3 ms·
Tell HN: Google will require devs to show a phone number for Google Play users
I have just received an email about the upcoming Google Play account verification deadline. In the developer console, there was a message saying that I will need to provide "a contact phone number for Google Play users to contact you (organisations only)".
I'm a solo developer, and my Android app has a few hundred thousand users. It's grown way beyond a hobby project, so now I’m in the "organization account" category.
These changes have been discussed before [0], but as far as I can tell, it wasn't clear if that phone number was was just for Google to get in touch with us. The latest update clarifies that displaying a contact number for Google Play users is indeed mandatory.
Does anyone know more about this? Are all developers that offer more than hobby projects now required to offer phone support for their apps? The idea of this is really stressing me out.
[0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36701748
- iamcalledrob 3y agoCurious about this too. Like virtual mailboxes, the end result will surely be another subscription that indie developers have to pay for, providing a pointless phone number that goes straight to voicemail. Just to satisfy this requirement.
- JohnFen 3y agoIn my part of the US, anyway, you can contract with an answering service at a cost much lower than the cost of phone service. Some even only charge for the actual minutes they spend talking to people on your behalf.
- is_true 3y agoFinally we are gonna get a number to get in touch with Google itself
- imhoguy 3y agoLet the snake eat own tail: Google Voice.
- runjake 3y agoI'm going to guess that Google will disallow this, soon if not immediately. They "block" Google Voice numbers from being used for some of their other services. I couldn't use our GV number within Google Workspace, for example even though the account for that GV was outside the scope of the Workspace. Similarly, a number from a GV account inside the Workspace didn't work either.