Google bans cryptocurrency miners, apps to sell guns, and more from the Play Store

Google is beginning to take a stronger stance on what can and can’t be on the Google Play Store. Following up on a recent ban on Fake ID applications and gambling, a number of others have now been banned too. Cryptocurrency miners, applications to sell guns, and a whole lot more have been barred from the store.

It makes sense to ban cryptocurrency miners from the Play Store, especially since Google has already done it with Chrome extensions. Plus, it’s not as if you can exactly mine much on your smartphone. With a lower powered processor in your phone, there’s not much point to it. As a result, to prevent abuse, Google has decided to ban all applications which can mine cryptocurrency. There are already countless numbers of these applications available on the Google Play Store.

In terms of gun and firearm sales, Google has decided that too is a no-go area. “We don’t allow apps that facilitate the sale of explosives, firearms, ammunition, or certain firearms accessories,” is how Google words it in their new guidelines. This includes applications which help you make your own weapons, so it’s almost certainly for the best.

Applications aimed at children, but which contain adult themes, are also going to be banned. Along with that, applications which simply only show advertisements are to be blocked, and so are ones that mislead users. Those are also very self-explanatory, and it means that there will be, in theory, a higher quality of applications on the Google Play Store. Finally, Google is also banning applications which provide “repetitive” content. This includes applications uploaded by bots that create the same applications over and over again under different names. It’s a needed crackdown for sure.

Google has started taking the content on the Play Store seriously for a while now, and they’re taking it a step further by outlawing a lot of other content too. It’s a welcome change for sure.

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Source: Google Developer Guidelines Via: AndroidPolice

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