Distribution Pranks apps on playstore

[RizbIT]

Does google allow the publishing of apps that are purely PRANKS?

i.e the app says it does something it clearly can ro will not. However it is intentionally done that way to use the app to prank friends or others.

Examples:
X-Ray scanners
fake virus alert apps
screen cracked apps
lie detectors
fake digital scales
metal detectors
fake blood pressure monitors
etc...

 

[obsidiannovels]

It's risky, they might give you a warning, if enough people report it.

 

[Mercerenies]

If you falsely market it then you are in violation of the Google Play terms and possibly the laws in your country. That said, if the description says "this app pretends to do an x ray" then it is marketed as a prank app and thus technically still has a purpose which it fulfills.

 

[RizbIT]

Google stated that the TITLE of the app MUST have the words like PRANK or JOKE in it otherwise it will be removed. yet there are several prank apps i saw on Play that did not yet were still active. Also why have they not put this information in their policy if its so important. People think the TITLE of the listing is the actual name of the app

 

[Genetix]

Definitely be very clear in how you describe it or Google Play will remove it and potentially suspend your entire account permanently. That said, if you clearly read through the developers terms and follow them to a T you should be fine.

 

[RizbIT]

thats the point, it doesnt say you must use the word "prank" in the title or the owrd "joke"

 

[Genetix]

Well - as a personal example. I created a 'prank' or 'joke' app that would scan your fingerprint from the screen (of course it didn't actually scan anything) and from there it would tell your mood, kind of like a mood ring. I wrote in the description that it was fake, and for entertainment purposes only. Google suspended the app only a few minutes after it hit the store because the words 'Joke' or 'prank' weren't in the title. Although they didn't clarify much, just saying be cautious, to many strikes aren't good!

 

[RizbIT]

did you appeal?
if you appealed and your suspended app was reinstated, does that not count as 1 strike then?

 

[Genetix]

I didn't appeal - mostly because after reading the terms I probably was a bit at fault and could have worded things better, also because I had only spent about 2 nights working on the app and am a slightly lazy b@stard.... That was a time where I was already pretty burned out on mobile (My most popular app is a Random Fart Button) so I left Google Play for nearly a year and published a game on Steam. Come to think of it, I may write an email to Google Play and try to have it re-instated with some changes, however it can be challenging to actually contact a human at Google! It seems like they have better support then they did just a few years ago. I'd love to learn a bit more about their strike system myself, not sure how much of that info is actually public knowledge.

 

[RizbIT]

put an appeal in using the link in the email they sent you about suspension