4 ms·

The rule is not new. Everyone claiming (or suggesting) that this rule is new is being lazy and sloppy (at best). Here's a copy of the Android developer agreeme

• kamjam 15y ago
  That's a good find. The cynical side of me however thinks that this may have been Google's plan all along - get a big enough user base and then enforce the rule. It's a good way to recoup some money for the cost of developing the Android OS.
  • fpgeek 15y ago
    Not really. IIRC, they pay all of the "Payment Processor" money beyond their costs back to the carriers (though I'm not sure what happens with WiFi-only devices). I suspect, but can't prove that they're acting out of ecosystem concerns like uniformity and conversion rates. Even now, the enforcement is pretty lax. I've been looking at some random apps and it surprised me how many asked for off-market donations and the like. Perhaps donations that don't unlock features fall under the same exception that permits third-party payment for physical goods and digital goods [i.e. music or ebooks] (what I've thought of as the Amazon exception).