Amazon is giving away $100 worth of free apps

Bargain shoppers with Android phones have 30 reasons to give Amazon’s Appstore a shot over the next two days. The company is offering a suite of apps worth more than $100 for free to anyone who uses its online storefront. The apps span a wide variety of categories, and include Sonic the Hedgehog, popular read-it-later service Instapaper, Kayak Pro and FlightRadar Pro.

Hey, Kindle Fire owners (or anyone who is thinking about getting a new Fire Phone): Amazon is giving away 30 “self-improvement” apps for free. The selection covers a wide range of topics, including recipes, workout tips, games, educational stuff, and budgeting resources. Amazon says if you download all of the apps that it’s giving away for free, you’ll be saving more than $100. One of the apps, Language Coach, is $9.99 by itself. The bundle of apps will only be available for free on Thursday and Friday before they return to normal prices. One of the complaints about Amazon’s new smartphone was that the app ecosystem wasn’t robust enough, so this move gives it an opportunity to prove that while it may not have some of the more “name brand” apps, it has plenty of its own alternatives. Last month, Amazon had a similar two-day free window for some of its most popular apps.