Welcome to Google Play PolicyBytes.
I’m Theresa, a Product Marketing Manager
for Android and Google Play.
Thanks for joining us today.
We’ll cover new policies, recent updates, and key reminders.
Let's start with our new policies about hostile downloaders
within the mobile unwanted software space,
social apps and features for kids and families, and Android emojis.
We're adding a hostile downloader section to our Mobile Unwanted Software Policy
to prohibit code that by itself isn’t unwanted software,
but the code can download other mobile unwanted software.
If you’d like additional guidelines for major browsing and file-sharing apps
that facilitate downloads, please take a look at our Policy Center.
This change will help us build a safer and more trustworthy ecosystem for everyone.
And as part of that,
we want kids to be able to have a safe online experience.
So, we’re adding new requirements in our Families policy for kids apps
that are social apps or have social features.
We’re requiring these apps to have
In-app reminders for safely engaging with others online
Adult approval before allowing child users to share personal information with others,
and a method for adults to be able to manage
these social features on an ongoing basis.
As a reminder, we do not allow Families apps
whose primary purpose is to allow children to chat with strangers.
Next, we’re launching a new Android emoji policy
to give users an inclusive and consistent user experience
across the Google platform.
When the Unicode for an app is outdated,
users often don’t see the new emojis as its’ intended.
Instead, they may see small square boxes or an incorrect set of emojis.
As you can expect, that can be a frustrating or confusing experience.
So, we're adding a policy that requires apps running on Android 12 and above
to use the latest version of emojis released by Unicode
within 4 months of when it is available.
Developers will have different options on how to stay compliant with this policy.
You can check the Policy Center for more about those options and additional resources.
For example, we have a set of emoji examples, shown here, that you can use to test
if your app is compliant with the latest Unicode version of emojis.
If the emojis from the table don't show up correctly in your app,
then you may be running an older version of the listed Unicode.
The policy will provide guidance on how you can update to the latest version.
We also have developer guidance and resources like the EmojiCompat support library,
to help you keep your app up to date.
With the EmojiCompat support library, you users won’t need to wait
for Android OS updates to get the latest emoji.
Now, let’s talk about our recent policy updates and key reminders.
First, we’re clarifying that the Families Ads and Monetization policy requirements
apply to all monetization and advertising in apps that target children.
You’ll see that we added language in the policy to clarify
that it covers all monetization options,
including cross promotions, sponsorship messages,
and in-app purchases.
You can take a look at the Policy Center for examples of common violations to avoid.
Next, we’re clarifying our Subscriptions policy to more explicitly prohibit
apps that subject users to deceptive or manipulative purchase experiences,
including in-app purchases or subscriptions.
This helps protect users from misleading or deceptive subscription plans,
and it helps reduce high refund rates for developers.
Here are some common violations:
The first violation is showing multiple screens in the purchase flow
that lead users into inadvertently clicking the final “continue” button to subscribe.
The second violation is leading users to think that the plan is free
by making the cost that users will be charged after the trial, hard to read.
As a reminder, the Data safety form in Play Console is now available.
We want to provide developers
with plenty of time and resources to get prepared.
In October, you can go to App Content
in your Play Console to fill out your information
and submit it for review feedback.
We recommend that you start now because some developers have told us,
it may take them some time to complete the process.
As we shared earlier this year,
all developers must include a privacy policy and submit this form.
Even if your app doesn’t collect or share personal and sensitive user data.
Next February, users will start see this feature
in your app’s Google Play store listing.
If your information isn’t approved yet, then it will say “no information available.”
We know that some developers will need more time to assess their apps
and coordinate with different teams.
So, you have until April 2022
before your app must have this section approved.
Otherwise, your new app submission or app updates may be rejected.
We have plenty of resources to help.
Check out our Help Center at this link
to learn more about the policy requirements, definitions, and examples.
The article will link to a developer guide
on how to check your app’s to create permissions, APIs, and libraries.
It will also link to a new Play Academy course
to walk you through the process and share examples.
And lastly, let's take a look at some key enforcement dates.
On the top, you see deadlines from the policy updates
we talked about today.
We’ve extended the grace period for changes
that may take developers more time to adjust to,
such as the Kids and Families Social Apps and Features and Android Emojis update.
On the bottom, you see deadlinesfrom our previous policy updates.
One to point out is that by November 1st
all updates to existing apps using Play Billing
must use Billing Library version 3 or 4.
We hope this helped you better understand our policies.
For free courses on all things Google Play Policy,
visit our Google Play Academy at g.co/playacademy/policy.
Thank you for continuing to partner with us
to make Google Play a trustworthy platform for everyone.
Until next time, stay safe and healthy out there.