<story><title>Google to remove all VPN ad blockers that don’t comply with their policy</title><url>https://community.blokada.org/t/google-to-remove-all-vpn-ad-blockers-that-don-t-comply/27586</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>brink</author><text>&amp;gt; Anyways, at least Google allows sideloading so devs can live without Google Play. When Apple pulls something like that we have no choice.&lt;p&gt;Being able to sideload apps is the single issue that has kept me on android my entire life. Not being able to install the apps that I want to install on my own phone is a no-negotiation deal breaker for me. I really wish Apple would loosen their white knuckle grip on their precious iOS devices so that I could have options, but they obviously don&amp;#x27;t respect their users enough to give them that choice.</text></item><item><author>ameshkov</author><text>This is getting posted again and again and I don’t understand why.&lt;p&gt;There are no news here. Ad blockers were never allowed to Play store, here is the relevant policy: &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;support.google.com&amp;#x2F;googleplay&amp;#x2F;android-developer&amp;#x2F;answer&amp;#x2F;9888379?hl=en&amp;amp;ref_topic=9877467#zippy=%2Cexamples-of-common-violations&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;support.google.com&amp;#x2F;googleplay&amp;#x2F;android-developer&amp;#x2F;answ...&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;This is exactly why AdGuard ad blocker is not distributed via play store. It was removed in 2014, we learned the lesson and see no reason in trying to abuse Google’s non-existent review process.&lt;p&gt;Interestingly enough, at first Google used a different rule, some vague stuff about interfering with networks. Later they reworked the rule and added ad blocking to examples of common violations.&lt;p&gt;Anyways, at least Google allows sideloading so devs can live without Google Play. When Apple pulls something like that we have no choice.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>judge2020</author><text>I mean, we know what happens when it&amp;#x27;s possible. Us techies can handle it, but wave $20 in front of teens with no money and they&amp;#x27;ll click through any warning or &amp;quot;are you sure&amp;quot; prompt they&amp;#x27;re told to.
 &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;techcrunch.com&amp;#x2F;2019&amp;#x2F;01&amp;#x2F;29&amp;#x2F;facebook-project-atlas&amp;#x2F;&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;techcrunch.com&amp;#x2F;2019&amp;#x2F;01&amp;#x2F;29&amp;#x2F;facebook-project-atlas&amp;#x2F;&lt;/a&gt;</text></comment>
<story><title>Google to remove all VPN ad blockers that don’t comply with their policy</title><url>https://community.blokada.org/t/google-to-remove-all-vpn-ad-blockers-that-don-t-comply/27586</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>brink</author><text>&amp;gt; Anyways, at least Google allows sideloading so devs can live without Google Play. When Apple pulls something like that we have no choice.&lt;p&gt;Being able to sideload apps is the single issue that has kept me on android my entire life. Not being able to install the apps that I want to install on my own phone is a no-negotiation deal breaker for me. I really wish Apple would loosen their white knuckle grip on their precious iOS devices so that I could have options, but they obviously don&amp;#x27;t respect their users enough to give them that choice.</text></item><item><author>ameshkov</author><text>This is getting posted again and again and I don’t understand why.&lt;p&gt;There are no news here. Ad blockers were never allowed to Play store, here is the relevant policy: &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;support.google.com&amp;#x2F;googleplay&amp;#x2F;android-developer&amp;#x2F;answer&amp;#x2F;9888379?hl=en&amp;amp;ref_topic=9877467#zippy=%2Cexamples-of-common-violations&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;support.google.com&amp;#x2F;googleplay&amp;#x2F;android-developer&amp;#x2F;answ...&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;This is exactly why AdGuard ad blocker is not distributed via play store. It was removed in 2014, we learned the lesson and see no reason in trying to abuse Google’s non-existent review process.&lt;p&gt;Interestingly enough, at first Google used a different rule, some vague stuff about interfering with networks. Later they reworked the rule and added ad blocking to examples of common violations.&lt;p&gt;Anyways, at least Google allows sideloading so devs can live without Google Play. When Apple pulls something like that we have no choice.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>antonyh</author><text>Ironically, it was the walled garden that kept me on Apple for so long. Having at least the illusion that apps were safe and secure gave me some confidence that most of the apps are reasonably safe does remove stress and means I don&amp;#x27;t have to vet things too closely. In truth there are nasties in the Apple world too, but I&amp;#x27;m sure it&amp;#x27;s nowhere near as wild as installing random .apk files.&lt;p&gt;What made me leave Apple was for a real headphone socket, an SD card slot, and especially USB-C charging. Those were the non-negotiables for me.</text></comment>