Google Compliance

[TheLastProject]

I have no clue what Google is smoking this time, this seems like complete bullshit, and we've been using this title for years.

Looking at Google Play there are other apps using very similar titles like: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.innovativeiteration.rewardsapp

"Reward Cards : The Card Wallet"

Why is "Catima - The Libre Card Wallet" not okay when "Reward Cards : The Card Wallet" is?

[TheLastProject]

I've filed an appeal, stating I have insufficient information:

I do not understand how the title is supposedly breaking any of the policies. We are not trying to manipulate the placement, just make clear what the app is. Alternatives like Stocard also put similar text in the app name: "Stocard - Rewards Cards Wallet" to make clear that it's a loyalty card app.

Please explain in more detail which part of the title you claim is violating the policy and why this only relates to the Norwegian and Dutch titles, given they are literally just translations of the original English title.

[TheLastProject]

Appeal ID 6-5923000031473.

[TheLastProject]

The Norwegian and Dutch titles haven't even changed since 5 months!

https://github.com/TheLastProject/Catima/blob/48f680f7bd4ad6bb5974a94811a2d796d56dddbe/fastlane/metadata/android/nb-NO/title.txt
https://github.com/TheLastProject/Catima/blob/48f680f7bd4ad6bb5974a94811a2d796d56dddbe/fastlane/metadata/android/nl-NL/title.txt

[TheLastProject]

As I kinda guessed, it was thrown into Google translate and flagged because it translated to the English "free", ignoring it doesn't mean "at no cost":

For example, your app's title in nl_NL and no_NO locales currently contains text that indicates price and promotional information (E.g. "free", "vrije", "frie"). You can refer to the attached screenshot for additional information.

[TheLastProject]

I have responded:

Vrij is not Dutch for "at no cost", it is Dutch for libre -> open source. The same goes for Norwegian.

I repeat: neither translations talk about price.

[TheLastProject]

Got a response:

Hi Sylvia,

Thanks for your patience.

As mentioned in previous email, your app's title in nl_NL and no_NO locales currently contains text that indicates price and promotional information.

Please note that the examples provided here are not exhaustive. We recommend that you review all translations of your store listing to comply with User Ratings, Reviews and Installs policy.

You can read through the User Ratings, Reviews and Installs policy page for more details and examples of common violations.

Please update your app to fix this issue. You may also want to double check that your app complies with all other Developer Program Policies, as additional enforcement could occur if there are further policy violations.

Thanks for your understanding and continued support.

[TheLastProject]

So, of course, this doesn't answer the question. So I asked the same question again:

As I said, none of the translations talk about price. While "free" may be ambiguous in English, it is not in Dutch or Norwegian. And for English we use libre to disambiguate.

Is stating the app is Open Source considered "promotional information"? Because you keep talking about price but I already stated that there is no price info in any of the titles.

[TacoTheDank]

I have responded:

Vrij is not Dutch for "at no cost", it is Dutch for libre -> open source. The same goes for Norwegian.

I repeat: neither translations talk about price.

Lmao so basically Google's translation service is subpar. What a surprise!

I guess if nothing else can be done, perhaps the "Libre" could be removed from the Dutch and Norwegian translations? It's not ideal, but at least it'll allow updates to be published again.

Or, perhaps Catima's Play Store name could be changed to something like "Catima - Open Source Card Wallet" across all translations? I think a change like this would greatly reduce the chances of this happening again, as "open source" is probably much less debatable from a translation standpoint than "libre" is (even if "libre" is nicer as a title).

Anyhow, hope this is resolved soon :)

[TheLastProject]

Unbelievable, Google still insists I'm not compliant, copy-pasting the same message despite me stating we're not talking price.

Hi Sylvia,

Thanks for your reply.

As much as I'd like to help, I'm not able to provide any more detail or a better answer to your question. In our previous email, I made sure to include all the information available to me.

As mentioned previously, your app's title in nl_NL and no_NO locales currently contains text that indicates price and promotional information.

You can read through the User Ratings, Reviews and Installspolicy page and refer to our previous emails for more details.

Please update your app to fix this issue. You may also want to double check that your app complies with all other Developer Program Policies, as additional enforcement could occur if there are further policy violations.

Thanks for your understanding and continued support.

[TheLastProject]

Whatever Google, you win: ab7505c

And I'm sick of that "Thanks for your understanding and continued support" bullshit.

So, one last email reply:

But the Dutch and Norwegian app titles do NOT contain price info!

How is it possible you can insist I am not compliant while I have provided an explanation that your statement is wrong!

But fine, you win. I don't care to waste more time on this. I have edited the Dutch and Norwegian titles.

Thanks for your lack of understanding and continued support.

[TheLastProject]

[TheLastProject]

Fuck you, Google. Fuck you.