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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

#41

Post by wtfwhateven »

irjustin wrote: post #35

I know this will be against deeply against HNews but I'm open to discussion. I don't see anything wrong with this. Charging vs Donations, I don't see what the difference is. It's people paying money for good/services/software. The primary difference is the open ended pricing model. Google, Apple put up networks and there's value in that network. Whether someone chooses to release their app for free or charge money fo…

>Charging vs Donations, I don't see what the difference is.

Charging: Person paying gets something in return Donating: Person paying does not get something in return

>The primary difference is the open ended pricing model.

What does "an open ended pricing model" mean?

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

#43

Post by Crazyontap »

A lot of people justify Google and Apple's 30% because they provide an app store and distribution.

But Android is Android because of these apps. Without them it would be like the Windows phone which was nice but didn't get enough apps on it and so it failed.

These companies depend on our apps as much as we depend on their app store for distribution.

Fuck apple for starting this walled garden and creating a parasitic relationship rather than a symbiotic relationship.

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

#45

Post by Terretta »

irjustin wrote: post #35

I know this will be against deeply against HNews but I'm open to discussion. I don't see anything wrong with this. Charging vs Donations, I don't see what the difference is. It's people paying money for good/services/software. The primary difference is the open ended pricing model. Google, Apple put up networks and there's value in that network. Whether someone chooses to release their app for free or charge money fo…

While it doesn’t touch on donations, for the “value prop” angle I strongly suggest developers read and internalize Apple’s point of view as expressed in “iOS App Store Principles and Practices”:

https://www.apple.com/ios/app-store/principles-practices/

Also on the value prop front, worth noting a variety of digital app stores at scale have found operation costs 12% to 18% fees before the hands on “40% rejection” level of oversight that Apple is providing to end users.

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

#46

Post by zoobab »

moviuro wrote: post #17
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.

1. F-Droid can't be published on Google Play Store, because they're an "alternative market". 2. Please, make it appealing for you and others! https://gitlab.com/fdroid/fdroidclient

FTP was fine. Plus it was easily mirrorable.

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

#48

Post by yulaow »

irjustin wrote: post #35

I know this will be against deeply against HNews but I'm open to discussion. I don't see anything wrong with this. Charging vs Donations, I don't see what the difference is. It's people paying money for good/services/software. The primary difference is the open ended pricing model. Google, Apple put up networks and there's value in that network. Whether someone chooses to release their app for free or charge money fo…

In most legislations they are taxed (and deducted) very differently and must respect specific characteristics (eg donators must not receive nothing of value in exchange, must not be asked to donate a minimum amount or a repeated amount, etc)

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

#49

Post by na85 »

oh_sigh wrote: post #31
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…

I can almost guarantee you that a googler who reads hn has submitted this issue to an internal mailing list and you will get special treatment for this problem.

It's fucking infuriating that the only way to get the attention of a human at Google is to know someone or to frontpage HN.

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

#50

Post by esotericn »

irjustin wrote: post #35

I know this will be against deeply against HNews but I'm open to discussion. I don't see anything wrong with this. Charging vs Donations, I don't see what the difference is. It's people paying money for good/services/software. The primary difference is the open ended pricing model. Google, Apple put up networks and there's value in that network. Whether someone chooses to release their app for free or charge money fo…

You're stating, essentially, that anyone who wants to publish FOSS software with a donation link should be forced to go through some convoluted procedure and register as a charitable organization. (where? in the US? in their specific region? does it matter? how much time will it take for them to figure out? is this even possible in all regions? does this require ongoing effort e.g. accounting, document submission, general bureaucracy?)

This is simply not how the real world works. If it ever does, you've created a dystopia.

Google are being bureaucratic twats here. There's plainly and obviously a difference between WireGuard and the 10,000,000th iteration of some bullshit F2P casual game, and there's obviously a distinction between donations and purchases - the intent of the user, for one.

That they put prole-tier support on the case and 'accidentally or otherwise' sling the banhammer at pivotal pieces of software is their problem to figure out.

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