18 articles tagged
Two separate regulatory changes now govern how apps reach phones in Brazil: Apple's CADE settlement opened alternative marketplaces and alternative payments on iOS 26.5, and Google requires registered apps on seven
Google has not published a Play deadline for API level 37. That does not make the bump safe: eleven behaviour changes fire the moment you target Android 17, and the SMS OTP delay alone can break a login flow
Google Play announced the changes on 15 July 2026 and set a single compliance date of 26 August. Anonymous and random chat apps must block minors, self-certify five child-safety standards, and stop targeting children
Google announced a Play Policy Insights skill in the 15 July 2026 policy update, an open-source SKILL.md that grounds a coding agent in Play policy. It shares a name with an older Android Studio lint feature, and
Enforcement starts 30 September 2026 across seven app stores in four markets, and a D-U-N-S number can take 28 days to issue. Here is the six-week plan, the signing-key traps and the APIs that automate registration.
On 31 August 2026 Google Play stops accepting app updates that target below Android 16 (API level 36). This is a build-and-behaviour change, not a version bump. Here is what actually breaks, a realistic three-week plan
India is still the world's largest app download market, but Q2 2026 was the quarter it started paying: $345 million in consumer spending, up 35% year on year. The ASO levers that matter have changed with it.
Google Play makes apps less discoverable above a 0.47% user-perceived ANR rate or a 1.09% crash rate, and shows a store warning above 8% on a single phone model. Here is how to read the numbers and fix them.
From 31 August 2026 Google Play rejects new releases built on Billing Library 7. The full removed-API list, the Kotlin changes each one forces, why PBL 9.1.0 is often the better target, and how the extension works.
A wave of 2026 laws made age assurance a shipping requirement for apps, not a nice-to-have. This is what Google Play Age Signals and Apple's Declared Age Range API actually require on Android and iOS, the region
How to integrate Google Play's Age Signals API in Android: the SDK setup, the checkAgeSignals flow, userStatus values, error handling, and what US and Indian age-assurance laws now require of app teams.
Google Play requires new apps and updates to target Android 16 (API 36) from August 31, 2026, with an extension to November 1. Here's what breaks and a step-by-step migration checklist.
From July 22, 2026, Google's Play Catalog Access Program lets rival US app stores carry your listings, while downloads and Play's fee still route through Google. Here is what the opt-out means for publishers.
Google Play stops allowing READ_CALL_LOG for account verification 30 days after July 15, 2026. This guide moves phone login to the Digital Credentials API or SMS Retriever, with code and a decision table.
Apple's age rating questionnaire started asking about social media capabilities on 9 July 2026, and answers become mandatory in September 2026. That question is the visible tip of an age-assurance stack that also
From 30 September 2026, unregistered Android apps stop installing in four countries across seven app stores. Here is what to check, what a D-U-N-S number costs you in lead time, and how to automate registration in CI.
Google published its 15 July 2026 policy announcement with a 30-day compliance clock. The clarification that matters most is one sentence long: your third-party AI integrations are now explicitly covered by the User
On June 30, 2026 Google Play split its service fee from a new billing fee: 10% on your first $1M, a 5% billing fee in the US, UK and EEA, and India follows in 2027. Here is what your app actually pays.
