WireGuard was restored only because Jason Donenfeld has submitted a new version of the app which no longer contains a link to the donation page. As of yesterday Google did not contact WireGuard maintainers to bring clarity to the donation link policy of Google Play.
The issue is not solved and it remains as pressing as ever, Google has begun to crack down on open source projects which use an external donation platform such as Patreon, putting the livelihood of open source developers at risk.
Their policy affects several open source apps, most of which remain taken down, including andOTP.
It's worth noting that Apple allows open source developers to link to their external donation pages from iOS apps.
The issue is not solved and it remains as pressing as ever
There's nothing to solve. It is explicitly against Google's policies. You have to be a tax exempt organisation to accept donations from an app in the play store.
The issue is not about accepting donations through Google Play Billing, but about having a link in your app to the external donation page of the project.
Could you link to the policy section that explictly bans external donation links from being present in apps, unless you're a non-profit organization? People have been referring to the Google Play Billing terms of service, but that has nothing to do with linking to external donation services such as Patreon.
I think the last line refers to donations collected within the app. There is no publicly available Google Play policy for which the reasonable interpretation is that apps are not allowed to contain external links to donation pages.
In comparison, Apple clearly states that you must link to an external donation page from your app if you're not a charity, while charities are also allowed to collect money within the app with Apple Pay.
3.2.1 Acceptable
(vi) Approved nonprofits may fundraise directly within their own apps or third-party apps, provided those fundraising campaigns adhere to all App Review Guidelines and offer Apple Pay support. These apps must disclose how the funds will be used, abide by all required local and federal laws, and ensure appropriate tax receipts are available to donors.
3.2.2 Unacceptable
(iv) Unless you are an approved nonprofit or otherwise permitted under Section 3.2.1 (vi) above, collecting funds within the app for charities and fundraisers. Apps that seek to raise money for such causes must be free on the App Store and may only collect funds outside of the app, such as via Safari or SMS.
Comments
WireGuard was restored only because Jason Donenfeld has submitted a new version of the app which no longer contains a link to the donation page. As of yesterday Google did not contact WireGuard maintainers to bring clarity to the donation link policy of Google Play.
The issue is not solved and it remains as pressing as ever, Google has begun to crack down on open source projects which use an external donation platform such as Patreon, putting the livelihood of open source developers at risk.
Their policy affects several open source apps, most of which remain taken down, including andOTP.
It's worth noting that Apple allows open source developers to link to their external donation pages from iOS apps.
The initial takedown was discussed in this thread: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21268389
There's nothing to solve. It is explicitly against Google's policies. You have to be a tax exempt organisation to accept donations from an app in the play store.
The issue is not about accepting donations through Google Play Billing, but about having a link in your app to the external donation page of the project.
Could you link to the policy section that explictly bans external donation links from being present in apps, unless you're a non-profit organization? People have been referring to the Google Play Billing terms of service, but that has nothing to do with linking to external donation services such as Patreon.
Yeah this is the page: https://play.google.com/about/monetization-ads/payments/
For some reason it doesn't include the following text that I got in the email:
Note the last line, effectively stating that donations to non-tax exempt organisations like WireGuard are not allowed.
I think the last line refers to donations collected within the app. There is no publicly available Google Play policy for which the reasonable interpretation is that apps are not allowed to contain external links to donation pages.
In comparison, Apple clearly states that you must link to an external donation page from your app if you're not a charity, while charities are also allowed to collect money within the app with Apple Pay.
https://developer.apple.com/app-store/review/guidelines/