Delivery Reports was banned from Google Play

Delivery Reports is banned due to the new Google Play permission policy.

History

This was my second application for Android, after Nomedia.

The idea came to me when I offered an Android phone to someone who had a Nokia previously. She said:

There is no "delivery reports" menu for SMS ! It sucks !

I searched about the possibility of displaying this information and I wrote Delivery Reports, published in January 2012. There was no other comparable application on app stores.

Yippee !

There were 154K total downloads. The app made 80 downloads a day by the time Google banned it (160/d in January 2017). I was surprised at this small success.

Death

The new Google Play permissions policy prohibits the use of READ_SMS and READ_CONTACTS permissions except for a limited use case list. The app can't list SMS without these permissions.

Developers must request an exception and prove that the core functionality of the app can not do without permission.

One of the use cases close to that of Delivery Reports was backup / restore. I implemented the SMS export in a CSV file, fixed the bugs, translated the texts (French, German, Spanish, Portuguese and Italian) and requested an exception for my app, which was refused.
I then made a request for a new use case: display all the acknowledgments on a screen.

Violation

Google did not respond to my request and unpublished the application on March 13, 2019. My developer account was in violation of the Google Play policies.

I then published an update without these permissions, which does not work but which presents the improvements, which explains the cause of the unavailability of the app and proposes to download the new version of the application.
The process of installing an APK out of the store is not obvious to everyone and I risk losing a lot of users. When installing from my website, "Unknown sources" must be enabled in Android security settings.

I thought a lot before boring users with an update that no longer lists their SMS but I did not want to stay in violation and risk closing the account. Who knows the next changes of exigency of the giant? I have made a new use case request, I won't make appeal. I consider rejections and interations with robots as dangerous for my developer account. I don't want their robot banning my whole account for "multiple rules violation". I unpublished the Google Play app definitely a week later.

Excuse

Once again, the excuse of this change is the protection of the user. Malicious applications could use the user's information and endanger his privacy.

I am not the only one affected by these measures:
https://www.androidpolice.com/2019/01/05/googles-new-sms-and-call-permission-policy-is-crippling-apps-used-by-millions/
https://issuetracker.google.com/issues/117486314

Don't Be Evil

If really the security of the user was the concern of Google, there would be the possibility to deny permission INTERNET to an application.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Android/comments/9wg1v6/discussion_why_did_google_remove_internet/

It may cost you privacy

What Google should have done is, add a warning in the permissions screen in red, like they do in yellow for "It may cost you money".

Security as an incantation aimed at giving you peace of mind isn't actual security, but instead is security circus. People generally love it, but it's never worth much, and is always at the unnecessary expense of freedom.

Actual security requires a thought process, requires understanding why doing something or not.

If you don't do that, you're only believing you're safe, which is even worse, security wise, than knowing you're not.

$$$

Delivery Reports is a victim of this robotized malicious application hunt. The application does not communicate on the internet and does not expose any data, this is clearly visible for their robot.
Predominately, the application does not pay anything to Google, unlike malicious applications that cash through the AdWords ad network.

Thanks anyway

I am frustrated by this one-sided decision, angry at not being considered and against Google's methods.
I recognize that the application has had at least 100x times more success by being included in their catalog, which is imposed on the majority of mobile phone users. After all, thank you Google.

I still paid $25 when opening the developer account.

Other app stores

Samsung http://www.samsungapps.com/appquery/appDetail.as?appId=ch.droida.deliveryreports
Amazon http://www.amazon.com/gp/mas/dl/android?p=ch.droida.deliveryreports
Xiaomi http://app.mi.com/details?id=ch.droida.deliveryreports
Opera http://android.oms.apps.bemobi.com/en_us/delivery_reports.html
GetJar http://www.getjar.mobi/mobile/868983/Droida-Delivery-Reports
TorrApk https://www.torrapk.com/en/apps/21-social-and-communication/10050-Delivery-Reports
Droida.ch http://droida.ch/deliveryreports