Google Play Store, new rules coming against disinformation and more

Yesterday Google announced some changes to the Google Play policies with the aim of making the platform safer and more resistant to disinformation. The rules will come into force over the next few months with timing varying between one and the other; there is also a grace period for the more imminent ones. Essentially, developers will have until August 27 to adapt (this will apply to both existing and new apps). Here are the most important changes in chronological order:

NEW STANDARDS

• Effective from 30 September 2022
  • We will add new ad policy guidelines to improve the user experience in the app and to ban unexpected interstitials, based on the Better Ads Standards guidelines for mobile app experiences.
• Effective from 1 November 2022
  • We will introduce new requirements for the FLAG_SECURE declaration in the illegal use of devices and networks policy, to explain that all apps must comply with the FLAG_SECURE declaration and must not facilitate or create workarounds to bypass FLAG_SECURE settings in other apps.
  • We will introduce new requirements in the permissions policy to explain that all apps must have acceptable core functionality in order to use the VPNService class. We have also added some indications regarding the use of the VPNService class in the main requirements.
• Effective from July 31, 2023
  • We will introduce a new limited permission requirement for the Exact Alarm API to explain that apps only need to declare this permission if their core functionality requires an exact alarm. Apps that declare the new limited permission, but don’t meet these criteria, will not be allowed on Google Play.

UPDATES EXISTING STANDARDS

• Effective from 31 August 2022
  • We will update the health disinformation guidelines to explain that apps containing misleading health information that contradict the current shared position in the medical industry or that can harm users are not allowed.
  • We will update the identity theft policies to clarify that these policies prohibit the identity theft of other organizations or entities. We’ve also added some new examples of app titles and icons.
• Effective from 30 September 2022
  • We will update the subscription policy to explain that users need to be able to easily cancel their subscriptions from within the app.
• Effective from 1 November 2022
  • We will update our Family Self-Certified Announcements SDK Program to require SDK vendors for self-certified announcements to submit new self-certified and policy-compliant versions, as well as a test app, in order to remain in the program. Learn more about the SDKs for Self-Certified Family Announcements.
  • We will update existing stalkerware recommendations with an “IsMonitoringTool” flag for all legitimate monitoring applications. In the Google Play Store description of all apps that use this tool it is also necessary to declare the tracking or tracking functionality.

Some examples of app names and icons that will no longer be accepted as of August 31st

In general these are welcome changes, as they aim to limit fraudulent and unfair practices on one of the largest app sales platforms in the world, however, colleagues from xda-developers have already identified at least one problematic case series: the new rules explain that apps will not be able to implement VPNs whose purpose is “Manipulating ads that can affect app monetization”; this means for example DuckDuckGo may no longer be able to offer its ad-suppressor service at the level of the entire device. In any case, there will be time to debate and analyze the rules in more detail over the next few weeks; Developers are advised to follow the SOURCE link at the bottom of the article to find out all the details.