Play links broken

The Play store will not update Flowx from v3.422, and their Flowx links are also “not found.” Did they take you down again?

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Yes, they have taken us down again. Twice in a week. It is very stressful, sad and disappointing.

They removed us without warning twice when a notice would’ve been a better approach. The removal from Google Play is justified given we were missing a single link our list of data source. This single link is costing us ~$120-$150USD per day it’s removed, which is livelihood - one link!! See the attachments.

Here’s the link to their policy:

I have gone from supporting and trusting Google to not. I plan to move all services I can away from them.

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This is one link in a page of 17 links. I’ve looked at other major apps similar to Flowx and they violate this policy far worse than this app. One of the more popular one is full of dark patterns.

I really don’t know how they can think Flowx is trying to mislead users.

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@WaspIII Hello and Welcome to the Forum and Thank You for Using Flowx

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I have version 3.424. Is that the current version?

Thank you,
Bob

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I’m sad hear this.
And I wounder, is it still down, or did it came back up and then was taken down a third time?

Right now, for me, the Flowx app is not to be found in Google play store.

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+1

Flowx gone from Play Store :face_with_diagonal_mouth:

Hopefully a temporary glitch :crossed_fingers:

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It did come up for me on 3/20, the day after my first post, and updating worked. 3.424 is what was installed then.

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However, it looks to be down again.

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Hi all,

To update the status. Yes, Flowx has been removed again - the third time in three weeks. Pretty much exactly one week apart.

  1. for not clearly stating we did not represent or are not affiliated with government organizations in Google Play page.
  2. similar to #1, for missing one link in the Data Sources - Flowx page. We also had to add all the links to the Google Play page.
  3. is due to “14-day trial” not showing up correctly when purchasing. This is a bug. Billing is hard.

Although these technically breach the policies, I don’t think a removal is justified rather than a warning and a chance to fix it.

During a removal, no one obviously can install from Google Play. No one can purchase a new subscription and existing subscriptions that resubscribe will fail. So existing customer whose renewal date is during the removal will be kicked out.

If you are affected by this removal, please email me.

Billing is hard and it would take me a week to fix this bug and test the app for release. During this time we will be losing subscribers and income we rely on. So I decided to remove the ability to purchase pro from the app and release it. This way we can get back on Google Play quickly and not kick subscribers out and not lose too much income.

We have submitted this release last night and hope to get back on in the next day or so.

We also took time to investigate what was going on. It seems:

  • Google, with the aid of AI, has taken an aggressive approach to get apps to comply with policies.
  • unfortunately, once you get caught in the review process, they keep at it until they can’t find anything. This is why it seems we are continually targeted and other apps are unaffected.
  • if we appeal too many times, we can lose email support.
  • if we are removed too many times, we might get suspended, i.e., all reviews will be destroyed, all subscriptions will stop work. In other words, disaster.

As such, Sally and I went through the policies with a fine tooth comb and tried to identify everything that might cause Flowx to be removed again.

Those changes are:

  • removed pro purchases.
  • removed link to this forum because it include user created content.
  • removed link to the ratings page - don’t know why - I just felt uncomfortable about it.
  • removed “Flowx for Apple” notice.
  • removed “Stand with Ukraine” notice.
  • added clear attribution to all data sources
  • added link to Google’s Subscription Center for subscription management.
  • updated our privacy policy to be clear and concise with links to third-party services.

We are scared.

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Fingers Crossed Yall Have Put So Much into This Amazing App.

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Flowx, 3.424, is back in Play Store :smiley:

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I feel for you.

Seams that Google is doing this a bit unnecessary aggressive.

Sure, it’s valid to ask app makers to follow policies, but such an aggressive approach seams unproductive, and makes life unreasonable uncomfortable for the app makers.

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