https://www.techdirt.com/articles/2...e-app-play-store-based-vague-guidelines.shtml No problem with iOS App.
Bad decision by Google. I don't use their app but I like their search and use it when I think it's necessary.
I can't imagine using devices that can only use software from "the company store". Edit: Maybe I'm misguided. How hard is it to use apps from other sources? Is the issue just that doing so is riskier?
See also: Microsoft prunes deceiving apps from Windows Store https://www.wilderssecurity.com/threads/microsoft-prunes-deceiving-apps-from-windows-store.367577/
I've read http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2014/08...apps-get-blocked-from-the-android-play-store/ linked from your post to that thread. Having no experience with such things, this statement ... ... implies to me that "getting kicked out" means no market for the app. But the app is still available via https://disconnect.me/. Is it just that hardly anyone will download it from there? Or will the Android Play store later see that it's installed, and nuke it?
Casey from Disconnect is playing the "Lawyers with Yachts" tune, I think. Email - support@disconnect.me addressed to him should get a reply back. EDIT: Disconnect have informed me that the app has been removed from Google Play. Side loading the app - assuming one could still get it would mean installing from unknown sources.
"You'd think that the company with the whole "don't be evil" slogan would appreciate an app that tries to protect users from evil."
OK, so the Android link on their site is dead? Why can't disconnect.me just provide it? They're the source. How can they be considered untrusted? Indeed, in this case, they seem to deserve more trust than Google does
This is a legal political football between Disconnect and Google, why Disconnect removed all info to the product is unknown to me.
I get that. And I'm still ignorant about the possibility of Disconnect offering it from their site. Would users need to unlock their devices in order to use third-party apps? Or maybe Disconnect signed an agreement to offer the Android version only through Google? Maybe Google paid them?
Users would need to unblock their phones to side-load apps, this could void your phone supplier warranty. Many preloaded security apps prevent third party downloads as a default setting.
I don't know what you guys mean by "unlock" and "unblock", but you do not need to root your phone to sideload apps. Just checkmark "unknown sources" in security settings.
So an app from the app developer is an "unknown source"? What about apps from Amazon? Are they also "unknown"? I get the security aspect of this behavior. But it's horribly prone to censorship
To install the Amazon App Store apk, you need to enable that. If it's pre-installed, then I don't know.
An app from a developer loaded from anywhere than Google Play (for purposes of this thread) is considered an unknown source. If you look at previous cases of Google removing privacy related apps, it can be viewed as app censorship as Google has presented weak cases in all of the events software was revoked. See also: https://adblockplus.org/blog/adblock-plus-for-android-removed-from-google-play-store
You would then be hard pressed to legitimately fetch apps for your device. Some light reading. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Play
I don't understand why Disconnect would not offer the app as a direct download from their site? Unless they are waiting for a decision of google's appeal?