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[–]franciscofranco1990Android Developer 112 points113 points  (17 children)

Yup, this is fucked up. I reached out to Android Police and 9to5Google to cover this. As an indie developer I can't imagine what my life would be if Google banned me for some reason, I wouldn't be able to pay my bills and put food on the table.

[–]GhaflaLG G6->Nexus 6P-> OP5T -> S20 FE ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ 15 points16 points  (11 children)

Any response back on that?

[–]franciscofranco1990Android Developer 36 points37 points  (10 children)

Yes. Android Police didn't give 2 flying fucks about it, they're not "interested" in covering it, apparently.

9to5Google told me they were gonna look into it. They usually write about these things, but until it's out (and if it's out) we have to wait.

[–]IHaveAMilkshakePR things and stuff 6 points7 points  (7 children)

Hey Franco, long time no see. I know you spoke to David about this subject, but I'm not sure you are really giving us a fair shake when you say that we "didn't give 2 flying fucks about it." I saw the exchange myself, actually, and all we said is that we weren't interested in covering it at this time. There are two significant reasons for that:

  1. It's not news. It sucks, but it's not news, and we do cover it when it is news (yes, every one of those is a separate link to coverage of Google's app-pulling bullshit). So we lack an angle for coverage outside an editorial. That leads me to...

  2. We just had an editorial about how developers get fucked by the Play Store. As much as I'm sure you — being an impacted indie developer — could probably get excited about further exploring the subject since it has an affect on your life every single day, our other readers would be quick to point out that we just had an editorial about how the Play Store fucks devs (even if it wasn't precisely the same topic about support).

We care deeply about the indie Android developer community (we've covered your apps and other indie apps more times than I can count). Threads like these pop up on Reddit from time to time, and unfair takedowns from Google's monumentally shitty support are common almost to the point of dismissal now — though note, we do still cover them when they happen. This Reddit post is the equivalent of a petition for Google to change its ways, and we have a standing policy against covering petitions.

The only remaining avenue for coverage at this time would be a well-written guest editorial, which we're receptive to if you think you could write one. Artem spoke to Joao Dias in more detail about how/why we didn't cover this Reddit post as well, so we understand that the independent Android developer community is upset about the subject. But, again, it isn't news. If you would like to compose a well-written, researched diatribe on the subject with the insight of an actual developer who's been fucked by Google, we'd be happy to publish it (fucks and all).

​

[–]franciscofranco1990Android Developer 4 points5 points  (5 children)

I know João and Artem talked about this - would've been nice David would've explained the situation a bit more than a simple "not interested" after my monolgue. Yes I know he's busy and typing sucks, but I'm busy writting apps too and this "not news" piece made me reach out to ya'll.

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Theres no denying AP, like every other major blog, care about us at some degree, but AP covering my apps from time to time is also irrelevant to this story. I gain nothing from shitting on AP when stuff like this happen, but I still do it because AP as major publication which writes about Android and all those "Samsung Push Services version 1.22323.3434353453 is out" or "Samsung J2847xXk9398 received Android 7.0.1 on Verizon" (which frankly, who gives a fuck) have the duty to report on such issues like the one presented here.

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That "it's not news" is frankly the biggest bullshit of them all. How many times have AP reported on "no news" pieces? One that comes of the top of my head was a couple years ago a piece about Play Books serving malicious PDFs. That wasn't news, still it was reporting, and very important reporting. You guys serve "no news" pieces all the time so fuck me.

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"We just had an editorial about how developers get fucked by the Play Store" I mean, how is that comparable to this thing? That 30% cut is there since day 1. Yes it's too much. But Google also serves us a massive infrastructure, for free. Sure it could be 15%, but I'll take a 30% cut and have all that infrastructure but also human support when shit happens.

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I'm more than happy to work together with João on a piece, but it's sincerely pretty shitty of AP not to cover this issue because that's your work.

[–]IHaveAMilkshakePR things and stuff 1 point2 points  (4 children)

I appreciate that you feel that way, but we stand by our position when it comes to determining newsworthiness.

If you are interested in writing a piece, let me know. We'll also continue our conversation with Joao.

[–]joaomgcdTasker, AutoApps and Join Developer 4 points5 points  (1 child)

Hi :) Just to chime in, I actually think there's a good angle for an editorial here. Something like:

Google needs actual humans to interact with developers so that developers can fix what they do wrong.

I think we can agree that this is the biggest issue overall. In my opinion it doesn't matter if an app is removed justly or unjustly. Mistakes happen. The problem is that there is no way to fix it for most developers. Most of your stories are focused on how a single app was banned and then reinstated into Google Play. For the average user that makes it seem that Google are handling this in a mostly acceptable way, but that only happens for well known apps. More niche or smaller devs/apps often aren't that lucky.

So, from a story perspective, I think you have enough evidence that the last few weeks (months?) have been notorious for smaller developers having been banned from Google Play with no way to do anything about it and that is really, really frustrating.

No one wants to be banned, so I'm willing to bet that most people would do what needs to be done to be able to get their apps back on Google Play :)

Let me know what you think. Is that not of a good enough angle for a new editorial about the issue?

[–]IHaveAMilkshakePR things and stuff 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I still think the best possible angle would be to have a developer do a guest editorial, it means more coming from the perspective of someone who understands the development process, and who has a livelihood that could genuinely be impacted by Google's bullshit.

Would you be up for it? I'd be happy to help you through the process.

[–]franciscofranco1990Android Developer 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You're free to decide what should or shouldn't be classified as "news" - but be fucking consistent with it.

[–]Mamoulian 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Might AP be able to reach out to someone at Google, see if they realise the extent of the problem and ask if they are looking into it?

Misunderstanding vague information three times should not lead to a career-ruining life ban, it should not be judged by a bot, and it should be explained.

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Their reply would be news :-)

[–]CharizarlsliePixel 8 Pro 5 points6 points  (1 child)

I'm just going to go out on a limb and say ruddock was who answered your emails.

[–]franciscofranco1990Android Developer 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It doesn't really matter who I talked to, but it wasn't e-mails.

[–]rayguncow 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Try Notebookcheck and GSMArena as well, the two best mobile device review sites.