KDE Connect was removed from Google Play for policy violation

Yesterday, Google made the decision to temporarily remove KDE Connect from the Play Store because application violated a policy recently imposed about SMS permissions and call logs, which the application needs to offer a complete experience.

For those who still do not know KDE Connect I can tell you that this allows them to pair a phone with a computer that runs a homonymous program, allowing them to communicate with each other through a wireless connection.

This allows you to get phone notifications on PC, check phone battery level, share files and links between devices, call your phone, read notifications, or touch and display text messages.

KDE Connect provides this set of features:

• Shared clipboard: copy and paste between your devices.
• Share files and URLs on your computer from any application.
• Receive notifications of incoming calls and text messages on your PC.
• Virtual Touchpad - Use your phone screen as a touchpad on your computer.
• Notification sync: read your Android notifications from the desktop.
• Multimedia remote control - Use your phone as a remote control for Linux media players.
• WiFi connection: Does not require USB or bluetooth.
• End-to-end TLS encryption - Your information is safe.

Please note that you must install KDE Connect on your computer for this application to work and keep the desktop version up to date with the Android version for the latest features to work.

This application it is part of an open source project and exists thanks to all the people who contributed to it. Therefore, it is possible to retrieve its source code if you want to study it or use it according to the license, of course.

Google decides to remove KDE Connect

Before the decision by Google, to remove KDE Connect from the Play Store, Albert Vaca Cintora (who maintains KDE Connect) He said in a tweet that:

KDE Connect has been removed from Google Play for violating its new strategy for applications that access SMS. The policy has an explicit exception for related applications (like KDE Connect), but it has still been removed and Google cannot be contacted.

Google Play now limits access permissions to call and SMS logs unless necessary for an Android application. Limit the use of high-risk or confidential permissions, including call log or SMS permission groups.

If an application does not require access to the call log or SMS permissions, these must be removed from the application's manifest file.

Y Albert Vaca Belt notes that:

Google only provides one-way forms to contact them. I filled out the forms regarding this strategy change (including the one they had submitted to existing requests before the strategy went into effect), but never received an explanation as to why KDE Connect cannot be considered a companion application.

There is simply no way to talk to a human on Google. I bet you save a lot on customer service.

KDE Connect returns to Google, but without the SMS functionality

Still no response from Google, Albert Vaca Cintora said that he would quickly release a version of KDE Connect without the SMS function.

Several users of the application have already expressed their anger, believing that Google was abusing its position.

One of them, an application developer, was even surprised to see that KDE Connect was removed while his application, which did much the same thing and asked for the same permissions, was still on Google Play.

Finally Albert Vaca Cintora said that a version of KDE Connect will already be available in the Play Store without the SMS function. Who want the full app can still be downloaded from F-Droid.

To make things better, the GooglePlay console sends me an internal error. I can't download the version without SMS support. Meanwhile, new users cannot download KDE Connect. Good job google. Said Albert Vaca Cintora

Source: https://twitter.com/albertvaka