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I had to go look to see what this was: "DroidScript is an easy to use, portable coding tool which simplifies mobile App development. It dramatically improves p

I had to go look to see what this was: "DroidScript is an easy to use, portable coding tool which simplifies mobile App development. It dramatically improves productivity by speeding up development by as much as 10x compared with using the standard development tools. It’s also an ideal tool for learning JavaScript, you can literally code anywhere with DroidScript, it’s not cloud based and doesn’t require an internet connection. Unlike other development tools which take hours to install and eat up gigabytes of disk space, you can install DroidScript start using it within 30 seconds!"

kbelder 6y ago
This is my primary hacking tool for throwing little scripts together on Android. You can bring up an IDE in chrome on your PC and interactively execute it on your phone. I hope this gets fixed. I wouldn't really be surprised if EVERY scripting/programming app in the play store technically violates some play store rules, though.
- narwally 6y ago
  Well damn, now I want to download it. I've never gotten into mobile development because getting started always seemed like a chore, but this sounds like it would be fun to play around with.
  - stevewodil 6y ago
    Try Flutter! Great SDK to get started with mobile development, and dart is a really nice language
    - Steltek 6y ago
      Having tried neither, Flutter sounds like the polar opposite of both the experience and capability that GP mentioned. I'm sure it's nice but can it be developed interactively in a PC browser as described above?
      - deleted 6y ago
        [deleted]
      - judge2020 6y ago
        Flutter is hacking just your own app, Droidscript sounds like it could be used for anything in other apps (maybe even ad click fraud).
  - loa_in_ 6y ago
    Whatever you choose, moving to mobile development is extremely fun once set up. Usually IDE if your choice reloads the app on the phone over the cable for you, so the feedback loop is really nice.
  - TheRealSteel 6y ago
    Try making a React Native app using Expo. You write JavaScript on your PC (but you can access native functions) and the app will automatically refresh on your phone near instantly. You can later eject it to an Android Studio/Xcode project if you want.
- yaur 6y ago
  Do these scripts run as the IDE? If so it seems like they could be held responsible for any bad behavior engaged in by their users.
  - teknopaul 6y ago
    Let's be clear: for Google's definition of bad.
- ehsankia 6y ago
  > I hope this gets fixed. Define "fixed", it was removed from Play Store but anyone can still install from APK or F-Droid, right?
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
  - matoro 6y ago
    It's closed-source and paid. Not allowed on F-Droid.
ajross 6y ago
Time for one of these again. So... having read through their marketing material, this is an on-device tool that opens up what appears to be most of the Android application API to at least the user of the device, and potentially to any Droidscript applications they grab from other sources, and... maybe to other apps on the device? It's not clear from a quick read how extensive the runtime control is. So just right out of the gate this is defeating basically the entirety of the Play Store vetting process. Droidscript itself may not be engaged in advertising fraud, but it makes advertising fraud trivial to deploy. (And it needs to be said: this is the kind of app that would never have been legal at all on any version of iOS.) Add to that that it's a closed source IDE for an open platform, and my intuition sides with Google here. My guess is that when details come out it will turn out that at-least-plausibly harmful Droidscript garbage was being pushed to users and Google decided to kill it.
- dtx1 6y ago
  I think your thoughts on this are plausible, if not likely. However, the usual complete lack of communication by google is the actual problem. Perhaps droidscripts could mitigate googles concerns, if they had the decency to explain them.
  - ajross 6y ago
    > However, the usual complete lack of communication by google is the actual problem. Uh... Seems like the actual problem (given that scenario) is that adware is being pushed to users, not whether or not Google defended its ban in public. Complaints about customer service (from everyone, not just Google) are a dime a dozen, actual user security is clearly more important, right? Your answer presupposes a frame where Droidscript is innocent. What if it's not, and it knowingly nodded to a community of junkware being pushed to its users (again, I have no evidence!). In that case you'd want it banned without "decency", right?
    - dtx1 6y ago
      Banning it first is fine. banning it first, then not giving a reply to the concerns they have is not. Even if they have reasonable believe or proof that droidscript is indeed malware, it looks like at least a chunk of their userbase uses it for legitimate usecases and the devs, who likely invested at least a few hundred hours of work in it, deserve at least some communication.
simias 6y ago
Was it used to publish malware? Given that it's a general purpose scripting tool I can imagine that some people would abuse it and use it as some sort of backdoor to get clueless users to run malware without having to publish it on the app store. If that's the argument I can sort of see Google's point here. The Play Store is supposed to be curated and the application should follow certain guidelines. This tool as I understand it effectively provides a loophole that lets people run non-curated code without jailbreak. I know that Apple removed apps for similar reasons in the past. TFA is a bit misleading, the whole "AD FRAUD" angle is frankly irrelevant, it's just that since Google considers that the app violates the guidelines it can't be eligible for the ad program.
- franga2000 6y ago
  > This tool as I understand it effectively provides a loophole that lets people run non-curated code without jailbreak. Installing non-curated apps has always been supported on Android - no jailbreaking required. Just get an APK either straight from the developer or through any number of alternative app stores, open it, click the "yes, I'm sure" option in the security popup and you've got yourself an app.
MadWombat 6y ago
One of the specific features of DroidScript is that it is a remote IDE. That is, when you start DroidScript on your phone it will serve the IDE UI via HTTP and you can then connect it by using your phones IP address (DroidScript conveniently gives you a URL to use). Maybe that is the reason for Google's decision. Also, according to DroidScript itself, Google accused them of ad fraud, so maybe there is something there.
1vuio0pswjnm7 6y ago
Sounds too good to be true. Is this open source and available on F-Droid. If not, it should be.

kbelder 6y ago

This is my primary hacking tool for throwing little scripts together on Android. You can bring up an IDE in chrome on your PC and interactively execute it on your phone. I hope this gets fixed. I wouldn't really be surprised if EVERY scripting/programming app in the play store technically violates some play store rules, though.

narwally 6y ago
Well damn, now I want to download it. I've never gotten into mobile development because getting started always seemed like a chore, but this sounds like it would be fun to play around with.
- stevewodil 6y ago
  Try Flutter! Great SDK to get started with mobile development, and dart is a really nice language
  - Steltek 6y ago
    Having tried neither, Flutter sounds like the polar opposite of both the experience and capability that GP mentioned. I'm sure it's nice but can it be developed interactively in a PC browser as described above?
    - deleted 6y ago
      [deleted]
    - judge2020 6y ago
      Flutter is hacking just your own app, Droidscript sounds like it could be used for anything in other apps (maybe even ad click fraud).
- loa_in_ 6y ago
  Whatever you choose, moving to mobile development is extremely fun once set up. Usually IDE if your choice reloads the app on the phone over the cable for you, so the feedback loop is really nice.
- TheRealSteel 6y ago
  Try making a React Native app using Expo. You write JavaScript on your PC (but you can access native functions) and the app will automatically refresh on your phone near instantly. You can later eject it to an Android Studio/Xcode project if you want.
yaur 6y ago
Do these scripts run as the IDE? If so it seems like they could be held responsible for any bad behavior engaged in by their users.
- teknopaul 6y ago
  Let's be clear: for Google's definition of bad.
ehsankia 6y ago
> I hope this gets fixed. Define "fixed", it was removed from Play Store but anyone can still install from APK or F-Droid, right?
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
- matoro 6y ago
  It's closed-source and paid. Not allowed on F-Droid.

ajross 6y ago

Time for one of these again. So... having read through their marketing material, this is an on-device tool that opens up what appears to be most of the Android application API to at least the user of the device, and potentially to any Droidscript applications they grab from other sources, and... maybe to other apps on the device? It's not clear from a quick read how extensive the runtime control is. So just right out of the gate this is defeating basically the entirety of the Play Store vetting process. Droidscript itself may not be engaged in advertising fraud, but it makes advertising fraud trivial to deploy. (And it needs to be said: this is the kind of app that would never have been legal at all on any version of iOS.) Add to that that it's a closed source IDE for an open platform, and my intuition sides with Google here. My guess is that when details come out it will turn out that at-least-plausibly harmful Droidscript garbage was being pushed to users and Google decided to kill it.

dtx1 6y ago
I think your thoughts on this are plausible, if not likely. However, the usual complete lack of communication by google is the actual problem. Perhaps droidscripts could mitigate googles concerns, if they had the decency to explain them.
- ajross 6y ago
  > However, the usual complete lack of communication by google is the actual problem. Uh... Seems like the actual problem (given that scenario) is that adware is being pushed to users, not whether or not Google defended its ban in public. Complaints about customer service (from everyone, not just Google) are a dime a dozen, actual user security is clearly more important, right? Your answer presupposes a frame where Droidscript is innocent. What if it's not, and it knowingly nodded to a community of junkware being pushed to its users (again, I have no evidence!). In that case you'd want it banned without "decency", right?
  - dtx1 6y ago
    Banning it first is fine. banning it first, then not giving a reply to the concerns they have is not. Even if they have reasonable believe or proof that droidscript is indeed malware, it looks like at least a chunk of their userbase uses it for legitimate usecases and the devs, who likely invested at least a few hundred hours of work in it, deserve at least some communication.

simias 6y ago

Was it used to publish malware? Given that it's a general purpose scripting tool I can imagine that some people would abuse it and use it as some sort of backdoor to get clueless users to run malware without having to publish it on the app store. If that's the argument I can sort of see Google's point here. The Play Store is supposed to be curated and the application should follow certain guidelines. This tool as I understand it effectively provides a loophole that lets people run non-curated code without jailbreak. I know that Apple removed apps for similar reasons in the past. TFA is a bit misleading, the whole "AD FRAUD" angle is frankly irrelevant, it's just that since Google considers that the app violates the guidelines it can't be eligible for the ad program.

franga2000 6y ago
> This tool as I understand it effectively provides a loophole that lets people run non-curated code without jailbreak. Installing non-curated apps has always been supported on Android - no jailbreaking required. Just get an APK either straight from the developer or through any number of alternative app stores, open it, click the "yes, I'm sure" option in the security popup and you've got yourself an app.

MadWombat 6y ago

One of the specific features of DroidScript is that it is a remote IDE. That is, when you start DroidScript on your phone it will serve the IDE UI via HTTP and you can then connect it by using your phones IP address (DroidScript conveniently gives you a URL to use). Maybe that is the reason for Google's decision. Also, according to DroidScript itself, Google accused them of ad fraud, so maybe there is something there.

1vuio0pswjnm7 6y ago

Sounds too good to be true. Is this open source and available on F-Droid. If not, it should be.