Android App Removals Cast Doubt on Google’s ‘Openness’
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Is Google Android still open? Some Android app programmers don't think so. Photo illustration: Jim Merithew/Wired.com
Google’s pitch for the Android mobile platform rests on a single, oft-repeated word: “Open.” But to some Android developers, the search giant’s recent practices at its app store have been anything but open.
The company recently suspended the accounts of two high-profile programmers without reason or warning, removing all their published apps from the Android Market and effectively slashing a large part of their livelihoods.
“My income was cut in half,” mobile application developer ZodTTD (his web handle) told Wired.com. “But I feel that as a developer, not being able to use the Android Market or Checkout [Google’s payments system], that digs much deeper for me.”
The offending apps were emulation software for playing console games from different systems, such as PlayStation and Super Nintendo. Not coincidentally, Google pulled these apps at the same time Sony released a PlayStation phone in late May.
The removal of these apps is a sign that Google’s “open” regime is gradually crumbling, as the Android platform becomes more commercialized and entangled in corporate partnerships. Combine this episode with Google’s lockdown of source code for Android’s Honeycomb tablet operating system, and it’s no wonder why programmers and technology journalists have begun challenging Android’s claims of being open.
An ‘Open’ App Store
Android debuted in the fall of 2008 as the self-proclaimed “open” alternative to Apple’s closed iOS platform. In the name of openness, developers flocked to the platform in droves, and the Android Market ballooned in less than three years. Now host to more than 200,000 applications, Google’s app store is Apple’s only serious app-ecosystem competitor. Apple’s App Store now offers about 400,000 apps.
The word open speaks directly to the hacker ethos — open source software is made to be shared, pored over and freely distributed. Open networks were made to be entered, explored and (occasionally) exploited. Open markets, self-governed. For better or for worse, it’s pure libertarianism at its finest.
Part of the Market’s original appeal to developers came in the friction-free app-submission process. Completely antithetical to Apple’s model, the Android Market allows developers to publish their apps almost instantaneously, with no vetting or pre-approval process by Google.
“It was just so simple,” says Ralph Gootee, a mobile platform developer whose past includes coding for companies like Sony Ericsson and Pixar. “You published the app, and it was just … there. In the Market.”
That’s a stark contrast to the App Store. Apple’s team of reviewers carefully curate the App Store, with every submitted app undergoing a strict approval process. The app-review guidelines (.pdf) that a developer’s submitted app must adhere to are seven pages long, and the timeline for the process is ambiguous. Many apps that don’t adhere to Apple’s policies get rejected or banned.
“There’s this strange waiting period,” Gootee says of Apple’s process. “After you submit your app, you’re in limbo for anywhere from two days to two weeks, with no word from Apple whatever.”
Of course, there are lines Android app publishers aren’t allowed to cross — like uploading malware programs or apps that promote illegal activity — but the Android Market relies primarily on a system of self-policing, with patrons reporting suspect apps to Google for removal.
Apple’s lack of transparency seemed to be what irked developers most. For years, Apple refused to publish its app-submission guidelines, leaving developers playing guessing games as to whether or not their apps would be approved. Relative to Apple, Android’s instant-publishing model was more open than ever.
So when Google started pulling strings on high-profile apps from behind the scenes, developers noticed.
An Abrupt Removal
Google suspended mobile developer Yong Zhang’s Android Market developer account without warning in late May, along with all seven of his highly popular applications. A few weeks prior, Google did the same with another high-profile application developer: ZodTTD.
“I was quickly notified of my account suspension via my Twitter followers and e-mail,” ZodTTD said, though his official notice from Google didn’t come until later that day.
In a formal letter, Google offered a vague explanation, citing a “violation of Android Market policies.” The company refused our request for further comment.
It left both ZodTTD and Zhang in the lurch, with inboxes full of confused customer e-mails and no explanation to give them.
“Customers were concerned about how they would be able to reinstall the application,” says ZodTTD. Currently, Android Market users can reinstall apps they’ve already purchased on any of their devices, as long as the applications are still distributed in the Market. Those who already purchased the six-buck PSX4Droid app wouldn’t be able to install the app if they decided to switch phones or wipe the memory on their current device.
Aside from individual developer headaches, a larger dilemma seems to be at hand. Android’s open philosophy is getting more difficult to defend.
“The biggest offense is that Google pulled these apps with no warning whatever,” says Gootee, a self-proclaimed proponent of the Android platform. “It was a total Big Brother move.”
