Are you a developer of applications for Android? In that case you’ll like to know that Google has seized the males and announced a new set of conditions and rules that will require all those who want to launch their apps on Google Play. It is something that had been demanded from the company for some time, because we all know that when it comes to the quality of Android apps there are certain problems that should be solved.
The Thing Gets Serious!
Good for Google. The company wants its application store to be a little more respected now that it adds billions of installations annually. They concentrate their renewal of the approval conditions of apps in three specific aspects that they believe will help achieve the objectives. And they have not wanted to leave any of the reasons without explanation.
They begin by indicating that from the second half of 2018 it will be necessary for new applications or updated apps to reach the latest Android API level. This means that new apps that arrive in August 2018 or later and application updates as of November 2018 comply with this requirement. The reason for this is that the apps are optimized to offer the best performance and maximum security.
On the other hand, in August 2018 the Google apps market will require new apps and updates with native libraries to also provide 64-bit versions along with the basic 32-bit ones. Third, at the beginning of next year will begin to introduce a new dose of security metadata in Google Play on the base of each APK. This will guarantee the authenticity of the apps and help make everything flow better. It is not something developers have to put their hand on, since it will be done automatically, but it will possibly help to avoid certain problems that usually occur in the Android store.
Google says that they are delighted with the ecosystem they offer to developers and that they hope that everything will be to the liking of both professionals and the community. In addition, they assure that they will give all their support so that the developers have what they need to adjust to the changes.
What Does This Mean?
Something we’ve read that has not been clear to many developers is what happens with applications that are already available on Google Play and will not receive updates. What happens in these cases? Will the apps be deleted or must they be updated following the conditions stipulated in this new Google policy? This can be answered by saying no, you do not have to worry about anything. If you launched an app 2 years ago and do not plan to update it under any circumstances, you do not have to worry about it, leave it there in the catalog and that’s it.
If you consider doing an update to optimize performance in the latest versions of Android, in that case you will have to follow the new rules that have been implemented. That’s why there are certainly many developers who, in the doubt of continuing to update their app, are more than likely to prefer to leave it as it is.
In the short term this means that Google Play is not going to do a “cleanup campaign”, because many bad apps are still going to be available because they will not be in the company’s spotlight. In the long term it does mean that there will be more control and that certain applications will not be able to get to Google Play, so if we look at it in perspective it is not a bad situation.