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Even though Android is widely open to any installer file found on the web, an overwhelming majority of users trust the Google Play Store to discover, download, and update their library of apps and games. It’s not perfect, of course. Developers can fall victim to all kinds of store traps, including a few introduced by Google itself.
This week we learned that “sugar daddy” apps are facing upcoming bans on the Play Store due to a pre-existing rule regarding sexual content. This is not the first time that Google has removed a whole “kind” of service. In 2019, for example, marijuana delivery apps were either removed from Android or forced to separate their shopping cart to stay active and online. Regardless of the niche, it can be frustrating to learn that a complete subset of apps is no longer available, leaving all users with no alternative options.
Of course, not all withdrawals are reasonable. Many apps have been wrongly removed over the past few years, causing developers to scramble to find a solution. The Element chat client was suspended earlier this year for abusive content, although Google ultimately admitted it was a mistake. Slide, a popular third-party Reddit browser, was taken down for “spoofing” in 2020, and although Google later reinstated the app, it never provided an explanation for the error. And we can’t forget one of the dumbest actions of all: when the Play Store removed a video player for supporting “.ass” files, a standard subtitle format.
The truth is, there is no shortage of stories, from high-profile lawsuits to banned apps you’ll never hear about again. These events even prompted Google to test a developer helpline in India a few months ago.
While the Play Store team do their best to strike a balance between security, curation, and as wide a range of software as possible, these withdrawals have likely affected a lot of us at least once. So, has an app you care about ever been banned from the Play Store? And if so, what was your response? Did you find a way to keep using it, or were you just out of luck?
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