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Google terminated our business via our Google Play Developer Account

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Re: Google terminated our business via our Google Play Developer Account

#431

Post by Dylan16807 »

heptathorp wrote: post #51

> I had created a Google Developer Account simply so I could pass on the login details to my app developers who uploaded and updated the app via my account each time. Sounds like one of those developers was previously banned for violating ToS and Google suspects the author is the same person with a new account trying to evade the ban. Instead of sharing login details, the correct thing to do is add a user and give th…

A lifetime ban because they suspect an account was shared is not "reasonable". One person at most deserves a permanent ban, and it's not the OP. A state/national ID card should be enough to clear things up and solve the "can't just let people create new accounts" problem.

Re: Google terminated our business via our Google Play Developer Account

#432

Post by Dylan16807 »

on_and_off wrote: post #171
mproud wrote: post #69

I don’t buy the guy’s analogy of crime and association. If you willingly lend the keys to your truck to someone else, and he or she commits a crime while using the vehicle, it might get impounded. Know the people whom you work with, or just do the work yourself.

This, also Mark accessed his account for the first time after this issue ? It sounds a lot like he gave his credentials to his dev team which is a major violation of the ToS of the play store. But hey, looks like reading these is too hard, better to just whine afterwards.

What makes it a "major" violation? It sounds quite minor to me.

Re: Google terminated our business via our Google Play Developer Account

#433

Post by andrewstuart »

pas wrote: post #333
andrewstuart wrote: post #296

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, this is an internal ombudsman - Google's own ombudsman who rescues customers when the Google processes frustrate. Lots of companies need an ombudsman because they provide no way out when the normal processes let customers down. It's like a backstop for customer satisfaction. A internal "court of appeal" to help customers out. Kind of like having "a friend in the business", but available to any customer who needs…

How would it remain impartial/objective/effective? How is it different from a real call center support that you have to pay to access?

The whole point of an ombudsman is they operate outside the system and have a higher level of authority, vested in them by management.

They have authority, more or less, to "get shit done".

Re: Google terminated our business via our Google Play Developer Account

#434

Post by KorematsuFred »

noonespecial wrote: post #27

The question I always have with this stuff is this: To attract developers, these platforms make some promises. A "review" process for supposed violations of TOS causing cancellations is always among them. But to me these "reviews" always seem either completely faked or some version of a lowest-level employee simply restating that the algo has made its choice and they are powerless. More incriminating is that every ti…

There is a very simple solution to this mess which both Apple and Google have created through they duopoly.

Any business that is profitable and employing many people but has single point of failure with Play Store can solve this problem by giving Google some money for a more detailed review with an option to submit additional evidence. Say company X gives Google $10K to do this extended review. If the party wins, Google returns the money and reinstates the account else Google keeps the money.

Secondly, a private arbitrage company which may be setup by all big players in the game that can further review the whole process and provide a neutral view of the whether the ban was warranted or not.

I have advocated with most of these large companies to come together and form an open Privacy Working Group which will advice all companies to adopt privacy standards and also help evolve those standards by a widespread industry participation. If we could do it for HTML, Javascript and Web Standards we can do it for Privacy as well. This will also pre-empt government's heavy handed approach to force these giants to adopt standards that might be completely arbitrary like GDPR.

Re: Google terminated our business via our Google Play Developer Account

#435

Post by smadurange »

In some ways, I feel that this is a systemic problem with mobile app developers. Most these guys have barely any interest in technogy or innovation. As long as they can code something up and make a quick bug they are happy. They should have seen this coming when all their apps had to go through the playstore if they were serious about it.

If they are half as serious about this as usual opensource community they would have built a reasonable alternative to it. It's a disgrace that Android, something paraded as opensource, has taken away the very things it promises to give the community: choice and liberty.

Re: Google terminated our business via our Google Play Developer Account

#436

Post by bouke »

interpol_p wrote: post #411
noonespecial wrote: post #27

The question I always have with this stuff is this: To attract developers, these platforms make some promises. A "review" process for supposed violations of TOS causing cancellations is always among them. But to me these "reviews" always seem either completely faked or some version of a lowest-level employee simply restating that the algo has made its choice and they are powerless. More incriminating is that every ti…

I don’t know about the Google Play process but the App Store review process has been worthwhile. I’ve had many phone calls with them over the years detailing specific changes which need to be made to conform to policy. They are definitely not “low-level” employees but they are also not technically proficient. They are policy enforcers. I’ve also had reviewers push for internal change on my behalf when policy seems po…

That’s actually good advice, bur doesn’t appear to be applied to mist kids apps. All apps that I’ve come across have been litterd with ads placed in such a way to increase the possibility of the kid accidentally clicking on them. A dark grey UX pattern.

Re: Google terminated our business via our Google Play Developer Account

#437

Post by gambiting »

smadurange wrote: post #435

In some ways, I feel that this is a systemic problem with mobile app developers. Most these guys have barely any interest in technogy or innovation. As long as they can code something up and make a quick bug they are happy. They should have seen this coming when all their apps had to go through the playstore if they were serious about it. If they are half as serious about this as usual opensource community they would…

Android does offer those things. Google play store does not. They are two separate things.

Re: Google terminated our business via our Google Play Developer Account

#439

Post by 43920 »

sonnyblarney wrote: post #207
43920 wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think there's a couple solutions to this. First, "trust" should depend on your own evaluation of the developer, based on metrics like how long their app has existed, customer reviews, what protections they have around handling data, etc. You have the ability to do a much better job evaluating trust than Apple or Google are likely to. But even beyond that, sandboxing needs to be made effective enough that even if yo…

""trust" should depend on your own evaluation of the developer, based on metrics like how long their app has existed, customer reviews, what protections they have around handling data, etc. You have the ability to do a much better job evaluating trust than Apple or Google are likely to." Wow - no, we do not have the ability to ascertain the overall trustworthiness of a dev, certainly not better than Google or Apple.…

Assuming the developer has been in business for a significant amount of time, there are a lot of signals that help tell you whether an app is legit or not. As a random example, if I look for information aout Overcast (a fairly successful app from an independent developer), I get:

* A bunch of reviews from users, very few of which sound fake: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/overcast/id888422857

* Articles about the app from well-known websites: https://9to5mac.com/2018/04/29/overcast-versus-apple-podcast...

* A wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overcast_(app)

* Information about the developer: https://marco.org/about

You could fake all of this, but it would be really difficult and expensive, and probably wouldn't work in the long-term.

It's true that for a brand-new app from an unknown developer, it's difficult to say what their intentions are, but Google and Apple don't really have any more information to go off of than you do regarding that - at best, they likely have the developer's contact information, but you can probably find that yourself as well. Additionally, the nice thing about sandboxing and permissions is that you don't really have to trust the developer in order to run an app. For example, the other day I was looking for a protractor app that would give me measurements in tenths of a degree, and I found this app [1]. Aside from a few reviews (which, as you said, could easily be fake), I know absolutely nothing about this developer - for all I know, they could be trying to steal all my data. But because iOS sandboxes everthing, they won't actually be able to access any of my data or do anything bad unless I approve it, and if I don't like the app, I can press one button and get rid of it. As a result, I can feel comfortable installing the app anyway, even if I don't trust the developer.

[1] https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/angle-pro/id750327028

Re: Google terminated our business via our Google Play Developer Account

#440

Post by smadurange »

gambiting wrote: post #437
smadurange wrote: post #435

In some ways, I feel that this is a systemic problem with mobile app developers. Most these guys have barely any interest in technogy or innovation. As long as they can code something up and make a quick bug they are happy. They should have seen this coming when all their apps had to go through the playstore if they were serious about it. If they are half as serious about this as usual opensource community they would…

Android does offer those things. Google play store does not. They are two separate things.

Then I'm sure these guys wouldnt have to write this up. The reality of Android is you need Google's approval if you want to develop for it in a commercial capacity. The rest is just theory.
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