Motorola phones have started hijacking the Amazon app to insert affiliate codes

A truly bizarre situation on Motorola phones has led to the software hijacking the Amazon app to inject an affiliate code – even on the $1,900 Razr Fold.

The shady use of affiliate codes has become unfortunately common in recent years, with the most high-profile example being the PayPal-owned browser extension Honey. But a new situation on Motorola smartphones might top the charts in terms of sketchy behavior.

An app update on Motorola phones has started hijacking the Amazon app for the sake of injecting an affiliate code. To do that, tapping the app icon opens the user’s browser and immediately redirects to the Amazon app. It’s a “blink and you missed it” moment. This only happens when the user opens the Amazon app from the app drawer – not the homescreen pages.

You can see the flow in action below – first opening the app from a homescreen icon, then from the app drawer. You’ll notice that the Chrome browser flashes up briefly when opening from the app drawer.