Sudden removals from the app store are a present danger for every Android developer
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Google’s enforcement systems rely too much on automatic signals. Trustworthy developers are getting caught in the dragnet.
Malicious apps on the Play Store are on the rise. In response, Google has increased their focus on automated enforcement to police the app store.
The results have been mixed. Despite Google’s regular declarations of progress, we just as often hear about them having to take action after the damage is done.
There is a growing chorus of developers who have had accounts wrongly terminated, apps removed and updates rejected.
It may be tempting to assume that all these developers deserve the actions taken against them. Take a closer look and you’ll see that automated judgements are not always accurate.
Imagine that you are legitimate, hardworking app developer. You wake up one morning to find an email from Google informing you that your developer account has been terminated, your apps all removed and your livelihood rubbed out in an instant. The explanation given is vague and the action seems unnecessarily harsh.
You might expect you’d be able to speak to somebody to get a meaningful review of the action.
You’d be wrong. There is no way out. Welcome to the dragnet of automatic enforcement.
I am grateful for the outpouring of support after my last article: Google screwed our startup because of the faceless systems they use to deal with app developers. No one at Google has yet reached out regarding the issue.
Skeptical responses suggest that I am part of a vocal minority and it’s my fault I wasn’t careful enough. This is a response to them.
It can happen to anyone
Over 7 years, we kept a clean record on the Google play store with millions of downloads for our app without any incidents. We stay up to date with Android developments and respect our users by integrating recommended practices where possible, regarding permissions, battery usage, style guidelines, etc.
One day we modified the name of our app without realizing a possible similarity with a newly registered trademark. A complaint was filed and Google’s systems automatically removed our app from the US play store. Our appeals were ignored, even after we changed our app name.
This is one example of the hidden risks of on the Play Store. There are stories of punitive action because of being “associated with” a flagged account (1,2), using keywords the system considers inappropriate (3), alleged copyright infringement (4), using deprecated permissions (5), the list goes on.
Many of these are legitimate issues, but most are relatively innocent mistakes that can be easily resolved with the developer without instant irrevocable action.
Developers are being kicked off the Play Store for minor issues without due process or hearing. How can developers keep themselves safe from the possibility that they may at any time step on a unexpected policy landmine that will destroy everything they have worked for.
Do we accept that some of us are going to be collateral damage in Google’s quest for convenience, and just keep our fingers crossed that it’s not going to be us?
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