How not to get your app banned from Play Store: a short guide
Let’s face it, Play Store was a jungle. It was pretty easy to get viruses, and have all your contacts replaced by “John Doe” if you weren’t a sort of computer genius and didn’t actually know what to do. Fortunately, in the last few years Google has put much effort into preventing malware and harmful apps to enter its app store. The drawback, however, is that now it’s way harder to get your apps online because they have to stick to new stringent rules. Plus, the Google team takes charge of reviewing apps, and also checking them after their release, trying to make its Play Store a safer place for Android users.
Be careful because even if you have no bad intentions, your app could get banned in no time or even be not released at all. In order to help developers, Google has recently made a list of some “common mistakes” they should avoid to upload their app safely. Here’s a summary of some of the most important ones!
Make clear what your in-app links do
If you wish to advertise another app through a link in one of your own apps, make sure this link is clearly visible, and users know its function. You shouldn’t deceive users and prompt them to download other apps without informing them before. It’s not a good practice. And it’s very irritating!
Write your description carefully
I know, you may have multiple reasons to be in hurry. Maybe you wanna go online as soon as possible, or one of your clients has been nagging you to conclude the submission process. But these aren’t good excuses to write a poor description! Indeed, your app description not only is your business card, but it’ll also be checked by the Google team. Remember that a rough, repetitive or deceivable description is even worse than “Lorem Ipsum” texts. This also violates the Store Listing and Promotion policy, leading to more time for your app’s release, and even shut down Slack.
Don’t upload your app if crashes right away
“Yeah, I’m sure it works fine”, then Crashlytics explodes 😢.
To err is human. I know that no app is perfect, and you shouldn’t even try to reach perfection! However, the most basic functionalities must work. So, I suggest you take the time necessary to try your app on some real mobile devices before shipping it. If you can’t use any real mobile phone, then try some online available app test tools, like Firebase Test Lab.
Nobody wants pure webviews
You are developing apps, right? So, you should know that a webview embedded in a site IS NOT AN APP!
If you need webviews, that’s fine, you can use them. But bear in mind that a website is not, and will never be, an app! It’ll always be a website, even if it’s the most responsive thing in the world. If you’re thinking about using webviews because you need to create a cross-platform app, consider using one of the many frameworks out there like Flutter or even Cordova, but please… AVOID webviews… You shouldn’t do it the “easy” way.
If you wish to know more about Play Store policy violation, you can find the original blog article here. Anyway, the moral of the story is: “don’t release your app if it’s not ready”. Your reputation and self-esteem as a developer are way more important than clients whims!
