Google Play Developer Program Policy Update

I have some apps I made using App Inventor a while ago, now available in the Google Play Store. The process was tedious but doable.

Recently I received an announcement of an "update" from Google, which I don't fully understand.

How might these impact further attempts to share apps I develop in App Inventor via the Play Store, or just being downloaded/installed directly from my website?

New Google developer "features" include:

  • app set ID
  • Accessibility API
  • IsAccessibilityTool

I have mostly created math/science-related apps, mainly for my own amusement. I am not interested in monetizing them. They don't share information, etc. Any storage is just on the owner's device. They are not intended for children but contain nothing that could be considered objectionable.

Thanks,
Dan

Hi @Dan_Davidson,

Given the nature of your apps I doubt that Google's policy changes will affect you in any way.

1 Like

Thanks. I was worried that we were looking at iOS-type restrictions.
Dan

Well, the file system changes are definitely a bit closer to what iOS enforces. It doesn't sound like your apps would be affected by this, but it's hard to know for certain given the high level description.

Thanks again.
What I worry about, more than uploading stuff to Google Play, is to be blocked just trying to share an .app file with colleagues & friends. I know that Google Mail won't allow them as attachments. From my experiments with Drive, not from there either. Right now I have my stuff available in a sub-directory on my website, accessible via a URL. I'm worried that future browsers will might block .app files from being transmitted at all, or that newer versions of Android OS will make side-loading too difficult for non-geeks.
Dan