Motorola phones have started hijacking the Amazon app to insert affiliate codes
Recorded: May 26, 2026, 1:15 p.m.
| Original | Summarized |
Motorola phones are hijacking your Amazon app [Video]
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Motorola Motorola phones have started hijacking the Amazon app to insert affiliate codes [Video] 2 Comments 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. A Motorola Razr 60 Ultra user on Reddit was the first to notice this behavior, using an ADB log to show that the launcher is directing users to a URL instead of the Amazon app they expected to open. It traces back to the Smart Feed app, one of the apps Motorola has pre-loaded on many of its phones including the latest Razr (2026) family of foldables. A network log also shows the device making requests to “devicenative.com,” a website for a service that places ads on smartphones (and isn’t too quiet about its integration with Motorola). Secondly, we can speculate as to what’s going on – and that’s what the following is, speculation and conjecture. While many would quickly, understandably, point the finger at Motorola here, my gut says something else is going on, and that it might not be a decision Motorola actually planned out. The redirect through a seemingly fake website and affiliate code of an influencer that has no obvious ties to Motorola is just too bizarre to ignore. Motorola Razr (2026) and Razr Fold pre-orders open, but you should wait Follow Ben: Twitter/X, Threads, Bluesky, and Instagram FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.You’re reading 9to5Google — experts who break news about Google and its surrounding ecosystem, day after day. Be sure to check out our homepage for all the latest news, and follow 9to5Google on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to stay in the loop. Don’t know where to start? Check out our exclusive stories, reviews, how-tos, and subscribe to our YouTube channel Featured from 9to5Google
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Ben Schoon nexusben Ben is a Senior Editor for 9to5Google. |
Motorola smartphones have been reported to hijack the Amazon application to inject affiliate codes through a peculiar software mechanism. This behavior occurs when a user taps the Amazon app icon, and the system redirects the user to a web browser before launching the application, specifically when the app is opened from the application drawer rather than the home screen. This redirection mechanism involves opening a browser, which briefly navigates to an external URL before directing the user to the intended Amazon application. The initial discovery of this anomaly was made by a user of the Motorola Razr 60 Ultra who utilized Android Debug Bridge logging to observe that the launcher was directing traffic to a URL instead of the expected Amazon application. Investigation traced this action to the Smart Feed application, which is one of the apps pre-loaded on many Motorola devices, including the latest foldable models. Furthermore, network logs indicated that the device was making requests to devicenative.com, a platform known for displaying advertisements on smartphones, suggesting integration with an advertising service. The observed behavior was linked to a specific software update; an older version of the application did not exhibit this hijacking behavior, but the system began engaging this redirect when running a newer version. Analysis revealed that the specific URL being used for redirection was kira-abboud.com, a website referencing a fashion influencer, although this URL was not found on the influencer’s social media, and the displayed affiliate codes did not correspond to any links shared by that individual, indicating a discrepancy. The affiliate code used was sramz-kff-008-20, which was inconsistent with other observable codes. This situation raises speculation regarding the intent behind this activity, as the redirection through a seemingly unrelated website and an unfamiliar affiliate code is deemed bizarre. While the author acknowledges that responsibility might lie with Motorola, the nature of the exploit suggests a complex, unusual operation that may not have been deliberately planned by the manufacturer. To mitigate this behavior, the article suggests a practical solution: users can disable the Smart Feed application through the device settings to prevent this redirection, which successfully halted the behavior on the affected Razr Fold device. |