9 ms·

Google bans reddit client from Play Store for "sexually explicit material"

144 points by veeti 15y ago

stevejabs 15y ago
Looks like Android users are going to start losing one of their "talking points" if this is going to become a trend in the Google Marketplace. Instead of making the choice to crack down on sexual content I wish they would instead focus on getting ICS onto more handsets, cracking down on carriers / manufactures modifying device OS, and bouncing malware apps.
- pyre 15y ago
  Well, one of the "talking points" is that Google Marketplace isn't the only way to install apps. If Google goes this route, someone else can create an app market that competes. With Apple, you're stuck with what they spoon-feed you (unless you're successful enough to launch a PR campaign against them that works in getting them to back down).
- technomancy 15y ago
  The point of Android isn't that Google's Marketplace is better, it's that Google's Marketplace is non-exclusive. This is a textbook example of why being locked into a single source of applications is such a horrible idea.
- huggyface 15y ago
  Looks like Android users are going to start losing one of their "talking points" It is? One of the biggest complaints about the Android Market by many Android advocates is that it is too much of a Wild West, and that it very strongly needs more control. There is a medium somewhere between no control and complete control that is a nice mix, especially if you have to option of opting out of the control structure if you don't want it: If you want what the market doesn't have you are totally free to install any number of alternative markets, if not installing directly from third parties.
gitarr 15y ago
Why is the US such a prude country? They show people blowing their head off with a gun in the afternoon news while children are watching, but omg, a boob or even worse a nipple they go crazy! This ban has to be taken back, or all other means to browse reddit must be banned as well, including all google browsers, etc. I see a lawsuit coming otherwise.
- pohl 15y ago
  This ban has to be taken back, or all other means to browse reddit must be banned as well, including all google browsers, etc. I don't understand your reasoning here. When a store decides to not devote shelf space to an item, they are in no way trying to prevent you from going to another store that carries it. My local grocer does not carry tomatillos, but they're not going to sue me if I get them elsewhere.
  - pyre 15y ago
    > they're not going to sue me if I get them elsewhere. But that's a potential sale lost. You're stealing that potential revenue from your local grocer and deserve to be punished!
  - darklajid 15y ago
    The analogy is crap. Let me make it worse: You're the only store around for miles and miles and people really just buy what you've got in stock. Sure, they could order online or grow something in their backyards. Maybe there's this obscure and small outlet for some of the missing things from your inventory, but most customers don't know the place. But you just decided to remove meat from your store now. You consider eating meat distasteful and barbaric and really want to have nothing to do with that sort of stuff. In my book you'd be - abusive in your position as a quasi-monopoly - an asshole by forcing your morale standards on others I think that's a good point the GP makes. I don't give a damn what the weirdo moral limits are in the US. They are totally insane if you have my upbringing. If you want to police the market, add proper age restrictions. Or use this braindead misfeature of regional support and don't allow apps like this in the US (now that would be a change, eh?).
- 15y ago
Pewpewarrows 15y ago
For any curious devs: the distinction between this and the reason why web browsers (like Chrome, Dolphin, or Firefox) aren't banned, according to Google at least, is direct linking. An app is allowed to "browse" to NSFW material, but cannot explicitly link (or come pre-loaded with favorites or bookmarks) to said material. That said, this is still an awful and draconian policy. I wouldn't have batted an eyelash if this was a news story coming from Apple's App Store, because that's just par for the course in their ecosystem. I love what Android used to stand for, but lately I'm finding it harder to stand by my principles, with Apple providing a very enticing walled garden that's getting harder to avoid.
- nkohari 15y ago
  Except multiple Reddit clients exist for iOS, and have for years.
  - chrisrhoden 15y ago
    And none of them link directly to NSFW reddits.
    - nkohari 15y ago
      I guess I don't understand what you mean by "link directly," but NSFW links appear on the Reddit homepage often, and touching them will open the link in the app's browser. Also, (at least in Alien Blue) I can subscribe to any subreddits I want, including NSFW ones.
      - Pewpewarrows 15y ago
        By "link directly" we mean that a subreddit devoted solely to NSFW content appears as a default in a list of ones to browse from the moment the app is launched. You've always been free to add specific NSFW subreddits that you know about after the fact. And NSFW links appearing on the frontpage is an occupational hazard, that quite possibly never happened during the App Store review process.
    - 15y ago
Urgo 15y ago
I don't have any sexually explicit apps on my phone, I don't care to download any, and I don't even care to have a reddit app (I don't use the site) but the lack of censorship in the android marketplace was always the biggest reason I supported Android. Yes its true you can get apps from other sources but you shouldn't have to. I opposed the need for the amazon app store for example. Anyway this really makes me sad that google feels the need to start filtering for any reason other then malware. I've been a huge android supporter over the past few years, and this in no way is making me get an iphone, but if they continue down on this path I don't know if I'll follow in the future.
- moultano 15y ago
  Thankfully though, you can still always download the app directly from the creator without needing to do anything complicated to your device.
  - Urgo 15y ago
    But then you lose things like the ability for it to auto update when the marketplace err play store detects a new version. Also I was doing some research on the app creator and whats funny is it looks like a couple years ago google even sent the creator a free nexus one for making the first version of this app. lol.
    - technomancy 15y ago
      > But then you lose things like the ability for it to auto update Not at all: http://f-droid.org/ http://f-droid.org/
- jsight 15y ago
  > I opposed the need for the amazon app store for example. I understand what you are saying, but I believe the reasoning applies more directly to other markets (eg, slideme). I don't think that the Amazon App store exists due to restrictive Google policies, but rather due to Amazon's desires to directly enter this market (cf, Kindle Fire).
tvon 15y ago
So they don't want to promote it in the Android Market, but you can still install it from other sources, can't you? I mean, wouldn't a curated collection in "Play Store" (or whatever it's called) along with the option to download outside apps be the best of both worlds?
- ajross 15y ago
  Yes, you can always install a .apk file directly via download, though there are a few steps to the process (turn on "developer mode" or whatever, then find the unassociated downloaded file and launch it). Amazon seems to be making it work with their market app though, so it's probably not insurmountable. But no, I wouldn't consider that a "best" of the two worlds. Adult sites like reddit mix "clean" content and NSFW stuff all the time, and dumping them in an unsupported bin isn't likely to make anyone happy. If there's a curation step, there also needs to be a opt-in for people who don't mind the occasional nudity with their geek news.
  - pbhjpbhj 15y ago
    >opt-in for people who don't mind the occasional nudity // This sounds like a fanboy-like purposed miscategorisation. Reddit links to hardcore pornography (and mirrors it in thumbnail form) and has until very recently carried Child pornography. It is also a hub for extreme NSFL shock imagery. You can argue that someone should provide a repository for Android apps that allow access to such things but I don't think you can fairly expect any particular company to put their name to promotion of that sort of content. Any company that wishes to remain with an appearance of respectability would probably do well to keep a large distance between themselves and reddit (and probably 4chan from what I've heard but I'm not that familiar with it - I've visited a couple of times and what I found was relatively tame compared to what I've seen on reddit, YMMV). >'reddit is fun banned for "sexually explicit material"' That sounds like the correct analysis to me.
    - ajross 15y ago
      Reddit links to hardcore pornography (and mirrors it in thumbnail form) I guess that's true, because Reddit accepts and mirrors thumbnails from any image link posted. But that doesn't make it a "porn site" either. Lots of folks like me go there to read stuff like /r/askscience, which is about as good a pop science hub as any in print or web form anywhere in the world. You're saying you'd want to be censoring that forum because of stuff people do elsewhere on the site? You're not alone, but I suspect you'll find very few supporters for that opinion here. And I think your information might be a little spun. When on earth did Reddit carry child pornography? Doing so is a crime pretty much anywhere, and I don't remember any FBI raids.
georgemcbay 15y ago
The march towards being a half-assed Apple continues. http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3700731 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3700731 The disappointment continues as well. I never would have thought replacing Eric Schmidt as CEO was a bad thing, and I'm sure there are more factors at play here than just that, but I can trace my waning support of Google to a pretty specific time that happens to coincide with Page taking the CEO spot.
- w1ntermute 15y ago
  And this is where the strength of Android shows. Just download and install the APK: https://github.com/talklittle/reddit-is-fun/downloads https://github.com/talklittle/reddit-is-fun/downloads And if this keeps up, someone will just make an alternate market.
  - cma 15y ago
    There are already tons of alternate markets, including one run by Amazon...
    - rplnt 15y ago
      Two other (not only) android markets backed by well-known companies: http://apps.opera.com/ http://apps.opera.com/ https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/apps/ https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/apps/ (coming soon?)
  - georgemcbay 15y ago
    You can jailbreak an iOS device and install whatever you want as well, that doesn't change the fact that Apple makes ridiculous decisions about what can and can't appear on the app store. My problem with this decision isn't that it makes it impossible for me to install this one app, but rather that it looks very much like the path towards where Apple is, where maybe I have to install a custom Cyanogenmod build on my Android phone just to have the option to install non-'Play' APKs (this isn't the situation now, but I can much more easily see this happening today than I could a year ago).
bostonvaulter2 15y ago
This seems like a great place to plug f-droid which is basically an Android "market" of all open-source apps that they compile themselves. Download reddit is fun from f-droid here: http://f-droid.org/repository/browse/?fdid=com.andrewshu.android.reddit&fdpage=6 http://f-droid.org/repository/browse/?fdid=com.andrewshu.and...
benihana 15y ago
...Redditors find some way to blame Apple and "hipsters"
jballanc 15y ago
In some ways, I wish this was a case of a company enforcing its own morals. Chick-fil-a is closed on Sundays. Fine. I don't eat there. Enough people do to keep them open. Great. The thing about morals, though, is that everyone can have their own view. Taco Bell is open on Sundays. So is McDonalds, Burger King, and literally thousands of other restaurants. So why should I care that Chick-fil-a is closed? No, I think this is about litigation. That's a lot more troubling because all companies (at least those based in the US) are subject to the same threats of litigation. Obviously, laws are based on morals, but ideally laws are based on the union of a population's morals, not the intersection. This does not bode well for America.
- javert 15y ago
  Obviously, laws are based on morals I think that's an astute observation... probably not obvious to most people. ideally laws are based on the union of a population's morals, not the intersection Did you mean this the other way around? The union of my morals and those of Chick-fil-a would mean I can't work on Sunday. The intersection is probably more like, don't initiate force against others.
gcb 15y ago
They should remove gmail as well. I get some crazy things via that app And it goes direct to my notification bar. talk about direct linking

144 points by veeti 15y ago

Looks like Android users are going to start losing one of their "talking points" if this is going to become a trend in the Google Marketplace. Instead of making the choice to crack down on sexual content I wish they would instead focus on getting ICS onto more handsets, cracking down on carriers / manufactures modifying device OS, and bouncing malware apps.

pyre 15y ago
Well, one of the "talking points" is that Google Marketplace isn't the only way to install apps. If Google goes this route, someone else can create an app market that competes. With Apple, you're stuck with what they spoon-feed you (unless you're successful enough to launch a PR campaign against them that works in getting them to back down).
technomancy 15y ago
The point of Android isn't that Google's Marketplace is better, it's that Google's Marketplace is non-exclusive. This is a textbook example of why being locked into a single source of applications is such a horrible idea.
huggyface 15y ago
Looks like Android users are going to start losing one of their "talking points" It is? One of the biggest complaints about the Android Market by many Android advocates is that it is too much of a Wild West, and that it very strongly needs more control. There is a medium somewhere between no control and complete control that is a nice mix, especially if you have to option of opting out of the control structure if you don't want it: If you want what the market doesn't have you are totally free to install any number of alternative markets, if not installing directly from third parties.

gitarr 15y ago

Why is the US such a prude country? They show people blowing their head off with a gun in the afternoon news while children are watching, but omg, a boob or even worse a nipple they go crazy! This ban has to be taken back, or all other means to browse reddit must be banned as well, including all google browsers, etc. I see a lawsuit coming otherwise.

pohl 15y ago
This ban has to be taken back, or all other means to browse reddit must be banned as well, including all google browsers, etc. I don't understand your reasoning here. When a store decides to not devote shelf space to an item, they are in no way trying to prevent you from going to another store that carries it. My local grocer does not carry tomatillos, but they're not going to sue me if I get them elsewhere.
- pyre 15y ago
  > they're not going to sue me if I get them elsewhere. But that's a potential sale lost. You're stealing that potential revenue from your local grocer and deserve to be punished!
- darklajid 15y ago
  The analogy is crap. Let me make it worse: You're the only store around for miles and miles and people really just buy what you've got in stock. Sure, they could order online or grow something in their backyards. Maybe there's this obscure and small outlet for some of the missing things from your inventory, but most customers don't know the place. But you just decided to remove meat from your store now. You consider eating meat distasteful and barbaric and really want to have nothing to do with that sort of stuff. In my book you'd be - abusive in your position as a quasi-monopoly - an asshole by forcing your morale standards on others I think that's a good point the GP makes. I don't give a damn what the weirdo moral limits are in the US. They are totally insane if you have my upbringing. If you want to police the market, add proper age restrictions. Or use this braindead misfeature of regional support and don't allow apps like this in the US (now that would be a change, eh?).
15y ago

Pewpewarrows 15y ago

For any curious devs: the distinction between this and the reason why web browsers (like Chrome, Dolphin, or Firefox) aren't banned, according to Google at least, is direct linking. An app is allowed to "browse" to NSFW material, but cannot explicitly link (or come pre-loaded with favorites or bookmarks) to said material. That said, this is still an awful and draconian policy. I wouldn't have batted an eyelash if this was a news story coming from Apple's App Store, because that's just par for the course in their ecosystem. I love what Android used to stand for, but lately I'm finding it harder to stand by my principles, with Apple providing a very enticing walled garden that's getting harder to avoid.

nkohari 15y ago
Except multiple Reddit clients exist for iOS, and have for years.
- chrisrhoden 15y ago
  And none of them link directly to NSFW reddits.
  - nkohari 15y ago
    I guess I don't understand what you mean by "link directly," but NSFW links appear on the Reddit homepage often, and touching them will open the link in the app's browser. Also, (at least in Alien Blue) I can subscribe to any subreddits I want, including NSFW ones.
    - Pewpewarrows 15y ago
      By "link directly" we mean that a subreddit devoted solely to NSFW content appears as a default in a list of ones to browse from the moment the app is launched. You've always been free to add specific NSFW subreddits that you know about after the fact. And NSFW links appearing on the frontpage is an occupational hazard, that quite possibly never happened during the App Store review process.
  - 15y ago

Urgo 15y ago

I don't have any sexually explicit apps on my phone, I don't care to download any, and I don't even care to have a reddit app (I don't use the site) but the lack of censorship in the android marketplace was always the biggest reason I supported Android. Yes its true you can get apps from other sources but you shouldn't have to. I opposed the need for the amazon app store for example. Anyway this really makes me sad that google feels the need to start filtering for any reason other then malware. I've been a huge android supporter over the past few years, and this in no way is making me get an iphone, but if they continue down on this path I don't know if I'll follow in the future.

moultano 15y ago
Thankfully though, you can still always download the app directly from the creator without needing to do anything complicated to your device.
- Urgo 15y ago
  But then you lose things like the ability for it to auto update when the marketplace err play store detects a new version. Also I was doing some research on the app creator and whats funny is it looks like a couple years ago google even sent the creator a free nexus one for making the first version of this app. lol.
  - technomancy 15y ago
    > But then you lose things like the ability for it to auto update Not at all: http://f-droid.org/ http://f-droid.org/
jsight 15y ago
> I opposed the need for the amazon app store for example. I understand what you are saying, but I believe the reasoning applies more directly to other markets (eg, slideme). I don't think that the Amazon App store exists due to restrictive Google policies, but rather due to Amazon's desires to directly enter this market (cf, Kindle Fire).

tvon 15y ago

So they don't want to promote it in the Android Market, but you can still install it from other sources, can't you? I mean, wouldn't a curated collection in "Play Store" (or whatever it's called) along with the option to download outside apps be the best of both worlds?

ajross 15y ago
Yes, you can always install a .apk file directly via download, though there are a few steps to the process (turn on "developer mode" or whatever, then find the unassociated downloaded file and launch it). Amazon seems to be making it work with their market app though, so it's probably not insurmountable. But no, I wouldn't consider that a "best" of the two worlds. Adult sites like reddit mix "clean" content and NSFW stuff all the time, and dumping them in an unsupported bin isn't likely to make anyone happy. If there's a curation step, there also needs to be a opt-in for people who don't mind the occasional nudity with their geek news.
- pbhjpbhj 15y ago
  >opt-in for people who don't mind the occasional nudity // This sounds like a fanboy-like purposed miscategorisation. Reddit links to hardcore pornography (and mirrors it in thumbnail form) and has until very recently carried Child pornography. It is also a hub for extreme NSFL shock imagery. You can argue that someone should provide a repository for Android apps that allow access to such things but I don't think you can fairly expect any particular company to put their name to promotion of that sort of content. Any company that wishes to remain with an appearance of respectability would probably do well to keep a large distance between themselves and reddit (and probably 4chan from what I've heard but I'm not that familiar with it - I've visited a couple of times and what I found was relatively tame compared to what I've seen on reddit, YMMV). >'reddit is fun banned for "sexually explicit material"' That sounds like the correct analysis to me.
  - ajross 15y ago
    Reddit links to hardcore pornography (and mirrors it in thumbnail form) I guess that's true, because Reddit accepts and mirrors thumbnails from any image link posted. But that doesn't make it a "porn site" either. Lots of folks like me go there to read stuff like /r/askscience, which is about as good a pop science hub as any in print or web form anywhere in the world. You're saying you'd want to be censoring that forum because of stuff people do elsewhere on the site? You're not alone, but I suspect you'll find very few supporters for that opinion here. And I think your information might be a little spun. When on earth did Reddit carry child pornography? Doing so is a crime pretty much anywhere, and I don't remember any FBI raids.

georgemcbay 15y ago

The march towards being a half-assed Apple continues. http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3700731 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3700731 The disappointment continues as well. I never would have thought replacing Eric Schmidt as CEO was a bad thing, and I'm sure there are more factors at play here than just that, but I can trace my waning support of Google to a pretty specific time that happens to coincide with Page taking the CEO spot.

w1ntermute 15y ago
And this is where the strength of Android shows. Just download and install the APK: https://github.com/talklittle/reddit-is-fun/downloads https://github.com/talklittle/reddit-is-fun/downloads And if this keeps up, someone will just make an alternate market.
- cma 15y ago
  There are already tons of alternate markets, including one run by Amazon...
  - rplnt 15y ago
    Two other (not only) android markets backed by well-known companies: http://apps.opera.com/ http://apps.opera.com/ https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/apps/ https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/apps/ (coming soon?)
- georgemcbay 15y ago
  You can jailbreak an iOS device and install whatever you want as well, that doesn't change the fact that Apple makes ridiculous decisions about what can and can't appear on the app store. My problem with this decision isn't that it makes it impossible for me to install this one app, but rather that it looks very much like the path towards where Apple is, where maybe I have to install a custom Cyanogenmod build on my Android phone just to have the option to install non-'Play' APKs (this isn't the situation now, but I can much more easily see this happening today than I could a year ago).

bostonvaulter2 15y ago

This seems like a great place to plug f-droid which is basically an Android "market" of all open-source apps that they compile themselves. Download reddit is fun from f-droid here: http://f-droid.org/repository/browse/?fdid=com.andrewshu.android.reddit&fdpage=6 http://f-droid.org/repository/browse/?fdid=com.andrewshu.and...

benihana 15y ago

...Redditors find some way to blame Apple and "hipsters"

jballanc 15y ago

In some ways, I wish this was a case of a company enforcing its own morals. Chick-fil-a is closed on Sundays. Fine. I don't eat there. Enough people do to keep them open. Great. The thing about morals, though, is that everyone can have their own view. Taco Bell is open on Sundays. So is McDonalds, Burger King, and literally thousands of other restaurants. So why should I care that Chick-fil-a is closed? No, I think this is about litigation. That's a lot more troubling because all companies (at least those based in the US) are subject to the same threats of litigation. Obviously, laws are based on morals, but ideally laws are based on the union of a population's morals, not the intersection. This does not bode well for America.

javert 15y ago
Obviously, laws are based on morals I think that's an astute observation... probably not obvious to most people. ideally laws are based on the union of a population's morals, not the intersection Did you mean this the other way around? The union of my morals and those of Chick-fil-a would mean I can't work on Sunday. The intersection is probably more like, don't initiate force against others.

gcb 15y ago

They should remove gmail as well. I get some crazy things via that app And it goes direct to my notification bar. talk about direct linking