Trump’s campaign app has been suspended from the Google Play Store for not working

Google removed former President Donald Trump’s 2020 campaign app from the Google Play Store earlier on Wednesday. It wasn’t removed for any of the many other reasons Trump was taken off the world’s biggest platforms, but rather because it just didn’t work, Android Police reports.

Before its suspension, the app provided campaign information, a calendar of events, and ways to donate to the campaign, but at one point it stopped working, prompting Google to take it down. Android Police confirmed that the app was not functional before Google removed it. When Android Police tested the app, it was not able to load the content, report a network error, or just spin a “T” load circle endlessly. The iOS version of the app is still on the Apple App Store and still works, however.

Image: Android Police

This might not come as a surprise, but apps must maintain “minimal functionality” as part of Play Store policies, which means they must both load and be responsive. Google provided a statement to Android Police why he deleted the app:

The Trump 2020 Campaign app recently stopped working and we have contacted the developer several times in an attempt to get them to resolve the issue. People expect apps downloaded from Google Play to provide a minimum level of functionality and our policy is to remove apps that are not working from the store if they are not fixed. “

While there may be a desire to link the removal of the app to broader political motives like Trump’s second impeachment or even earlier instances of the former president’s removal from Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube, this is a simple moderation of the App Store at work: when an app is not working and the developers do not update, it is removed until further notice. With the 2020 campaign over, don’t expect the app to be updated – at least until 2024.