The app disappears from Google Play as “There was a link to a page in the app that asks for donations”


by

Kat Yukawa

The open source VPN app “ WireGuard ” has been removed from Google Play because there was a link in the app calling for donations. Developers have updated to remove links and republished on Google Play, but this situation is also occurring in apps other than WireGuard.

WireGuard removed from Google Play Store, rectification in progress
https://lists.zx2c4.com/pipermail/wireguard/2019-October/004596.html



'WireGuard' is open source software that provides a simple and high-speed

VPN service. It was originally released for Linux, but it also supports Windows, macOS, BSD, and iOS. On October 13, 2019, the Android version was also released.

According to Jason A. Donnenfeld, developer on the WireGuard mailing list, the app was published on Google Play after review by Google on the morning of October 16, 2019. However, 20 minutes after the release, Google received a notification of deletion.

As a reason for the removal, there was a notice that putting a link to a page that asks for donations in the app would violate Google's 'Payment Terms', so Donenfeld immediately removed the link and updated the app.

wireguard-android-Android GUI for WireGuard
https://git.zx2c4.com/wireguard-android/commit/?id=f0bab44b4a17b65e9f7e718a9ba9b2bc37041268

The revived WireGuard. The version to be deleted is “0.0.20191013”, which was re-published as version “0.0.20191016” by Donenfeld's quick update.

WireGuard-apps on google play
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.wireguard.android

A similar issue has been reported in the open source application ' andOTP ' that can perform two-factor authentication .

This is not “in-app purchase”, but it seems that the link to ask for donation was deleted because it violated the terms.

Removed from the Google Play Store · Issue # 396 · andOTP / andOTP · GitHub
https://github.com/andOTP/andOTP/issues/396



Unlike WireGuard, andOTP still disappears from Google Play. Once it is back, it should be accessible at the following URL:

andOTP-Android OTP Authenticator-apps on google play
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.shadowice.flocke.andotp&hl=en

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