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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

#311

Post by mplewis »

yladiz wrote: post #267
Fnoord wrote: post #234

Can we just stop distributing "donation-ware" FOSS and use F-Droid for that instead? It is not as if Google Play Store is a credible source anyway given all the hostile content (for both privacy and security). Today I learned they even remove the orig. signature [1] [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21268717

Why? Google Play Store has a much larger audience and so the apps will be seen by many more people. Many people use Android and they also should be able to use FOSS apps, regardless of the platform’s privacy and security issues. Is there a reason to not join the Play Store besides something philosophical?

This OP is about an app being dropped from the Play Store because they're asking for donations. That's a pretty good reason.

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

#312

Post by buckminster »

flanbiscuit wrote: post #165
mschuster91 wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or in Germany to get an emergency court order ("Einstweilige Verfügung"), dunno if the US has a similar legal venue. At least with an EV you get the immediate attention of their legal department.

Does GDPR cover these kind of issues where accounts/apps are demonetized or taken down because of some automated process mistake?

In England you can sue a company for failing to follow its own policies but I don't know if this is possible as a small claim. If not it's probably eye-wateringly expensive.

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

#313

Post by edhelas »

My social-network/IM app (https://movim.eu/) got also removed from the Play Store because I had a link to the F-Droid app.

The Android app is basically a web-view pointing to one of the many instances of the social network https://nl.movim.eu/?login.

Regarding the time (and also money) spent to publish the APK on the Play Store and the hassle it is to discuss with the Google moderation team I didn't bothered putting it back.

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

#314

Post by ur-whale »

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…

>Ugh, app stores! >No one needs them for discovering new software

I so badly wish I could agree with you :)

Sadly, observing the non-tech folks around me, some of which don't even know what an app is, and some of which think the only apps they'll ever use on their phone is the ones it came loaded with ... it's not true.

What is needed is an android app. store that is decentralized / distributed, where the "trust" of an app is a consensus-based score and that has the popularity of whatsapp.

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

#315

Post by zAy0LfpBZLC8mAC »

lm28469 wrote: post #201
zAy0LfpBZLC8mAC wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem is the authoritarianism. You are advocating for totalitarian control as a solution to the possibility that some individuals might misbehave. If there is one thing we should have learned from history by now, it's that that's about the worst solution to a problem ever.

We're talking about an app store, not the Final solution. And as far as I know in developed countries companies still have to follow the law.

So? I don't understand your point. Authoritarian solutions are good as long as they are not "the Final solution" because ... ? And what does having to follow the law have to do with any of this? Even "the Final solution" was law, and in a developed country at that, so ... yeah, could you explain what your point is there?

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

#316

Post by amscanne »

jrockway wrote: post #284

I am not sure why it needs to be called a donation. Just let the in-app purchase unlock some cosmetics in the app like games do. You weren't going to deduct the donation from your taxes anyway. I am curious how this ends up working out. Google takes a cut of the donations now... but the process of buying is probably easier. So maybe it will increase donation revenue, and make it easier to support free software. (Taki…

> You weren't going to deduct the donation from your taxes anyway.

Unless I’m mistaken, this is only possible if you’re donating to a registered charity. Many view open source as more noble, but OSS developers don’t magically get a different rule book :)

(I don’t disagree with your perspective here, but the prevailing sentiment in this thread seems to be that OSS developers should get a different rule book.)

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

#317

Post by UncleMeat »

londons_explore wrote: post #113
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…

> All I really want is an OS facility that only executes code that has been installed explicitly by me, and always in a sandbox. Androids app sandbox is pretty leaky. It has a massive surface area, and the chances of finding exploits to get out of it to find root are high. Also, even from within the sandbox, there are lots of evil things you can do (for example, start on boot, and go fullscreen and use all the ram so…

You say this, but rooting attempts for flagship Android phones have failed at many recent pwn2owns. The grey market price for a root exploit on flagship Android is comparable to iPhone.

The most popular third party rooting services don't seem to support past Android 8.

Clearly it isn't easy to root these things.

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

#318

Post by ur-whale »

orbital-decay wrote: post #196
Santosh83 wrote: post #86

A general comment: the need of the hour is to educate the billions of 'ordinary' computer users about the basics of software, privacy, security and trust. We must not fall into the narrative being parroted around off-late that considers end-users as pretty much dumb content consumers who should not be expected to ever know even the minimum about the underlying tech and therefore every decision needs to be made for th…

I've tried to educate many people on a personal level and failed miserably almost every time, being perceived and dismissed as an evangelist for some weird ideology they don't care about (and I took it very slow and tried really, really hard not to sound as one). Maybe they are right, after all? Who am I to dictate or even influence what they should care about, especially if they don't experience that clearly. People…

> Meanwhile in 2019, most people still find "nothing to hide" attitude perfectly reasonable.

I have had the exact same experience. I've long given up trying to explain anything to normies, including anything related to privacy.

I really pains me to say this, but the bleating masses are the bleating masses, and getting them to internalize anything typically takes a generation.

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

#319

Post by chrisballinger »

I guess this will get lost in the noise, but a few years ago Apple relaxed its restrictions on IAP donations and allows developers to offer a "tip jar" where IAPs don't unlock any specific features. I've been shipping a free and open source app with a donate button on the App Store since mid-2017 [1].

1. https://chatsecure.org/blog/sustainable-open-source-starts-w...

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

#320

Post by diffeomorphism »

scarface74 wrote: post #194
iicc wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Apps that employ in-store or in-app purchases must comply with the following guidelines A donation is not a purchase.

So what is stopping all apps from being “free with a donation”?

The same thing that stops random stores from being "free with a donation"? Laws, tax fraud, etc. .
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