{"id":18047,"date":"2022-03-02T12:56:10","date_gmt":"2022-03-02T12:56:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mailinvest.blog\/index.php\/2022\/03\/02\/google-blocks-foss-android-tool-the-register\/"},"modified":"2022-03-02T12:56:10","modified_gmt":"2022-03-02T12:56:10","slug":"google-blocks-foss-android-tool-the-register","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mailinvest.blog\/index.php\/2022\/03\/02\/google-blocks-foss-android-tool-the-register\/","title":{"rendered":"Google blocks FOSS Android tool \u2022 The Register"},"content":{"rendered":"

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StreetComplete<\/a>, a free Android program designed to help people to contribute to OpenStreetMap, was blocked from Google’s Play Store, merely for urging users to donate \u2013 to someone else.<\/p>\n

Google has previously shown support for the OpenStreetMap project<\/a> \u2013\u00a0to the point that it kicked two unnamed contractors off its projects for allegedly vandalising its work. However, some frictions have been felt of late, according to StreetComplete contributor Tobias Zwick<\/a>, who said the semi-automated approvals process for the Play Store rejected<\/a> StreetComplete for suggesting that people donate money to OSM. Why? Because Play Store apps mustn’t<\/a> accept other payment methods.<\/p>\n

In an issue he opened on the project’s GitHub repository last month<\/a>, Zwick noted:<\/p>\n

Some app vendors bypass the Play Store altogether, of course, requiring users to sideload their app \u2013 but you need to have a strong incentive, such as needing it for a COVID test result<\/a>.<\/p>\n

StreetComplete used to have a button asking users if they’d like to donate, and offered links to GitHub Sponsors, Liberapay and Patreon. The Play Store approvals folks appear to have rejected that, so the team replaced it with a simple link to its homepage on Github \u2013 but that was rejected, too.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, the project resolved the issue by removing “the link and explain[ing] why I removed the link. The dialog still kind of fulfills its purpose because it kind of makes clear that it is indeed possible to donate (somewhere).”<\/p>\n

Zwick added he “didn’t want to be overly salty in that message because the goal of this dialog is to inform users about that they can donate, not to get users upset about Google.”<\/p>\n

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