they didn’t explain how it happened in the first place.

What Was Actually Happening?

When users tapped to open the Amazon app on affected Motorola devices, their phones weren’t going directly there. Instead, they made a brief stop at an affiliate tracking website first. Affiliate links help websites and apps earn a small commission on purchases. For example, when you click a retailer link through a deal site, that site gets a cut of your purchase.

Think of it like entering a shopping mall through a hidden side door. You believe you’re heading straight into a store, but your phone was actually logging the visit and collecting a referral fee before letting you in.

The problem? Motorola phones were doing this without users’ knowledge or consent. That’s what upset many people.

How Was This Discovered?

Researchers and users spotted unusual network behavior. When users launched the app, it unexpectedly redirected them to a third-party tracking domain before reaching Amazon. Once this information spread online, it raised concerns about whether Motorola was quietly profiting from customers’ shopping habits.

According to Android Authority, this behavior seemed to stem from software installed at the system level on Motorola devices. That means users didn’t install it themselves, and it couldn’t be easily removed.

What Motorola Says

Motorola kept its official response short. “Recently, Motorola became aware of unintended behavior in our software,” the company stated, adding that the issue has been corrected. They didn’t clarify if this was a bug from a software update, an issue with a third-party component, or something else entirely.

This lack of detail disappointed many. Saying something was “unintended” without further explanation doesn’t answer a crucial question: how did this make it onto consumer devices in the first place?

This Isn’t a New Problem

Pre-installed software that benefits manufacturers at users’ expense isn’t new in the Android world. It’s often called “bloatware,” referring to apps that come pre-loaded on phones and can’t be removed. In more aggressive cases, it’s labeled as adware. What made this situation unique is that the behavior wasn’t linked to a separate app; it was built into how the phone managed links to a major shopping platform.

Affiliate schemes are legal and common, but they usually require transparency. A browser extension that redirects Amazon links and earns commissions is acceptable if users knowingly install it. But a phone doing it silently is a whole different issue.

What This Means for Everyday Users

If you own a Motorola phone, the company says the fix has already been rolled out, so you probably don’t need to do anything. You won’t see a major change in how your Amazon app opens; the redirect was mostly invisible during normal use.

The bigger takeaway? This situation serves as a reminder that the software on your phone—especially on Android devices from manufacturers who customize the OS—can include behaviors you never agreed to. Unlike Apple, which tightly controls both hardware and software, Android makers have more freedom to add their own layers on top of Google’s base system.

This doesn’t mean you should panic, but it’s good to remember that “free” Android phones often come with trade-offs. Sometimes those trade-offs are obvious, like ads or pre-installed apps. Other times, they’re subtler.

Community Reaction

“‘Unintended’ is doing a LOT of heavy lifting in that statement. Someone wrote that code and someone approved it going into a build.”

“So they got caught and said oops. Cool. Still not buying another Motorola.”

What To Watch

• Will Motorola provide more detail? The company’s statement left the technical cause unclear. Security researchers may dig deeper into what the code actually did and share their findings.
• Regulatory attention: Consumer privacy regulators in the US and EU are increasingly focusing on undisclosed data collection practices. This incident could attract scrutiny, especially if similar behavior is found on other devices.
• Other Android manufacturers: Researchers who uncovered this issue may now investigate other phone makers’ software for similar affiliate redirect behavior. If this was a shared third-party component, it could appear in other devices too.