Last updated: 2022-01-16

For those who don’t know me, I am a Linux system administrator who codes a lot, mostly as a hobby. During my hobbies I wrote a few Android apps too, my most known one being Catima.

Catima is only available on Google Play and F-Droid and will probably remain exclusive to these platforms for the forseeable future.

But why isn’t Catima on other app stores, like the Samsung Galaxy Store, Amazon AppStore or Huawei App Gallery, one may ask. Is there something wrong with those stores? The answer may surprise you:

The reason Catima isn’t on alternative app stores isn’t because there is something wrong with them, it’s because there is something wrong with Google Play.

Everyone knows Google Play. It is pre-installed on every Android device bought in stores, so it is the way to reach as many users as possible. That, however, is pretty much where the good parts end.

Unlike F-Droid, publishing on Google Play is not free but requires a one-time payment of 50 Euros to register a developer account. This account can then be used to publish as many apps with as you want, so the cost is not insane given the amount of users you reach, but still worth mentioning.

The real problem with Google Play, however, is not the money. It is the incompetence of their support and moderation staff.

On October 2nd 2021, I received an email titled: “Action Required: Your app is not compliant with Google Play Policies”.

I was confused, because I actually always do read the rules and was pretty sure I wasn’t breaking any policy.

After several mails back and forth, I started to get a hunch: Google was using Google Translate incorrectly.

You see, Google doesn’t accept apps saying they’re free in the title (most likely to keep the app list clean, as this info is already readable on other places), and if you naively throws the Dutch word “vrij” (meaning “free as in freedom”) into Google Translate, you get “free” in English. While the word “free” in English is ambigious, it i