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Google Play probably kicked them off for not using latest Android SDK or something. So many tiny and high quality apps were lost.

by butz 2y ago

johnisgood 2y ago
Google is not only killing their own projects, but other people's, too.
- refulgentis 2y ago
  I'm no fan of Google, but it's slightly more complicated than that, there's a lot of security and privacy stuff that can't be enforced if your app was build 6 years ago and still slopping around.
  - tourmalinetaco 2y ago
    Does that really matter for a local-only 5KB app that only talks with my phone‘s flashlight, or reads sensor data? Now, maybe for the 500MB adware-filled “flashlight” app that connects to 100s of servers and demands access to everything my device can do, but that would be banned on any competent app store anyway.
    - ninetyninenine 2y ago
      No but enforcing policy is manageable. Enforcing reasonable security measures based on nuances and case by case situations is not manageable for an ecosystem of that scale.
    - JoshTriplett 2y ago
      I don't know if this is still the case, but at one point the permission needed to access the flashlight also gave access to the camera. And there aren't restrictions on network connections from apps. (I'd love to have app network access restricted by permissions, but that would be a large change.) And in any case, Android has had built-in flashlight support for a while now, for any phone that has a camera with a flash. Is the "turn the screen bright white" style still useful with modern Android?
      - MrLeap 2y ago
        It is if your flashlight's broke.
      - freedomben 2y ago
        Kind of a side note, but flashdim is an amazing open-source flashlight app that everybody needs[1][2][3]. [1]: https://github.com/cyb3rko/flashdim https://github.com/cyb3rko/flashdim [2]: https://f-droid.org/en/packages/com.cyb3rko.flashdim/ https://f-droid.org/en/packages/com.cyb3rko.flashdim/ [3]: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.cyb3rko.flashdim&hl=en_US https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.cyb3rko.fl...
      - ainka-ainka 2y ago
        GrapheneOS (https://grapheneos.org/ https://grapheneos.org/) contains network access permission.
  - deleted 2y ago
    [deleted]
inquirerGeneral 2y ago
[dead]
epmaybe 2y ago
This is something that really bothered me - I had an app that was small and worked fine on the latest Android OS, yet they took the app and account down because we hadn’t uploaded a new version in a year. Appeals didn’t help
- heyoni 2y ago
  What was their reasoning?
  - jart 2y ago
    To keep you running on the hamster wheel. They'd ban Mozart and Shakespeare from the app store if they could.
    - bee_rider 2y ago
      I don’t think that was their reasoning. Like, Google, all these megacorps, they are bad, but we should at least argue against their actual arguments.
      - consteval 2y ago
        Their reasoning is probably security. They're working under the assumption your app takes untrusted input in some way, maybe over the network. Which isn't a bad assumption, I mean almost all apps do. Very few apps are true self-contained applications, like a calculator. So then if there happens to be some vulnerabilities in an older Android SDK then your app is susceptible. They could patch back security but that's expensive after a while. Easier to force app makers to update their apps.
      - deleted 2y ago
        [deleted]
    - ryandrake 2y ago
      3P app developers are also complicit. Often they deliberately cut off support for old OS's and old devices, because it's "too hard" to support them or whatever. Everyone seems to be working together to keep us on the hamster wheel.

Google Play probably kicked them off for not using latest Android SDK or something. So many tiny and high quality apps were lost.

by butz 2y ago

Google Play probably kicked them off for not using latest Android SDK or something. So many tiny and high quality apps were lost.

johnisgood 2y ago

Google is not only killing their own projects, but other people's, too.

refulgentis 2y ago
I'm no fan of Google, but it's slightly more complicated than that, there's a lot of security and privacy stuff that can't be enforced if your app was build 6 years ago and still slopping around.
- tourmalinetaco 2y ago
  Does that really matter for a local-only 5KB app that only talks with my phone‘s flashlight, or reads sensor data? Now, maybe for the 500MB adware-filled “flashlight” app that connects to 100s of servers and demands access to everything my device can do, but that would be banned on any competent app store anyway.
  - ninetyninenine 2y ago
    No but enforcing policy is manageable. Enforcing reasonable security measures based on nuances and case by case situations is not manageable for an ecosystem of that scale.
  - JoshTriplett 2y ago
    I don't know if this is still the case, but at one point the permission needed to access the flashlight also gave access to the camera. And there aren't restrictions on network connections from apps. (I'd love to have app network access restricted by permissions, but that would be a large change.) And in any case, Android has had built-in flashlight support for a while now, for any phone that has a camera with a flash. Is the "turn the screen bright white" style still useful with modern Android?
    - MrLeap 2y ago
      It is if your flashlight's broke.
    - freedomben 2y ago
      Kind of a side note, but flashdim is an amazing open-source flashlight app that everybody needs[1][2][3]. [1]: https://github.com/cyb3rko/flashdim https://github.com/cyb3rko/flashdim [2]: https://f-droid.org/en/packages/com.cyb3rko.flashdim/ https://f-droid.org/en/packages/com.cyb3rko.flashdim/ [3]: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.cyb3rko.flashdim&hl=en_US https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.cyb3rko.fl...
    - ainka-ainka 2y ago
      GrapheneOS (https://grapheneos.org/ https://grapheneos.org/) contains network access permission.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]

inquirerGeneral 2y ago

[dead]

epmaybe 2y ago

This is something that really bothered me - I had an app that was small and worked fine on the latest Android OS, yet they took the app and account down because we hadn’t uploaded a new version in a year. Appeals didn’t help

heyoni 2y ago
What was their reasoning?
- jart 2y ago
  To keep you running on the hamster wheel. They'd ban Mozart and Shakespeare from the app store if they could.
  - bee_rider 2y ago
    I don’t think that was their reasoning. Like, Google, all these megacorps, they are bad, but we should at least argue against their actual arguments.
    - consteval 2y ago
      Their reasoning is probably security. They're working under the assumption your app takes untrusted input in some way, maybe over the network. Which isn't a bad assumption, I mean almost all apps do. Very few apps are true self-contained applications, like a calculator. So then if there happens to be some vulnerabilities in an older Android SDK then your app is susceptible. They could patch back security but that's expensive after a while. Easier to force app makers to update their apps.
    - deleted 2y ago
      [deleted]
  - ryandrake 2y ago
    3P app developers are also complicit. Often they deliberately cut off support for old OS's and old devices, because it's "too hard" to support them or whatever. Everyone seems to be working together to keep us on the hamster wheel.