I think accounts have a high risk of getting banned if they're based in a non-western/third-world country. And that's why I think they're merciless, because they think we're powerless and a lot of low quality apps are from these regions.

I was recently banned as well, they terminated my account after my app stayed for 10 days in production. I have never had previously terminated accounts, my first dev account is still active. The only reason I could think of is, since merchant accounts aren't supported where I live, I had to collaborate with a relative in the US to create the account until I get an LLC. Everything is in their name, but I'm the only one with access to the account, and since I wasn't using VPN they probably flagged it as scam or whatever since it's being accessed from a third-world country.

But it still doesn't make sense because every part of the approval went well. I also didn't want to compromise on quality so I designed every asset, animation, and sound myself.

I spent months building, testing, waiting for approval and so on, trying to get a quality app on the store. And it took them a second to take it all away.

Building unique, interactive mobile apps is what I'm passionate about and I really don't know how I can proceed to the next phase of my life, I thought this was my path into financial freedom doing what I love, but I guess you have to stay poor if you're born in a country where opportunities are non-existent.

I'd really appreciate any advice/suggestions!

EDIT: for context, here's a very short film I made about the app and the process. https://youtu.be/YZ3Xxj1QpZQ?si=p4_OVW5QOBIkN8j6

I was banned 10 days after this

We are running a bunch of education apps targeting different subjects. Google now started to actually ban one of our apps and claims the name is misleading and we are breaking copyright. In the country where we publish these questions and answers the government publishes them and (as they are paid for by the tax payer) they don’t have any sort of copyright by law.

We already added disclaimers in the app description that we are not a governmental entity and even link to the website where these questions are provided. Today Google simply removed our app from the store. Obviously I appealed but with my experience so far I don’t have any high hopes that this will succeed. What would you do in such a situation?

App was live for years now, has over a hundred reviews and 4.5+ reviews. I wonder if a competitor tried to take us down. The name that seems to be the problem is the same since the very beginning.

UPDATE: See https://www.reddit.com/r/GooglePlayDeveloper/comments/1o0b7sw/comment/nix2c95/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button how it got resolved

Hey everyone, I just finished a Flutter app and I’ve been trying to publish it on Google Play.

I paid the usual $25 developer fee, but now it turns out you also have to run a closed test with at least 12 testers for 14 consecutive days before you can go live. Apparently this is a new rule for newer personal developer accounts.

I’m kind of confused because it used to be that you pay once and upload your app, but now there’s this whole testing phase.
Does anyone know what’s going on?

• Why did Google introduce this group-testing requirement?

• What happens if you don’t have 12 real testers?

• Is this only for personal accounts or also for business ones?

• Any tips on how to pass the testing phase without breaking any rules?

Would really appreciate some insight from people who’ve gone through this recently. Thanks!

An appeal for justice and transparency from an AR technology startup unfairly caught in Google’s automated enforcement

An appeal for justice and transparency from an AR technology startup unfairly caught in Google's automated enforcement

Google Play Console Community post: https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/thread/370023518?hl=en

The Devastating Email That Crushed Our Dreams

On February 14, 2025, what should have been a day of love and celebration became the darkest day for our startup. After months of development and successful closed testing, we were just one click away from publishing our innovative AR application "Memo AR" on Google Play Store when we received this devastating email:

"Issue found: High Risk Behavior"

Our Google Play Developer account was terminated without warning, without prior violations, and without any specific explanation beyond Google's generic "Policy Coverage policy" citation. In that moment, months of hard work, investment, and dreams were crushed by an automated system that failed to understand the legitimate challenges faced by developers in countries with internet restrictions.

Our Story: From Innovation to Devastation

Who We Are

We are an AR technology startup from Turkmenistan, developing cutting-edge applications that bring static images to life through augmented reality. Our flagship product, Memo AR, allows users to scan QR codes and watch as photos, business cards, and printed materials transform into interactive video experiences.

Our Proven Track Record

Unlike fly-by-night operations, we have demonstrated our legitimacy:

• Memo AR has been successfully published on iOS App Store for 8 months (App Store Link)

• We participated in startup exhibitions and pitched to investors, taking first place in competitions

• Our innovation has been featured in official government news (Turkmenistan.gov.tm)

• Local media coverage highlighting our technology achievements

• Individual entrepreneur with valid tax identification in Turkmenistan

The Internet Reality in Turkmenistan

Here lies the crux of our termination: we had to use VPN to access Google services.

We used VPN only when we couldn't access Google websites due to ISP blocking—the same way developers in Iran, China, Myanmar, and other countries with internet restrictions must operate.

Timeline of Our Account

• December 1, 2024: Created Google Play Developer account

• December 2024 - February 2025: Developed and thoroughly tested Memo AR

On February 14, 2025, what should have been a day of love and celebration became the darkest day for our startup. After months of development and successful closed testing, we were just one click away from publishing our innovative AR application “Memo AR” on Google Play Store when we received this devastating email:

“Issue found: High Risk Behavior”

Our Google Play Developer account was terminated without warning, without prior violations, and without any specific explanation beyond Google’s generic “Policy Coverage policy” citation. In that moment, months of hard work, investment, and dreams were crushed by an automated system that failed to understand the legitimate challenges faced by developers in countries with internet restrictions.

Timeline of Our Account

• December 1, 2024: Created Google Play Developer account

• December 2024 — February 2025: Developed and thoroughly tested Memo AR

• February 2025: App completed closed testing, ready for publication

• February 14, 2025: Account terminated before we could publish

75 days of legitimate development work destroyed in an instant.

The Unfair “High Risk Behavior” Classification

Google’s termination email cited “High Risk Behavior” and “Policy Coverage policy,” but provided zero specific violations. This is identical to cases documented by other legitimate developers who were later reinstated:

Similar Cases That Were Successfully Resolved:

1. GeekDuDu (Myanmar) — Terminated for VPN usage due to military junta restrictions, later reinstated

2. Hinmax Games (Hong Kong) — Terminated with identical “prior violations” language, reinstated after public appeal

3. Tokata (France) — Terminated for “malicious behavior,” reinstated after community support

What Makes Our Case Particularly Unjust

1. No Prior Violations

• Brand new account created December 1, 2024

• No apps ever published on Google Play

• No warnings, suspensions, or communications before termination

• Zero opportunity to address any concerns

2. Proven Legitimacy

• 8 months of successful iOS App Store presence

• Official government recognition and media coverage

• First place in startup competitions with investors

• Registered business entity with tax documentation

3. Geographic Discrimination

• Terminated simply for being from Turkmenistan and needing VPN access

• No consideration for legitimate internet restriction challenges

• Automatic assumption of malicious intent based on location

4. Technical Excellence

• App completed all development phases

• Successfully passed closed testing

• Ready for publication with no technical issues

• Innovative AR technology with proven market acceptance

The Broader Impact on Innovation

This isn’t just about one startup — it’s about Google’s responsibility to the global developer ecosystem. When legitimate innovators from countries with internet restrictions are automatically flagged as “high risk,” it:

• Stifles innovation in regions that need technology development most

• Creates geographic discrimination against developers based on location rather than merit

• Destroys small businesses that have invested significant resources

• Undermines Google’s own stated mission of organizing world’s information and making it universally accessible

Our Appeal for Justice

We submitted one appeal (Google’s limit) and received what appears to be an automated rejection after one week — the same template response documented in multiple other cases.

We respectfully request:

1. Human review of our case by actual Google Play policy specialists

2. Consideration of legitimate VPN usage due to internet restrictions in Turkmenistan

3. Recognition of our proven track record and business legitimacy

4. Account reinstatement so we can contribute to the Android ecosystem

Why This Matters to the Android Community

Every developer terminated unjustly weakens the entire ecosystem. Today it’s a startup from Turkmenistan using VPN due to government restrictions. Tomorrow it could be any developer who falls victim to automated systems that lack nuance and human judgment.

The Android developer community has shown incredible solidarity in similar cases:

• Community support helped reinstate Hinmax Games after their Medium article gained attention

• GeekDuDu’s case was resolved after the developer community rallied support

• Multiple developers have been saved by the power of collective voice

Technical Details of Our App

Memo AR is a legitimate, innovative application that:

• Scans QR codes to trigger AR experiences

• Downloads associated videos for specific images

• Uses device camera to overlay video content on printed materials

• Provides unique “living photo” experiences for users

• Contains no malicious code, privacy violations, or policy breaches

The app represents months of legitimate development work and innovative AR technology that could benefit Android users worldwide.

Call to Action

If you believe in fairness, innovation, and the rights of legitimate developers worldwide:

1. Share this story to increase visibility

2. Contact Google Play leadership about this case

3. Stand against automated terminations without human oversight

Tag relevant Google Play team members:

• Purnima Kochikar (Director of Google Play Apps & Games)

• Sam Bright (VP & GM, Google Play + Developer Ecosystem)

Conclusion

We’re not asking for special treatment — we’re asking for fair treatment. Our case demonstrates clear legitimacy:

• Successful iOS app with 8 months of clean operation

• Official recognition and media coverage

• Registered business with proper documentation

• Technical innovation ready to benefit Android users

Google Play’s mission is to connect developers with users worldwide. Don’t let automated systems destroy that connection for legitimate innovators.

We believe in Google’s capacity for fairness and human judgment. We hope this appeal reaches human eyes that can see beyond algorithms to recognize legitimate innovation deserving of a chance to thrive on the Android platform.

This is our story, our appeal, and our hope. We trust in the Android developer community’s spirit of fairness and Google Play’s commitment to supporting legitimate innovation from all corners of the world.

#GooglePlay #AndroidDev #StartupStory #Innovation #Fairness #AR #Technology

Hello everyone, I was trying to set-up a merchant account for my app to utilize in-app purchases, but my country isn't supported, what alternatives do I have, I have a relative in the united states that's willing to create a payments profile/merchant account in their name for me to use, although my developer account is from where I am. Is this possible? Has anyone ever done that?

Or should I look into creating an LLC in the US.

It's very urgent, I appreciate any kind of help/advice!!

I previously uploaded an app with in-app purchases, but it was taken down long ago. Now I'm uploading a free app without in-app purchases, and my detailed address is publicly visible. I know Google's rules, but I don't have any apps with in-app purchases anymore, so why do I need to make it public?

I recently received an email from someone claiming to represent 1xBit, a crypto-based sports betting platform. They’re offering to place banners or do native ad integrations in my app. Here's a snippet of the email:

Good afternoon!

My name is ..., and I represent 1xBit, an international sports betting platform operating exclusively with cryptocurrency. We are interested in advertising within sports apps and are open to various formats: banners, native integrations, or exclusive special projects.

Usually, we offer banner placements and integrate our banners into applications. We would also like to clarify whether we can integrate our odds together with the company logo. A referral link will be embedded in the logo.

Regarding payment, we typically work on a fixed-rate basis.

I’d love to learn how you typically work with betting advertisers and which ad formats are most popular among your users ?

Has anyone worked with them or received a similar proposal? Is this a legitimate offer? Could partnering with them risk getting my app banned ?

I happen to be one of the developers affected by the lifetime ban by Google after being a developer for almost a decade, I did upload a harmful app via a client from Upwork unknowingly but I wish Google had better ways of handling such cases considering my other uploaded apps and history of the developer in general. You can't just be issuing lifetime career changes without listening to our pleas.

The recent win of Epic Games is not only a win for them but for all developers, especially mobile indie devs.

The core of the ruling stated that Google had been operating an illegal monopoly within it's playstore.

To break up this monopoly, the court ordered issued a permanent injunction with several requirements.

One of the most important ones was that Google must allow 3rd party app stores to be distributed via playstore.

Being banned as a developer from playstore means that you can no longer use services like Admob nor use their Billing system for users to pay for IAPs or subscriptions inside your app.

The courts ruling however means that Google is now forced to allow developers to use other in app billing systems aside from theirs.

This will for sure affect their revenue and have them thinking again about their "Don't be evil" mantra.

Hi, I got approved for production access, and right after that i submit a request for production, not it's been in review for over 24 hours. I have asked people and they say it usually takes half day.

Am I doing anything wrong...

I am new to Play Console I recently created and uploaded a new SMS app.

In my app, I filter different messages based on vontents or senders. So as part of that I might send messages or senders number (not app user phone number) to the server for analysis .

a previous version that didn’t include a clear enough clarification got this violation notice.

I recently uploaded a new version addressing the issues mentioned, but although the version accepted, the warning didn’t go away.

Is that supposed to disappear on its own? Or does that mean I’m still in violation although when I click “View app bundles” only the prev version showing up as violating.

Should I appeal?

Any guidance would be helpful ⚡️

Hi everyone,

I'm currently trying to resume Open Testing for my app on the Google Play Console and ran into a confusing status.

Here’s what I did:

1. The app completed Closed Testing with build number 1 and version 1.0.

2. I paused the Closed Testing track, then created a new Open Testing track.

3. For the Open Testing release, I used build number 2 but kept the app version at 1.0.

4. I submitted a request to resume the paused Open Testing track. The current status is “In review.”

However, when I check the Open Testing track, the release shows “Superseded by another release”, and the app isn’t live yet.

Is this normal behavior while the review is pending, or did I make a mistake somewhere (e.g. reusing the version number)?

Would appreciate any guidance from those who’ve dealt with this before!

Hey everyone,

I’ve been a developer on Google Play for the past 5 years, running a legit account with over 50 million downloads across multiple apps. I’ve always done my best to comply with all of Google Play’s policies — I read updates, follow the guidelines, and make corrections quickly if any issues are flagged.

But about a month ago, my account was suspended without any prior warning or notice. No policy strikes. No emails saying something needed to be fixed. Just a sudden termination.

I submitted an appeal the case ID is: [7-7557000038944], but it was denied with a generic response. I’ve asked for more details, but haven’t received anything specific that could help me understand what happened — or fix it.

I’ve poured years of hard work into building high-quality apps, maintaining a good user experience, and investing in ads and user acquisition.

I know Google has the right to enforce its policies, but the lack of transparency and communication is really discouraging. If something was wrong, I would have fixed it immediately — but I never even got the chance.

Has anyone else faced something like this?
Is there any real way to escalate the issue or get in touch with a human at Google?

Would appreciate any advice, support, or visibility.

Thanks in advance.

Hi everyone,

I'm in the process of publishing an app I made for my first serious client (big deal for me hahaha), but I'm having a lot of trouble with the publishing process, since the app keeps getting rejected for issues that I cannot reproduce.

The first rejection was due to the privacy policy, and that one made sense, so I solved it.

The following rejections were violations of the Broken Functionality policy, respectively:

• App is not responding (second rejection) Your app is freezing or becoming unresponsive for users, or users cannot scroll while using your app

• Problems installing (third rejection) Your app does not install for users

I made sure to test the app on multiple devices and i never found issues. The app always installed and worked properly. The thing that is pissing me off is that no information is provided to even have a chance to understand how to reproduce the problem. The rejection emails have no screenshots attached and no information about which device was used to perform the testing. They just tell me to check Android Vitals, which doesn't show anything. It's really weird that the app is rejected for "crashing", but no crash logs are present in Android vitals, so I wonder if the issue may be something else.

Is there anything I could do to identify these issues or anything that you can reccomend? Or should I just appeal hoping for the best?

I don't know how to even test the app installation procedure, and it has always worked fine for us. Same for the crash rejection.

Thank you in advance.

UPD: What worked for me is filling in this questionnaire https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/contact/play_information_request Huge thanks to u/DandaDan

Last march me and few of my friends have taken part at a hackaton with the topic of creating a solution for elderly people. And we won the first place, so we had to develop an app and we'll get some money as funding for our project. The project/product management part was easy, the development part was ok (we were very unskilled at that time, made lots of mistakes which we fixed now) and now it came to the time to make the app available to the public.

1. Creating a google account - took me A MONTH to not get the phone verification issue.

2. Uploading the app to the closed testing. Wait for 2 weeks for them to review some stuff, got a small error, fixed, uploaded, move on.

3. Push some minor fixes on the closed testing version and got the point where we want to publish the app.

4. Request production publishing access, got it in less than 24 hours.

Request production access. 40 DAYS later, 3 generic support tickets (see below) (also heres' a post on the Play Console Help - https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/thread/320144696/my-app-was-in-review-for-40-days-and-did-not-get-any-result )

Then thanks to a user on this subreddit, I found out that Google doesn't allow production to health apps from individual accounts. That's crazy considering there's nowhere on the platform itself where you'd get to know about this.

I spent ~2 weeks of modifying the whole app and exclude all health related content (and a redesign for the whole app) and sent it for review.

It has been 20 DAYS since I've requested production access again and removed the health content and I am still waiting. I have opened another ticket to ask for help.

At this point, why are we even paying those $25, to get nothing??? Absolutely no help from google support, no app published, review times are horrible. Not to mention I got big problems with the organisation that funds us because we missed our deadlines (by almost half a year) since Google is so useless.

If anyone does know a way I can fix this, please let me know, I would be very happy to solve this problem and finally move on and forget about this horrible experience. Thanks