no worries dude, there are way worse offenders out there, I myself cannot wait till the 23rd, till this all stops and I hope that startapp is going to be responsible in this matter and shutoff this ad model at the time, what it has created is this released today and no Google is not doing anything to stop new apps being published with Startapp. Startapp are you still allowing full intergration? Released today:
Startapp supported? Where is there any policing by even the adgroups, would they not be partially liable for the infringement since there sdk is incorporated into the app?
App Permissions:
Development tools
read sensitive log data, test access to protected storage
Your location
approximate (network-based) location, precise (GPS) location
Network communication
full network access, Google Play billing service, Google Play license check, view network connections, view Wi-Fi connections
Your accounts
find accounts on the device
Storage
modify or delete the contents of your USB storage
Phone calls
read phone status and identity
Hardware controls
control vibration
System tools
prevent phone from sleeping, draw over other apps, run at startup, retrieve running apps, install shortcuts, uninstall shortcuts, read Home settings and shortcuts, write Home settings and shortcuts
Extra
com.motorola.dlauncher.permission.INSTALL_SHORTCUT, com.motorola.launcher.permission.INSTALL_SHORTCUT, com.lge.launcher.permission.INSTALL_SHORTCUT, com.htc.launcher.permission.READ_SETTINGS, com.motorola.launcher.permission.READ_SETTINGS, com.motorola.dlauncher.permission.READ_SETTINGS, com.fede.launcher.permission.READ_SETTINGS, com.lge.launcher.permission.READ_SETTINGS, org.adw.launcher.permission.READ_SETTINGS, com.teslacoilsw.launcher.permission.READ_SETTINGS, com.anddoes.launcher.permission.READ_SETTINGS, com.htc.launcher.permission.WRITE_SETTINGS, com.motorola.launcher.permission.WRITE_SETTINGS, com.motorola.dlauncher.permission.WRITE_SETTINGS, com.lge.launcher.permission.WRITE_SETTINGS, com.fede.launcher.permission.WRITE_SETTINGS, org.adw.launcher.permission.WRITE_SETTINGS, com.teslacoilsw.launcher.permission.WRITE_SETTINGS, com.anddoes.launcher.permission.WRITE_SETTINGS
kilof, you reported what exactly? Do you think i’m here to advertise my apps and receive your flags if you don’t like them or sweet kisses if you do?
I think i’m the new laghing stock of the people, listen to this guy, he doesn’t like my apps so i should be banned, lol, why not you go jump from somewhere if you dont like my apps?
David, or some moderator of this forum, the reddit thread is closed, please also close this thread too.
Please close this thread. Thanks!
Its not very clear is it legal from Google perspective that one developer use more then one account? And what if he use two accounts but with totally different games?
hmm, i would like to have another account to divide my game apps with another non-game apps. If i republish my game in another account with the same package and unpublished it in other account, if it legal?
he is keeping all of the car alarm apps up that are trending and doing well… despite him saying he would remove the spam, he is keeping them up. he only removed the car alarm and volume booster apps which weren’t doing well. he might have restricted country, but i see them in the USA
ah! that’s why I was wondering how come this car key unlocker app is in top new free apps. He must have bought some 10K-20K installs so as to go into that top list and from there on he knows the path is smooth to get 1 million downloads.
Ok, this thread has sparked a lot of debate. Since it’s an important issue, I’ve just created a new Content Policy for the forums to clarify how this should be handled in the future.
Basically - this community is a place for developers to talk about development, marketing & monetization strategies. Our primary focus has never been on “policing” the Android market. While there is understandable (and quite justified) concern about making sure spammy apps are kept under control, I don’t believe this website is the best place for that sort of discussion.
Talking about strategy and business models is great - everyone can learn from this. But calling out individual developers (or apps) is generally not constructive. There are places for doing this already: the Bad Apps section on Reddit is a great example. If you do find something which should really be taken down, I’d encourage you to pop over to Reddit and share it with the community there. And you can always report these apps to Google directly (if they’re on the Google Play Store), or even get in touch with the developer privately.
In order to keep this community a great place, we’ve got to stay focused. And it seems to me that “reporting of rogue developers” falls outside of the focus area for this site. So in future I’d ask that we focus on discussions about strategy, techniques & experience - and avoid calling out individual developers on the public forum. Hopefully this will help keep discussions positive for all, and still allow people to follow up potential abuses & “spammy” apps privately.
So please take a moment to read the new policy which relates to this thread. And feel free to get in touch with me if you’ve got any questions or comments.
Wise words - those who would challenge such a decision should note that in a forum DESIGNED for debate over format/issues, the inclusion of “reporting bad developers” is going to have a chilling effect on debate.
There are things to learn from spammers as well - as they will open up sometimes, and I woud not want to mix up the two different areas - learning and policing.
This also highlights the risk of identifying apps on this forum - while some have already done so, but associating a developer’s discussion with their app can tend to spur sentiments in readers which maybe used against the app - this was an issue raised by some (polish ?) developers here who pointed to such behavior among the polish developer forums (forums wind up becoming arenas for dumping on developers).
I am making real games ( more than 3 monts development) and i am pissed off with your shitty apps, dont spam market with it becouse I will report every of your app. Additionaly I have private mail to Google employee (I had some adsense problems in past and he helped me alot) so I can write something about your cheats, be careful man…
Who is to say your app is better than his - are we to make a judgement call about “quality of apps now” before we enter discussion here ? What is to say an app the developer thinks is great is actually not (when seen by others) ?
Even this guy’s alarm apps (I think the furiouswhatever guy) - had like 1M downloads. Now however crappy his apps are, that is nothing to sneeze at.
Even the other developer who someone keeps mentioning - with the beauty makeover apps - I don’t find that all too bad either, as each seems to be slighty different. And I can see a user wanting to try one, then another - for the novelty factor. For example there is a “dress your dog” type of app, then there is a “dress X famous singer” etc. (the question to be asked here is - does Google have a mechanism or policy here that mandates that apps have some bulk or have features all in one app ?).
Who is to say that a developer should make their apps bulky and full of features ? When the mobile marketplace DICTATES lightness and short-time-usage (waiting at the dentist). I think the format (and perhaps users) want apps that are EXACTLY tuned to their specific need (and they don’t want bulk). NOTE: situation maybe different for tablets - as there complex games etc. may do better (?)
So I don’t find that particular app developer spammy - because to it’s users, each app is like an episode of a play.
If I was to start releasing original content - say a comic book series - and each one appears as a separate app - will that be bad ? In the extreme (each page released as an app) it will become absurd - however the user experience will suffer as well - so the developer pays a penalty there.
It suits developers to be able to create apps that are variations on an app or an app-engine which they leverage to create variety of apps - like the Talking Tom Cat series - sure each adds original content as well, but all based around the same premise (a talking dog).
The point being that if DIFFERENT developers can release apps that are variants of others, then what is to stop ONE developer to release those same variants himself ?? This is a logical point which cannot be addressed by emotion alone - that is, this is a SERIOUS problem in Google’s ranking or store listing strategy.
I realize the pain such “bad developers” can have - esp. if a new developer releases a beauty/makeover app also - they are not going to appear ANYWHERE in the store. But here again it all depends on Google’s ranking/placement algorithms. The real point here is that developer concern in this area is NOT directly being addressed by Google - in fact, there is no MECHANISM for such concern to be communicated with Google - alternatively, Google does not have a STAKE in this situation, so there is little expectation of concern. Basically the economic model of developer-concern link to Google-concern is broken.
What is basically required is to INNOVATE (by Google) in how they present apps. At some point Google will HAVE to introduce some type of GROUPING strategy in how it presents games etc.
For example - maybe this developer (who publishes loads of beauty/makeover apps each a little different) - COULD be identified as producing SIMILAR games and appear as a GROUP in the listings.
This would save precious rows on the LINEAR way that Google currently presents apps.
The fault lies in the archaic way that Google is presenting apps, rather in the number of them.
A similar problem happens with webpages - but there Google has a way of judging relevance from the links to a webpage from other pages etc. That type of thing is missing with apps - at most Google is able to associate apps with other apps (if user has both installed) - and that maybe used in a similar way maybe.
In any case, the situation is not as simple as “ban that developer because he has 400 apps made quickly, while I have one made over 1 year” - because a user may very well like a simple quickly made app than a complicated made-over-a-year app. This pattern has been mentioned repeatedly by “successful” developers here - often one hears them say that the app they spent the least amount of time on became famous while the apps they spent the most time on did not. So what to do about this - how do we judge “good” apps vs. “bad” apps - esp. if users are liking to download the “bad” apps (i.e. lightweight apps which happen to fill a need).
The situation is different with games I guess - but I doubt your game is being overshadowed by some beauty/makeover apps (unless you are making the same thing - in which case shouldn’t your app be banned because it is repeating the same pattern or not novel enough ?). What does a user care if an app is made by the “same” developer or a different one ?
However, it is completely understandable if beauty/makeover apps are swamping the top 100 apps list - even then if users like all of those, what makes them inferior to another new app ?
adforandroidapps, i want to be your friend. You write long essays and i must admit, i have never finished reading them.I think this is the shortest you have written. I swear you can make money as a freelancer writing essays and reports.
Guys, let’s not forget that this thread was not about the quality of that furious guy apps, but his dishonesty: violating google policy about redundancy, then lying here that those other basically identical apps were familiy’s (I think he buyed those accounts using the others as proxies, so Google won’t spot him with the clones). He takes us all as fools: if those account belong to other people, even family, I am amazed at which speed he unpublished all those apps, almost AT ONCE. By doing that he admitted his guilt, and was only trying to avoid bans from Google at those accounts. And, as one colleague here pointed out, it is very lame to hide behind your family. And look at his hurry to bury this thread. I subscribe to the idea of another colleague to report him to Google. And further monitoring those accounts of his.
It is very shameful. As I said earlier, we should keep an eye on wrong behavior from these pirats: they are the reason why we are going to lose lots of revenue from 23 september thanks to new Google policy. Because of the greed of such individuals, we ALL lost those ad types banned by the new Google policy. If only they would have been used responsibly and by thinking ahead and planning for long term…
Come on guys what the hell is this? All I see is jealousy… its not up to you to decide which app is quality and which one is not, are you all competing for car alarm or volume booster spotlight or something? who cares what the guy made or how he made it, market reviews will take care of that by itself!
Let google figure out how to deal with apps of that quality, you do pay a cut of your ad revenue to them don’t you?
I for one, think that Google is to blame here, they are the ones “controlling” everything, so let them take the blame for crappy apps. I am sick of them using developers to fill their own pockets and build up android brand through our sweat and tears…
Android developers are being treated like sh*t by Google, you get banned, your earnings disappear (do they go back to advertisers? dont think so…) you have no one to talk to, you don’t know what went wrong, you can’t appeal anything, all your work is just magically GONE overnight, all your money is GONE overnight. You don’t know what to fix or where to start. You spent $25 for developer account and are not getting a refund!
Google is the asshole in the room, not the developer!
Let me tell you one secret guys. This developer account itself has become a business as if godaddy/hostgator are selling domain names/hosting lol
You get banned, buy a new one at $50 out which $25 is for black marketing. I have seen so many places where developer accounts are being sold in bulk (like 1000 package. What for? Only spam)
if iOS allowed me to reach 80% of marketshare, I would.
Hey, if you like paying $25 every time your “fellow” developer reports you, be my guest. Let Google take credit for having a fancy google play market full of YOUR apps. Hey, maybe you will get your ad revenue frozen in AdMob too while at it, how about that?
