The Google Play app review process now regularly takes longer than a week • Hacker News Board

Re: The Google Play app review process now regularly takes longer than a week

#351

Post by trollbridge » Thu, Sep 17, 2026, 2:44 AM UTC

SoftTalker wrote: post #317

davidmurdoch wrote: post #289

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I didn't know what a "money transference service" was, and certainly didn't know this service that I didn't know about was highly regulated. I only created it because I had Google Play Credits that were gifted to me. I built an app to "convert" them to cash for myself. I had never built an app before. I was proud of it and tried to make it pretty and professional and useful for others, and used it as a learning exper…

I mean people in poor neighborhoods do the same thing with laundry detergent or anything else you can buy with SNAP benefits.

You can’t buy laundry detergent with SNAP benefits, since it isn’t food.

Re: The Google Play app review process now regularly takes longer than a week

#352

Post by tehlike » Thu, Sep 17, 2026, 3:50 AM UTC

doc_ick wrote: post #341

tehlike wrote: post #255

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Review speed and slopness are related but not exclusive to each other.

Definitely not exclusive, though I believe they are related enough to not tank one for the other. If a review is 2 seconds and done, then the circle for figuring out the mvp slop app is pretty slim.

You can imagine with the AI models we have now, many of the stuff reviewers do could be automated to a large extent. They can also determine through binary diffing that functionality changes may be limited etc. Many things can be done to eliminate majority of the queue for example.

Re: The Google Play app review process now regularly takes longer than a week

#353

Post by com2kid » Thu, Sep 17, 2026, 4:22 AM UTC

IshKebab wrote: post #294

davidmurdoch wrote: post #289

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I didn't know what a "money transference service" was, and certainly didn't know this service that I didn't know about was highly regulated. I only created it because I had Google Play Credits that were gifted to me. I built an app to "convert" them to cash for myself. I had never built an app before. I was proud of it and tried to make it pretty and professional and useful for others, and used it as a learning exper…

Right but... You've used gift cards before right? The whole point is that you can't convert them to cash. Not only that but Google/Apple gift cards are notorious for being used in fraud. I guess if you're young...

There are multiple companies dedicated to turning gift cards into cash.

It isn't some new idea, he just didn't follow all the rules doing it!

Re: The Google Play app review process now regularly takes longer than a week

#354

Post by pjmlp » Thu, Sep 17, 2026, 5:40 AM UTC

sunaookami wrote: post #343

pjmlp wrote: post #192

Earlier quoted context omitted.

More a problem of those stores still not being properly validated rather a dumping ground for extensions, than anything else.

A problem that can't be solved, you can't check every single program out there much like you can't check every single human ever even with cameras installed everywhere.

Just because some people still die with seatbelts, does not mean they aren't safer without them.

Yes you can check every single program out there, when digital stores are the only acquisition mechanism.

Or as alternative, signed binaries.

Coupled with liability like anything else in our societies.

Re: The Google Play app review process now regularly takes longer than a week

#355

Post by gvurrdon » Thu, Sep 17, 2026, 8:05 AM UTC

chipsrafferty wrote: post #206

NorthSouthNorth wrote: post #170

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know. Literally every single person I help with tech support makes me doubt this is possible. People do not care in the slightest and treat suggestions to learn basic digital hygiene as if you've asked them to a computer science degree in its entirety. Even super basic stuff like remembering a single secure password instead of reusing the same 2 or 3 basic initials-dob-symbol permutations that were probably p…

A shocking number of people have passwords like "shovel"

When assisting friends of elderly relatives I was surprised to see that one of them had managed to set up a password of "a1".

Re: The Google Play app review process now regularly takes longer than a week

#356

Post by krageon » Thu, Sep 17, 2026, 9:16 AM UTC

skeptic_ai wrote: post #275

davidmurdoch wrote: post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When you "spend" Google Play Credits in an app, Google Play treats those credits the same as if you paid with real money: they took 30% (their take isn't so steep today), I took 10%, and then I sent the user/buyer the remaining 60% directly from my bank account (I used Dwolla back then). It was risky because I didn't actually receive any money from Google until about a month later.

What you did was money laundering. And big chance for getting in trouble if let’s say ton of credits come from fraud/stolen and then google pays out to you and then crawl back once they realize is fraud. I’m curious how you didn’t get into money laundering problems.

This is not laundering, it is in fact exactly as the service was meant to be used. As long as you save where the money comes from and where it goes you are at worst operating a discount pseudo-bank. But that's what google is also doing, so we can infer that this is okay.

Re: The Google Play app review process now regularly takes longer than a week

#357

Post by krageon » Thu, Sep 17, 2026, 9:18 AM UTC

IshKebab wrote: post #294

davidmurdoch wrote: post #289

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I didn't know what a "money transference service" was, and certainly didn't know this service that I didn't know about was highly regulated. I only created it because I had Google Play Credits that were gifted to me. I built an app to "convert" them to cash for myself. I had never built an app before. I was proud of it and tried to make it pretty and professional and useful for others, and used it as a learning exper…

Right but... You've used gift cards before right? The whole point is that you can't convert them to cash. Not only that but Google/Apple gift cards are notorious for being used in fraud. I guess if you're young...

> You've used gift cards before right? The whole point is that you can't convert them to cash.

This is very untrue - there's a ton of services that do this and while it is against the ToS sometimes, there's plenty of place where ToS of this type are not legal and so you are perfectly within your rights to resell a gift card for money.