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Google just deleted my nearly 10-year-old free and open-source Android app

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Re: Google just deleted my nearly 10-year-old free and open-source Android app

#91

Post by izacus »

NKCSS wrote: post #41

My game ( https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.nkcss.shad... ) was suspended because I did not have a link to my privacy policy in the app (required when you serve ads for some reason). My game only shows an ad every other time you abort a game or ask for a hint, if you just play without hints/aborting games, you'll never see an ad. It was up for about 6 months, ~1000 installs, then it was taken offline.…

Meanwhile your ad network library was mining data in the background (they do that even if you don't show the ad) of users without telling them in privacy policy. You're not the victim in your case.

Re: Google just deleted my nearly 10-year-old free and open-source Android app

#92

Post by lpellis »

Wow the same thing happened to me[1], luckily I was awake by chance and took action after the first email, scary to think that if I was just offline for a few days my whole account could have been banned with no recourse..

[1]My app https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.lpellis.se... was on the store for several years at the time, it was called 'Android Sensors'. (Google had issue with the name, I had to rename it)

@lladnar does your app maybe have 'Android' in the name? I believe that was the issue they had with mine, I dont even think humans are in the loop at all here to give feedback.

Re: Google just deleted my nearly 10-year-old free and open-source Android app

#93

Post by mathw »

andrewfelix wrote: post #57

"I don’t think my app is deceiving Google Play Store". I feel like there's more to this story.

If Google had provided details of what the violation was, he might be able to tell us about that part. One of the big problems is that they don't.

Re: Google just deleted my nearly 10-year-old free and open-source Android app

#95

Post by pnw_hazor »

ddalex wrote: post #75
pnw_hazor wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People who work for Google are supporting a company that is building the dystopia my children will have to deal with. Google programmers have other options. But the pay and prestige is not there. I can understand why people work at GOOG and FB. But it does not absolve them from being part of the problem (a big part of problem). But there is no reason for people who work at GOOG to be respected for working there or ot…

> building the dystopia my children will have to deal with So you want other people to fight your ideological battles. If this would be 4chan I'd tell you that those programmers are "not your personal army". But have you considered that those people are actually happy to be building this dystopia and they think building it will advance their own children? And what you might construe as "evil" they would see as "advan…

Google is a brand. If that brand was held in the low regard it deserves the problem would work itself out. People would still work there, but they would be embarrassed about it.

I talk about this stuff whenever I get the chance to do so. Hopefully it will help remind people that working at Google is not cool.

Re: Google just deleted my nearly 10-year-old free and open-source Android app

#96

Post by cbanek »

javert wrote: post #90
cbanek wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's true that Google, Apple, and Facebook are now getting the treatment that Microsoft got a long time ago. But I'm not sure I agree that everyone would go free software if it didn't happen. If anything, I think another company would just come along and build something slightly less crappy but no more open. These days you don't even own the software anymore, it's just a subscription or SaaS. > Software companies mak…

In the U.S., phone providers are protected by the government. You can't compete with them. The government has basically granted them fiefs. I feel like cars are great. I don't know where the complaint is there. There is an enormous amount of variety in cars. It's really amazing. Definitely a triumph of capitalism. I also don't really have a problem with banks. There seems to be plenty of options. People mostly just c…

I think the car industry is a racket because they frequently have lots of recalls that affect safety, but they often don't admit it freely. (like the Takata airbag incident) Same for requiring car dealerships, and negotiated pricing. Getting a car serviced for a recall then having to wait for months, possibly while not being able to drive your car can be a real problem.

Utilities like cable / internet aren't really protected by the government, in that there is supposed to be competition, but the companies rarely want to compete, so they tend to service different areas.

A lot of banks do a lot of the shady tactics that Wells Fargo does, like ordering deposits and withdrawals just to make sure you get hit with the maximum amount of overdraft fees.

I totally agree with you on healthcare. That is one of the biggest rackets in the US where price fixing is rampant, and price discovery is purposefully non-existent.

Oh, and just to throw one more in, the airlines!

> Every truly hated industry is shitty because they are a government fief and nobody can compete with them.

If you're a monopoly and the government doesn't step in, they are basically granting you a fief over that area.

Re: Google just deleted my nearly 10-year-old free and open-source Android app

#97

Post by javert »

cbanek wrote: post #81
javert wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not this again. (pardon my sarcasm, no intent to offend.) There was a point in time when Microsoft was deeply embedding its really shitty and uber insecure Internet Explorer into Windows and causing all sorts of very severe problems problems. If that had continued, the world would have switched to free software. It was inevitable. But the government stepped in and forced Microsoft to make a just marginally better pro…

It's true that Google, Apple, and Facebook are now getting the treatment that Microsoft got a long time ago. But I'm not sure I agree that everyone would go free software if it didn't happen. If anything, I think another company would just come along and build something slightly less crappy but no more open. These days you don't even own the software anymore, it's just a subscription or SaaS. > Software companies mak…

Facebook is also a great example. That shit is so absolutely awful, and it's destroying people psychologically. People will eventually learn and get out of it. We will find a healthier alternative and adopt it organically.

But chances are the government will force Facebook to be just slightly less destructive, so that people never abandon it en mass, and never find a healthier alternative.

Facebook will kill itself if left to its own design. They are clearly committed to that path.

Re: Google just deleted my nearly 10-year-old free and open-source Android app

#98

Post by paulcarroty »

dollar wrote: post #3

The easiest way to identify a monopoly is to look at how badly a company can treat its customers and still get away with it. My company has a half dozen stories like this about Google in the last year alone. Know what Google is doing to its AdSense partners on a massive scale? They wait until your site has just under the earnings when they have to write you a check, then they terminate your AdSense account for “polic…

> They wait until your site has just under the earnings when they have to write you a check, then they terminate your AdSense account for “policy violations”.

Absolutely the same story happened with me.

Re: Google just deleted my nearly 10-year-old free and open-source Android app

#99

Post by NKCSS »

izacus wrote: post #91
NKCSS wrote: post #41

My game ( https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.nkcss.shad... ) was suspended because I did not have a link to my privacy policy in the app (required when you serve ads for some reason). My game only shows an ad every other time you abort a game or ask for a hint, if you just play without hints/aborting games, you'll never see an ad. It was up for about 6 months, ~1000 installs, then it was taken offline.…

Meanwhile your ad network library was mining data in the background (they do that even if you don't show the ad) of users without telling them in privacy policy. You're not the victim in your case.

I checked the 'has ads' when publishing, show it shows that before you install. I just wasn't aware I had to have a policy linked in the app, that's what I'm trying to explain here and how it was resolved in the end...

Re: Google just deleted my nearly 10-year-old free and open-source Android app

#100

Post by iSnow »

javert wrote: post #78
cbanek wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This also makes me feel even more strongly that the FTC should really clamp down on these very strict app stores. https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/documents/amicus_briefs/app... Both the App Store and Google Play stores I think are basically illegal monopolies. I should be able to install whatever app I want, without having to jailbreak my phone and deal with warranty nonsense from the manufacturer. Just like my comp…

Not this again. (pardon my sarcasm, no intent to offend.) There was a point in time when Microsoft was deeply embedding its really shitty and uber insecure Internet Explorer into Windows and causing all sorts of very severe problems problems. If that had continued, the world would have switched to free software. It was inevitable. But the government stepped in and forced Microsoft to make a just marginally better pro…

>the world would have switched to free software. It was inevitable

The world was in no way thinking about switching, that's just a libertarian pipe-dream.

As to why: the costs of the MS browser monopoly didn't hit either MS or the user, it accrued at website developers and MS's competitors. They had to jump through burning hoops to make their sites work both in IE and any other browser.

In fact, the easiest and cheapest way to develop a site was to go with MS's proprietary tech and essentially lock out Firefox, or any Linux (or Mac) browser. Opportunity costs were minimal as Windows enjoyed a >90% market share.

At the time the hammer came down on MS, things had in fact improved a bit due to web 2.0 and other browsers (ie. Firefox) leapfrogging MS. But it is extremely dishonest to claim the ruling somehow prevented OSS to gain market share, that flies right into the face of facts.

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