Live data from Hacker News

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

medium.com

481–490 of 607 posts

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

#481
The timing is pretty brutal and outrageous but other than that, unless there are indeed no violations of the policies, I have no issues with an app getting kicked out.

It is hard to have any opinion on the accuracy of these strikes though, since almost all the times devs believe that whatever they do is legit.

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

#482

I ran a website that I first coded when I was 14-15, then kept improving over the years. It was for amateur electronic music producers to upload their tracks and after a few years there were several thousand active users, generating ~$400/month in AdSense. One day a relatively famous DJ tweeted a link to a song on the website, and that day alone generated close to $300, so 19 year old me thought he was about to earn…

Is there really no other way to monetize except through ads? Sure, there needs to be more regulation in this space, I agree with that. But the idea that ads are the best monetization has never sat well with me. I understand that it's convenient because you get money without asking your end users for it. But I've always thought of it as "if it seems too good to be true, then it probably isn't" and stories like yours j…

Sure there is, but most people don't bother for a few reasons:

-Slapping some ad network's code into your site is comparatively easy, and monetizing almost every other way is hard (i.e. "I just want to create awesome content and get paid for it, I don't want to be my own sales department, too, that's boring") -Even if you do monetize other ways, slapping some ad network's code into your site is, effectively, 'free money' on top of what the site's users are willing to pony up for -Users have been inured into believing and accepting that covering every possible square inch of civilization with ads is an unavoidable consequence of modern life. So much so that the absence of ads in something that isn't otherwise monetized is suspicious (there's no such thing as a free lunch)

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

#484
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…

https://blogs.harvard.edu/bugeja/2018/09/16/the-strength-of-...

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

#485

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Our client was perfectly reputable, ran multi million dollar ad campaigns on television and radio, and was FDA approved. I’m not trying to be a jerk here, but it sounds like your client is selling dietary supplements which Google has been (IMO rightfully) aggressively removing.

I won't argue your point. I think Google should remove those. However it would be nice if Google at least made an attempt to explain to people why they are banking them. And an appeals process. Right now this is basically the wild west with if sherif says it, it is reality. We need more of a due process.

[deleted]

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

#486
post #74
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…

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…

How would you want them to regulate these app stores? Make it easier for apps to get approved? The reason iOS doesn't deal with as many privacy issues, and malicious apps is because Apple has a strict review process no?

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

#487
post #414
post #369

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fine. You don't have to. Android trivially lets you sideload apps downloaded from anywhere on the internet you wish. Apple not so much, but that's Apple. The vast majority of customers want an app store with tighter controls, and both Google and Apple provide it. There are a hell of a lot more complaints about these app stores not being locked down enough than those in your camp saying that they don't want it locked…

> The vast majority of customers want an app store with tighter controls, and both Google and Apple provide it. Tell that to the millions of people who installed Fornite mobile outside of any app store. Most people don't care where their software comes from at all. The reason there are complaints about the app store is because both Apple and Google are capricious and inconsistent with their application of their rules…

> ...both Apple and Google are capricious and inconsistent with their application of their rules...

this got me thinking. how is that handled by a democratic system of government? with an independent judiciary, of course. we need an independent, third party App Court! we need a powerful organization that can referee and literally force Google and Apple to put an app back in their stores.

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

#488

The Google and Apple app stores and support services ought to be regulated as public utilities. Because they effectively constitute a duopoly regarding apps for mobile devices. That would prevent them from arbitrarily refusing to provide services and list apps in their stores. They could refuse, but only for permitted reasons, and with a clear appeal process. The Public Utility Commission of Texas has a pretty clear…

Internet services in the US aren't even a public utility. I don't see this ever happening.

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

#489

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't want to live in your locked-down Disney with the death sentence world. That's fine for you to want it, but don't impose it on me. I want freedom and liberty to do what I want with the devices I own. I want to develop without fear that these two megacorps can shut me down on a whim for developing something against their ideology. The web isn't like that. Windows wasn't like that. Today we live in a Fischer-Pri…

Windows wasn't like that. Yeah, and it was an absolute disaster. Until very recently (Win7, roughly, or perhaps Vista) near every Windows install -- unless it had been locked down by an administrator, or maintained by a power user -- was an absolute cesspool of malware and outright spyware. The average Windows machine was literally unsafe to use. That's fine for you to want it, but don't impose it on me. Essentially…

PC Manufacturers literally installed said malware and spyware, which is what Android phone manufacturers do today. How is it a disaster if it is the past and current eco-system. Windows 10 comes with built in spyware and malware now.

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

#490

The timing is pretty brutal and outrageous but other than that, unless there are indeed no violations of the policies, I have no issues with an app getting kicked out. It is hard to have any opinion on the accuracy of these strikes though, since almost all the times devs believe that whatever they do is legit.

It's pretty easy for the developer to believe "whatever they do is legit" when they aren't shown an example of how they violated the policy.

Could you imagine a world where a traffic cop pulled you over, issued you a ticket, and when you asked what you did wrong they said "You violated the policies regarding safe driving and expected behaviors".

Your license is now revoked. All the information required has been provided to you.

So maybe you are a terrible driver who deserves to lose a license, or maybe you just did something like parking in front of a mail box, a behavior you would adjust if you realized it was against the rules.

No one should be expected to have a perfect mental map of the extremely long terms and conditions agreements and how they map to every real word situation.

Post reply on HN