CODEWITHSUNDEEP
androidpermissionsgoogle-playandroid-permissionsgoogle-play-console
sreekku
sreekku

Reputation: 1

Google play store removed my app due to sms permission

Here I have an android application its core functionality is forwarding incoming text messages (SMS) to E-Mail Inbox, there it requires RECEIVE_SMS permission. my app is removed from the play store due to the google play policy violation. SMS_permission is mandatory in my application.

I submitted an appeal to google play, their response is given below

...

I’ve reviewed your appeal request and found that your app still violates Google Play Policy. I’ve included details below about the specific issue with your app and what you can do to get your app back on Google Play.

Issue

During review, we found that your app violates the Permissions policy :

You may only request permissions that are necessary to implement critical features or services currently available in your app. You may not use permissions that give access to user or device data for undisclosed, unimplemented, or disallowed features or purposes. SMS and Call Log Permissions are subject to additional restrictions; in order to use these permissions, you must first receive approval from Google Play. For example, we found that your app contains :

RECEIVE_SMS

...

please tell how can I republish the application in to playstore with those sms permissions

Upvotes: 0

Views: 3747

Answers (2)

Iulian Popescu
Iulian Popescu

Reputation: 2643

There are quite a few rules regarding privacy around these permissions and sometimes it's hard to understand, but maybe this will help. First of all:

Google Play restricts the use of high risk or sensitive permissions, including the SMS or Call Log permission groups.

Assuming that your app needs some of these permissions in order to work properly, Google says that it needs to be set as the default phone/sms handler. The app has to be registered as the default handler BEFORE the permission is requested and stop using them once the app is not the default handler anymore.

However, this is not the case for your app. You need access to that information, but your app cannot be set as a handler for sms/calls. In this case, an exception can be made for your app, provided that you satisfy two requirements: you have no other way to achieve the same behaviour (checks for your app) and the use case you implement can be found in the list of excepted use cases (see the Exceptions section from the link above). Here is a little bit tricky because there is no use case that clearly matches your app, but I think that you might be able to use Cross-device synchronization or transfer of SMS or calls (make sure that you check the list in detail and select the one that best fits your app).

Now, the final step is here:

If you believe your app meets the policy requirements for acceptable use or is eligible for an exception, you should declare any Call Log or SMS permissions directly through the Play Console.

Details about the process can be found here and if you did all of these, then your request will be sent to the Google Play team, they will review it and decided if your app will be published or not.

P.S. Make sure that you clearly indicate why your app needs those permissions.

Upvotes: 1

Alpesh Vaghasiya
Alpesh Vaghasiya

Reputation: 186

Yes Google removed apps which have READ_SMS permission. Try to implement using Google API, You don't need READ_SMS permission anymore after that.

Have a look at this Google code, https://developers.google.com/identity/sms-retriever/overview

Upvotes: 3

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