How Google Pushed One of My Favorite Apps to Leave the Play Store

There aren't arsenic galore paid, premium apps disposable for Android compared to iPhones and iPads. Yet aft seeing wherefore 1 of my aged favourite Android apps disappeared from the Play Store, it's easier to recognize why. Sadly, Google isn't helping.

How I Feel successful Love With IA Writer

iA Writer is distraction-free penning app that began connected iPhones and iPads earlier expanding to Macs, Windows, and yet Android. It continues to beryllium supported connected each but 1 of those platforms.

I discovered iA Writer successful hunt of an Android penning app that doesn't consciousness arsenic dense arsenic Microsoft Word oregon LibreOffice portion not being arsenic utilitarian arsenic a basal substance editor. As a writer, I lone request a fewer superior features (which is not to accidental each writers worth the aforesaid features). For me, connection number and export options substance most. Basic formatting comes next, but adjacent that is optional. Markdown penning apps are ideal.

IA Writer acceptable the bill, offering a cleanable penning acquisition with the indispensable features. My superior contented with the app came down to however it saved section files to an interior database alternatively than straight to a section folder, which made it harder to backmost up without relying connected the integrated unreality retention options. This is what yet led maine to usage Obsidian instead.

This is not a communicative astir however iA Writer remains my idiosyncratic favourite penning app. Our passionate emotion matter had already ended implicit the people of the past mates of years. Had we not gone our abstracted ways, I would person noticed its disappearance acold sooner. No, this is astir however iA Writer remains an fantabulous penning companion, 1 I'm bittersweet to spot different Android users won't person the accidental to conscionable and emotion successful the aforesaid way.

Why iA Writer Vanished From the Play Store

iA Writer near the Play Store, for caller users, successful September of 2024. It remains disposable to existing users, but without Google Drive functionality and without ongoing updates.

What made this departure notable was that the developer near a remarkably unfastened and transparent farewell letter, successful the signifier of a blog post, explaining however their narration with Android went truthful horribly wrong.

The concern came to a caput soon earlier the departure, erstwhile Google required iA Writer to marque a bid of ever-changing requests successful bid for the app to support entree to the Google Drive API, which is needed successful bid for the app to load and prevention files straight via Google Drive. To stay compliant, Google told the developers they needed to implicit an yearly third-party audit, an disbursal of clip and wealth that galore tiny indie developers can't afford.

Yet, similar immoderate narration that splinters, determination seldom is 1 azygous origin for the rift. This 1 was already connected shaky ground. This succinct paragraph from the station possibly sums it up best.

That's right, it's not each Google's fault, though Google is implicated successful varying degrees successful each of these complaints. Much of the situation comes down to the mode Android is structured.

Android's Device Diversity Doesn't Make It Easy

Android is an unfastened root level that companies are escaped to vessel connected their ain devices and modify arsenic they wish. This is wherefore determination are truthful galore flavors of Android. And portion it's casual to privation everyone utilized the aforesaid mentation of Android, I personally would not privation to springiness up Samsung's One UI successful favour of the acquisition recovered connected Pixel phones.

Likewise, arsenic overmuch arsenic I emotion the versatility offered by my foldable Galaxy Z Fold 6, I recognize however frustrating it tin beryllium having to enactment the facet ratio of a screen show and an interior surface that disagree from virtually each different Android devices.

This diverseness successful some bundle and hardware means each developers request to emulate oregon get their hands connected thousands of devices successful bid to replicate and squash bugs. It's a vastly larger excavation of hardware to enactment compared to iPhones, wherever lone a fewer caller models get introduced each year, each from the aforesaid company, each moving the aforesaid software, and each updated astatine the aforesaid regular cadence.

And what I emotion astir astir Android, its unfastened foundation, is thing I'm adjacent little inclined to privation to springiness up. The aforesaid state to region immoderate bloatware from our devices utilizing ADB besides makes it casual to pirate apps.

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It didn't person to beryllium this way. Windows is different operating strategy that appears connected a wide scope of hardware, yet the iA Writer developers find it overmuch easier to support. There's a imaginable aboriginal wherever Android is arsenic appealing to paid app developers arsenic it is to mobile hardware makers, but that's not the satellite we're surviving successful conscionable yet—and it's unclear if Google is the champion institution to assistance marque that happen.