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Open letter from an Android developer to the Google Play team

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Re: Open letter from an Android developer to the Google Play team

#211

Post by sandos »

dmitrybrant wrote: post #65

I'm the developer of a relatively popular app (50M+ on the Play Store) and have had very disappointing experiences with the Play Store, but in a rather opposite way from the OP: Once an app reaches a certain level of popularity, you begin to see "knock-off" apps, which are apps with a curiously similar name and icon (and screenshots and description), but which in fact don't do anything except blast the user with full…

It has become almost impossible to find apps in the Play store. I tried for 15 minutes to install a game on a tablet that my other tablet had. It had the exact same title. Turns out it was a completely different (and much harder) game. Making my daughter angry when later on travelling by car when she couldn't read many many English popups.

But I guess this is "just" the way it is when a namespace becomes too popular.

Re: Open letter from an Android developer to the Google Play team

#212

Post by f00zz »

bArray wrote: post #127

Can we just get a proper Linux phone already? I could whip up a (rough) GUI for a WiFi phone in no time and all the software I want to use is already there - or could be developed relatively easily. Hell, Ubuntu's Gnome is almost a tablet OS anyway at this point, has relatively good drivers, stability, etc. The WiPhone is so unbelievably close to what I want [1] (+). I really wish it had a web browser though (which w…

You can get a Fairphone 2 and install Ubuntu Touch on it: https://ubports.com/devices/promoted-devices

Re: Open letter from an Android developer to the Google Play team

#213

Post by snaky »

lotsofpulp wrote: post #186
TeMPOraL wrote: post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not really. As long as they control the app market on Android, users are captive audience. Golden goose is immortal.

Considering the proportion of Apple’s profit in the mobile phone and App Store market versus Google’s profit, I would say there is no golden goose period for Google. Or, the golden goose is shoveling ads and obtaining data from all their users, but I’m not bullish on the value of that long term, especially if your users trend on the lower side of disposable income.

This is extremely shortsighted.

Globally, iOS is in decline, and Android is on the rise, and there's nothing that could change the tendency. The main driver for mobile growth is 3rd world, where Android is a king.

> Apple continues to face challenges in terms of unit shipments—a trend that is unlikely to be fixed soon. Apple shipped 35.3 million iPhones in the second quarter, down 14.6 percent from 41.3 million units one year ago.

Re: Open letter from an Android developer to the Google Play team

#214

Post by erdemozg »

yuvalr1 wrote: post #138
zenbai wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is the worst thing about this whole issue. If they were actually good at removing crapware from the store, then a bit of collateral damage would be understandable. Instead, it is still filled with crapware and even when reported they do nothing. And instead, they go for honest developers. At this point Google is practically almost hostile to honest developers. Also, it is strange that they value the revenue from…

> If they were actually good at removing crapware from the store, then a bit of collateral damage would be understandable I don't agree. Honest developers should never be suspended such arbitrarily, not even as "collateral damage". Please remember that for an Android studio, being suspended from the Play Store means not only the end of the business, but also the end of the developer's career as an Android dev.

Why would getting suspended from Play Store mean the end of a developer's career ? Could you elaborate? Isn't it possible to continue with a new gmail account? Am I missing something here?

edit: spelling

Re: Open letter from an Android developer to the Google Play team

#215

Post by sandGorgon »

postsantum wrote: post #181
sandGorgon wrote: post #51

My developer account has been getting mails about "apps that are not compliant with permission requirements". The problem is that these are 3 year old, UNPUBLISHED apps. Turns out, you cannot delete old apps . You can only unpublish them. Google will still keep the app up if even one phone has the app installed. I wrote back saying that this is a years-old app that I no longer even have the source code to. The reply…

>>Finally I got a a notice my apps were deleted with a warning email Suspended or removed?

deleted

Re: Open letter from an Android developer to the Google Play team

#216

Post by edandersen »

Whilst good for developers and probably bad for Microsoft (reduces app numbers), I haven't seen any automated, recompiled clones on the Windows App Store, likely due to the native compilation. Despite being .NET apps it's not just a case of running ILSpy or something to get the source.

Re: Open letter from an Android developer to the Google Play team

#217

Post by oefrha »

ajscanlan wrote: post #202
lotsofpulp wrote: post #187

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I thought it has been free for your own device for years: https://www.pcworld.com/article/2933052/apple-frees-casual-i...

Ah! I did not know that, it's been so long since I've not had a developer account. But yes it seems you are right. Do you still have to re-sign the .ipa every 7 days to have it run on the device?

You do unless you have a paid developer account.

Re: Open letter from an Android developer to the Google Play team

#219

Post by yuvalr1 »

erdemozg wrote: post #214
yuvalr1 wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If they were actually good at removing crapware from the store, then a bit of collateral damage would be understandable I don't agree. Honest developers should never be suspended such arbitrarily, not even as "collateral damage". Please remember that for an Android studio, being suspended from the Play Store means not only the end of the business, but also the end of the developer's career as an Android dev.

Why would getting suspended from Play Store mean the end of a developer's career ? Could you elaborate? Isn't it possible to continue with a new gmail account? Am I missing something here? edit: spelling

I read multiple stories like that online (I didn't save them but some were published here on HN). As far as the stories go, it looks like Google associates new accounts with the suspended one and suspend them as well. They do this using verification mails, phone numbers and credit card numbers. Google also tells you not to open a new account, and that it will not help you. The OP got such a warning as well, as described in the main article.
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