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

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

#521

Post by st1ck »

dmix wrote: post #375
usrusr wrote: post #188

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oruxmaps even had a donate version that went through proper Google channels when the free version was forcibly removed either for a donation link in the app that was incompletely removed from the Play store build variant or because of a donation link on the product website. It never came back, now the paid version on Play is effectively a billboard "you could save those dollars by going over to F-Droid where we are p…

This is good news for F-Droid. I just wish F-Droid had a better design but I guess that's just the nature of OSS. It always looked a bit shady and out-of-date, which probably hurts it's popularity.

But the design is fine, at least with dark theme. For me, the UX is better than Play Market.

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

#522

Post by dang »

hanniabu wrote: post #374
dang wrote: post #290

We merged a similar thread, "AndOTP Removed from the Google Play Store Due to Donation Link", into this one. Perhaps we'll update the title to cover both. https://github.com/andOTP/andOTP/issues/396 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21269542

Hmm, any idea how Google automatically catches a donation link? I feel like there's so many ways to do it that they must only be catching a handful.

The OP says the process is manual.

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

#523

Post by jonas21 »

y49 wrote: post #517
greggman2 wrote: post #382

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My guess is it's ripe for fraud. Find open source app, put on Google with your donation platform of choice, profit! By requiring government registration my guess is the hope is both that the fraudsters will be caught or dissuaded and if they do make it past the government registration then when the real devs complain Google can say "take it up with the government. They mis-licensed. We just followed their license"

My guess is you missed the point of Free Software. Anyone can use it in any way, including selling for profit. "Free" as in "freedom", you know Recently I created a small homepage with different re-packaged versions of Java: https://jdk.dev All that alternative packages are free of charge but they have extended support from a number of big companies. All these companies funded separately, there's no common place for…

Just because the license lets you do what you want with the code doesn't mean you’re allowed to commit fraud.

For example, if a person were to repackage someone else's open source project with a link that says, "Donate to support the development of this software" that's still fraud (assuming they keep the donations).

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

#524

Post by anoncake »

kllrnohj wrote: post #457
anoncake wrote: post #445

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Blame the companies that want & use DRM, not the DRM provider. I've got enough blame for everyone involved, don't worry. > Complaining to SecuROM that they are supplying market demand isn't useful. Appealing to the ethics of an entity that doesn't have any is not useful. But I wasn't writing to Google. > At least SafetyNet isn't a badly made rootkit that destroys your hardware and it's only real flaw is being semi-…

> "Whatabout SecuROM"? I don't understand what you're attempting to get at with this. PC DRM back in the day was notorious for rootkit vulnerabilities and even bricking CD/DVD drives (example: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony_BMG_copy_protection_rootk... ). The point was just at least SafetyNet isn't straight up broken like the wild-west of arbitrary DRM providers of yester-year.

This is whataboutism. Please stop.

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

#525

Post by panpanna »

BlueTemplar wrote: post #257
panpanna wrote: post #207

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> not trivial for the average user That is a very good thing. I wish they also made "install from unknown sources" a bit harder. Don't get me wrong, I love openness. But there must be a barrier of entry.

That would have been acceptable if in parallel Google didn't own Google Play... Remember how installing apk's was claimed to be a viable alternative to Google Play for even the average user ?

Yes, that's a real problem. At the same time, as long as Google is very clear why they are doing that I think they will be okay. After all, they already do this on Chromebook.

Now, why should they do this? Because I have seen malware sites tricking people into first enabling 3rd party apps and then installing their apk.

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

#526

Post by zelly »

tomatotomato37 wrote: post #191
lern_too_spel wrote: post #184

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All Google phones and Android One devices have unlockable bootloaders.

Not unless they are sold through a wireless carrier that aggressively locks down bootloaders on even the Pixel phones

Yes do NOT buy a Pixel from ebay/amazon because they are all Verizon or Sprint bootloader locked, even if they can work on other carriers. Carriers lock bootloaders so you can't circumvent their tethering paywalls.

Only Pixels from the official store are rootable.

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

#527

Post by arthens »

chrisseaton wrote: post #487
carlallison wrote: post #485

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's arguable since it's "donation" so one may expect to get the full donation instead of 30% cut by google but one may argue what exactly is (or isn't) a donation.

I’m not sure why you’d expect to not pay a fee. Google’s expenses are the same for apps that take a charge as those that take a donation. Credit card processors charge the same fees on donations. A donation doesn’t magically make everyone else work for free.

> Credit card processors charge the same fees on donations.

Yes, they charge 1/10 of what Google charges. The 30% has nothing to do with how much it cost them to run the service, so let's not pretend that they _have_ to charge them.

(I'm not saying they should offer cheap/free donations, I just don't think it's fair to talk about how much it costs them to run the service given that that's clearly not the driving factor)

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

#528

Post by nybble41 »

a3_nm wrote: post #518
bdcravens wrote: post #466

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Their house, their rules.

Smartphone app stores are a duopoly, so I don't think Google should have total freedom to decide what they allow and what they don't.

There are at least three, actually, since Amazon also runs their own store which can be installed on any Android device. Samsung has another one specifically for Samsung devices, and there's also F-Droid though that might not count as a "store" since it doesn't handle payments. Anyone else can start their own the same way. Only the Apple devices are restricted to apps from their vendor-specific app store.

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

#529

Post by tikiman163 »

tolmasky wrote: post #367
krn wrote: post #340

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Disallowing developers from using in-app billing for donations, while also barring them from linking to external donation platforms, puts open source projects in a difficult position, and appears to be overly hostile towards funding open source development. Google Play has been very clear about this[1]: > Fund solicitations > Examples: Donation solicitations from parties without a valid 501(c)(3) tax exempt status…

Sure, but why ? If the rules clearly said "no chess games", one could say "that ends the discussion of why chess games are denied", or you could further ask "but why are no chess games allowed?". Is it because Google plans on having their own Google-Chess someday and thus is preemptively preventing competition? Is there a technical or regulatory reason chess games aren't allowed? That's the question (at least for me)…

The requirement for provable non-profit status is a legal requirement. A new federal law that passed last year makes it so any "online" content distribution network (including Google play) is legally responsible for any crimes committed by someone else listing a product or message on their platform.

Basically, if you include a donation link in your app without proving non-profit status you could be committing fraud, and Google could be held equally responsible to the crimes of the app being hosted. Google also has to report non-tax exempt profits made by any app/content they host in many locations, so only non-profit groups may link to a 3rd party payment system without violating legal statutes in some countries/states.

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

#530

Post by jmsmistral »

ummonk wrote: post #421
iamleppert wrote: post #400

In an ironic twist, our app that Google supported via Summer of Code was removed. Whoever came up with this policy and started enforcing it at Google is completely tone-deaf, needs to be fired and publicly called out so we can set an example as a community that this sort of behavior will not be tolerated. We have contacted engineering leadership at Google and they are in the process of figuring out who it is internal…

As crazy as this policy is, firing and publicly shaming an employee is not the right response to a poor decision by an employee.

I feel it is. It's an effective platform for (positive) change, in this case.
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