Android Development

I wrote myself an app that was very useful to me personally. I knew zero others who might be interested but was able to publish it. At its peek there were 100 users. It was relevant for just under two years and is now gone. That was super successful and useful for the people who used it. I would have had no way to get it to anyone but me had this policy been in place.

Edit: I don't even know 20 Android users. Maybe 5. Everyone uses iPhones.

There are some discussions on reddit with more comments about it. I personally think it’s a bad decision.

This is the best summary I could come up with:

Today, the company says it will now require new Android developers with personal accounts to test their app with a minimum of 20 people for at least 2 weeks prior to publication.

According to Google, developers that use its testing tools have, on average, 3 times the amount of app installs and user engagement.

But now, app testing will no longer be optional for developers with newly created Play Console accounts, says Google.

The company believes this will help developers identify issues and bugs, and gain user feedback before their app’s launch.

This particular change follows an issue that’s impacted both app stores in India, specifically, where predatory lending apps have targeted financially insecure consumers, and then used unethical tactics to pressure borrowers to pay back debts.

The company announced a few other updates today, as well, including the ability for developers to choose their preferred deadline for meeting stricter verification requirements associated with publishing on Google Play.

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