Google clarified that it isn’t suspending developers who don’t want to maintain their unpublished apps amid the confusion that the company will take punitive actions regardless.
In a Reddit thread, a developer believed Google told them to keep maintaining an unpublished app or face consequences for violating the Google Play policy.
For those who don’t know, an unpublished app is only downloadable by users who have downloaded it before and would retain access to it. To developers, unpublishing an app is a way to withdraw it from the public eyes.
The user was confused and thought that they still had to carry the burdens of their discarded projects to avoid strikes against their Google developer account since they can’t delete apps from the platform. Only Google has the power to fully remove apps from the Play Store.
Developers can only ask Google to remove an app if no one has ever downloaded it.
Fortunately, Jacob Lehrbaum from Android Developer Relations chimed in and clarified the situation. He stressed that Google intended to use the email as a reminder that some older apps may be removed, which doesn’t count as a strike against the developer.
“App removal actions are not the same as suspensions and will not count as a strike against your account,” said Lehrbaum.
He then recommended people leave unpublished and abandoned apps to Google, which will determine their fate.
Nevertheless, Android Police pointed out that unless Google rephrases its policies surrounding app removal and suspension, the current ones with ambiguous descriptions will continue to confuse developers around the world.
Source: Reddit Via: Android Police
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