Open-source apps removed from Google Play Store due to donation links • Hacker News Board

Re: Open-source apps removed from Google Play Store due to donation links

#91

Post by dewey » Wed, Oct 16, 2019, 11:46 AM UTC

gorgoiler wrote: post #76

Ugh, app stores! No one needs them for discovering new software. You go to the app store to get a specific piece of software you already know about and whose reputation you’ve already verified. No one needs them for code signing. If you want the real firefox.apk you can download it from https://firefox.com/ and notice a lack of SSL alarms going off. What’s the code signing for — to let me know that HTTPS works?! All…

> No one needs them for discovering new software.

There's also people that don't know that they need "Firefox", they just want a browser. Or a tool to print envelopes or crop an image. So they search in the app store and they know it'll probably be okay.

If you search for this online you'd get a bunch of SEO spam sites, shady tools among other things. At least due to the developer fee and reviews there's at least some barrier of entry (Also if it's not perfect).

> App stores leave me with all sorts of unwanted properties, namely Google / Apple throwing their unwanted opinion around. Search for Instagram in the iOS App Store: the top UI element is “InstaMap”, thanks Apple!

Apple's search is notoriously bad and the perfect case to apply Hanlon's razor.

Re: Open-source apps removed from Google Play Store due to donation links

#92

Post by missosoup » Wed, Oct 16, 2019, 11:47 AM UTC

segfaultbuserr wrote: post #90

black_puppydog wrote: post #77

The very same thing happened to manyverse (android ssb client) the other day. Got de-listed, resubmitted without donation page, now it's back up. How google tries to claim any sort of support for open source is beyond me. What open source app doesn't need a donation link? Those approved and funded by google don't, okay. But other than that?

The strangest fact is, those donation pages only have some links, there is no in-app payment. I don't understand what Google is thinking about when they banned donations... Wait. I suddenly understand something I've seen previously... There is a workaround! You simply upload two versions of the app, the free edition and the supporter edition. The support's edition is a paid app. You can ask the users who want to supp…

> I don't understand what Google is thinking about when they banned donations.

They're thinking that they're a monopoly and can do whatever the hell they want without needing to justify themselves?

Re: Open-source apps removed from Google Play Store due to donation links

#93

Post by stOneskull » Wed, Oct 16, 2019, 11:47 AM UTC

phoe-krk wrote: post #14

supergilbert wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes but none of my friends and family who own an Android device know about it. I'm talking about a mainstream alternative android store. The design of f-droid is not appealing enough.

So do you mean a store run by a company that has the money and intent to promote such a store enough for everybody knows about it, e.g. Facebook, Amazon, or Microsoft? I don't think this is a solution.

Amazon has an app store but it's just an inferior play store really. Nothing exclusive, I don't think, and just Amazon takes 30% instead.

Re: Open-source apps removed from Google Play Store due to donation links

#94

Post by segfaultbuserr » Wed, Oct 16, 2019, 11:48 AM UTC

missosoup wrote: post #92

segfaultbuserr wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The strangest fact is, those donation pages only have some links, there is no in-app payment. I don't understand what Google is thinking about when they banned donations... Wait. I suddenly understand something I've seen previously... There is a workaround! You simply upload two versions of the app, the free edition and the supporter edition. The support's edition is a paid app. You can ask the users who want to supp…

> I don't understand what Google is thinking about when they banned donations. They're thinking that they're a monopoly and can do whatever the hell they want without needing to justify themselves?

As far as I can tell, probably!

Re: Open-source apps removed from Google Play Store due to donation links

#95

Post by Vogtinator » Wed, Oct 16, 2019, 11:48 AM UTC

segfaultbuserr wrote: post #90

black_puppydog wrote: post #77

The very same thing happened to manyverse (android ssb client) the other day. Got de-listed, resubmitted without donation page, now it's back up. How google tries to claim any sort of support for open source is beyond me. What open source app doesn't need a donation link? Those approved and funded by google don't, okay. But other than that?

The strangest fact is, those donation pages only have some links, there is no in-app payment. I don't understand what Google is thinking about when they banned donations... Wait. I suddenly understand something I've seen previously... There is a workaround! You simply upload two versions of the app, the free edition and the supporter edition. The support's edition is a paid app. You can ask the users who want to supp…

That way google gets a cut of the donation.

Re: Open-source apps removed from Google Play Store due to donation links

#96

Post by goldenkey » Wed, Oct 16, 2019, 11:49 AM UTC

segfaultbuserr wrote: post #90

black_puppydog wrote: post #77

The very same thing happened to manyverse (android ssb client) the other day. Got de-listed, resubmitted without donation page, now it's back up. How google tries to claim any sort of support for open source is beyond me. What open source app doesn't need a donation link? Those approved and funded by google don't, okay. But other than that?

The strangest fact is, those donation pages only have some links, there is no in-app payment. I don't understand what Google is thinking about when they banned donations... Wait. I suddenly understand something I've seen previously... There is a workaround! You simply upload two versions of the app, the free edition and the supporter edition. The support's edition is a paid app. You can ask the users who want to supp…

So Google can make the donation go through them, cripple the normal version, and take a 20% processing fee?

Re: Open-source apps removed from Google Play Store due to donation links

#97

Post by acollins1331 » Wed, Oct 16, 2019, 11:49 AM UTC

tcd wrote: post #26

zx2c4 wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It indeed is unfortunate. But what other recourse did we have? The first objective, before we even consider donations or anything, is to make our software available and functional to our users. So we had to resubmit. And it's not like the resubmission process is instantaneous; as of writing, the app still isn't back in the store. But anyway, now what? Let's say things return to normal, but we still want to put the si…

It's amusing - I feel it's almost like causing a media "storm" is part of the whole "AI powered" process they've got going on. Create Reddit/Hackernews/tech blog outrage and maybe a human might step in and reverse the decision. You can look at r/videos and see how many examples there are, the link in [1] provides quite a few... So hey, go get people to repost across social media, maybe get a nice trendy hashtag going…

Of course. No company will admit fault unless forced. The best PR move is wait for it to pass.

Re: Open-source apps removed from Google Play Store due to donation links

#98

Post by segfaultbuserr » Wed, Oct 16, 2019, 11:49 AM UTC

Vogtinator wrote: post #95

segfaultbuserr wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The strangest fact is, those donation pages only have some links, there is no in-app payment. I don't understand what Google is thinking about when they banned donations... Wait. I suddenly understand something I've seen previously... There is a workaround! You simply upload two versions of the app, the free edition and the supporter edition. The support's edition is a paid app. You can ask the users who want to supp…

That way google gets a cut of the donation.

Oops, it's not a good idea! I now see the motivation behind it!

Re: Open-source apps removed from Google Play Store due to donation links

#99

Post by newscracker » Wed, Oct 16, 2019, 11:49 AM UTC

gallexme wrote: post #47

Tepix wrote: post #2

If only there was an alternative to the Apple app store like F-Droid is for Google Play...

Does Cydia etc no longer exist?

That requires jailbreaking the device, which may or may not be possible depending on the device and the version of iOS it's running. Recently there was a bootrom exploit called checkm8 that made possible "tethered" jailbreaks to be created for a large range of devices. But even that works only till iPhone X (and not on newer devices), and the jailbreak (if/when available) would have to be done every time the device is restarted.

Re: Open-source apps removed from Google Play Store due to donation links

#100

Post by dewey » Wed, Oct 16, 2019, 11:49 AM UTC

gallexme wrote: post #47

Tepix wrote: post #2

If only there was an alternative to the Apple app store like F-Droid is for Google Play...

Does Cydia etc no longer exist?

If you jailbreak you also usually have to run on an older iteration of the OS and have to wait before updating. It's not really a very attractive option.

Signing up as developer, paying the fee and building the app yourself is probably the better option. Even if you have to rebuild it every xx days.