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I'd give anything to move our apps to the web. We're in the medical field (our apps connect to medical devices over Bluetooth), so publishing on Google Play is

by guzik 2y ago

I'd give anything to move our apps to the web. We're in the medical field (our apps connect to medical devices over Bluetooth), so publishing on Google Play is like a Kafkaesque fever dream. Two days ago they tell us our app fits into categories like: Activity and Fitness Nutrition and Weight Management Sleep Management Medical Device Apps So we gotta update our policies, but today they said something like: "Actually, jk, you don't qualify as a Medical Device App anymore - app update rejected." Meanwhile, Apple (who used to be the actual nightmare) has somehow turned into the reasonable one. They approve apps in minutes now. MINUTES. It's like Google saw Apple's approval process from 10 years ago and thought, "Let's do that, but make it a circus." At this point, I dream of ditching native apps entirely. Too bad Bluetooth on the web is still a bit... fragile.

fidotron 2y ago
The Google Play update emails kill me with the level of irrelevant noise. “This is an important tax update for [country you didn’t think existed anymore].” etc.
- Dig1t 2y ago
  Good lord this is so true. I somehow got my personal email associated with the classroom Google Play account from back when I was at university, so every app uploaded by all students for each new semester I get emails for still. Every few months I get a batch of 30+ emails telling my that my app is not in compliance and it's at risk of being removed.
  - adastra22 2y ago
    We’ve wandered off topic, but there should be a safe harbor provision if your app has <500 installs or something.
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
FredPret 2y ago
The web is just a beautiful publishing platform. - no permission needed (mostly) - built-in discoverability - you get to figure out whatever payment processing you want - works on every device - update code in seconds - no copy protection needed
- frereubu 2y ago
  True except the part about "works on every device" is dependent on what part of the device you're trying to use, as the parent says about Bluetooth.
  - Ajedi32 2y ago
    I'm a bit curious about what's wrong with Bluetooth on the web. Is it just because Safari and Firefox don't support it yet?
    - leptons 2y ago
      Not just Safari and Firefox, on iOS all browsers are forced to use Safari's web view, because Apple wants to force developers to write apps so they can make 30% revenue from the app should any money exchange hands. They can't force developers to write apps if web browsers on iOS are allowed to access bluetooth and other modern browser APIs.
    - aeldidi 2y ago
      It’s important to note that it’s not a matter of effort for Firefox. They’ve decided that the it’s not something they want to implement[1]. The reasoning is that they think it allows low enough level access to potentially mess with devices who weren’t made to be resilient to malicious input, and didn’t like that the proposed method of allowing web Bluetooth is based on a default allow policy with a blocklist, which means as new Bluetooth device vulnerabilities are discovered, this blocklist has to be maintained. [1]: https://mozilla.github.io/standards-positions/#web-bluetooth https://mozilla.github.io/standards-positions/#web-bluetooth
      - 2y ago
Neywiny 2y ago
Looks like at least chromium has web Bluetooth. Could that work?

by guzik 2y ago

fidotron 2y ago

The Google Play update emails kill me with the level of irrelevant noise. “This is an important tax update for [country you didn’t think existed anymore].” etc.

Dig1t 2y ago
Good lord this is so true. I somehow got my personal email associated with the classroom Google Play account from back when I was at university, so every app uploaded by all students for each new semester I get emails for still. Every few months I get a batch of 30+ emails telling my that my app is not in compliance and it's at risk of being removed.
- adastra22 2y ago
  We’ve wandered off topic, but there should be a safe harbor provision if your app has <500 installs or something.

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]

FredPret 2y ago

The web is just a beautiful publishing platform. - no permission needed (mostly) - built-in discoverability - you get to figure out whatever payment processing you want - works on every device - update code in seconds - no copy protection needed

frereubu 2y ago
True except the part about "works on every device" is dependent on what part of the device you're trying to use, as the parent says about Bluetooth.
- Ajedi32 2y ago
  I'm a bit curious about what's wrong with Bluetooth on the web. Is it just because Safari and Firefox don't support it yet?
  - leptons 2y ago
    Not just Safari and Firefox, on iOS all browsers are forced to use Safari's web view, because Apple wants to force developers to write apps so they can make 30% revenue from the app should any money exchange hands. They can't force developers to write apps if web browsers on iOS are allowed to access bluetooth and other modern browser APIs.
  - aeldidi 2y ago
    It’s important to note that it’s not a matter of effort for Firefox. They’ve decided that the it’s not something they want to implement[1]. The reasoning is that they think it allows low enough level access to potentially mess with devices who weren’t made to be resilient to malicious input, and didn’t like that the proposed method of allowing web Bluetooth is based on a default allow policy with a blocklist, which means as new Bluetooth device vulnerabilities are discovered, this blocklist has to be maintained. [1]: https://mozilla.github.io/standards-positions/#web-bluetooth https://mozilla.github.io/standards-positions/#web-bluetooth
    - 2y ago

Neywiny 2y ago

Looks like at least chromium has web Bluetooth. Could that work?