After Apple announced that it would ban cryptocurrency apps from its App Store, Google updated itsdeveloper policyChina also has a clear attitude that users will never be allowed to touch applications that are deceptive or harmful financial tools, but applications that use remote devices such as servers and desktops to mine cryptocurrency are allowed.
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Mining app JSEcoin still allowed to go live after new policy
It is reported that British blockchain startupsJSEcoinAnnounceAnnouncehas successfully rolled out its mobile app toGoogle Playshop.
In addition to remotely managing mining jobs, the app allows mining cryptocurrencies directly on mobile devices. The latter feature clearly violates Google's new policy, but Google still approved the app for its store.
John Sim, co-founder and chief technology officer of JSEcoin, was accepting foreign mediaThe Next Web “We are aware of Google’s ban, so we asked the Google team to confirm whether users are allowed to mine cryptocurrencies through our official application,” said the interviewer.
Shortly after, JSEcoin was delisted for alleged violations of the terms of service. After the ban, we don't know why Google approved it to go online in the store. But what is interesting is that although JSEcoin was delisted,Unofficial JSEcoin Miningsecondary title
JSEcoin is just the tip of the iceberg
JSEcoin was able to successfully launch the application in the Google store after the Google policy was updated. Is it the tip of the iceberg or a fish that slipped through the net? It turns out that JSEcoin is just one of many "mining apps". throughForeign media BTCmanagerThe investigation found that there are still more than 100 mining applications on Google Play.
For example, the app MinerGate has been available for more than a year and has now been downloaded more than 1 million times. The app allows users to mine cryptocurrencies using their mobile devices. Its 8,000+ reviews have been mixed, with some calling it a fraud.
MinerGate states that it “starts mining cryptocurrencies anytime.” It has been verified that mobile devices are indeed able to communicate with mining pools to confirm and add blocks to the blockchain. Apparently, this is against Google's updated policy.
Besides MinerGate, there are other apps on the store that claim to be able to mine cryptocurrencies and profit directly from mobile devices.XDA-Developerssecondary title
Is Google's new policy biased?
Although the policy has been updated, Google seems to have a mixed attitude when it comes to related applications. Whether it's not all related apps being removed from the shelves, or allowing individual new apps to go online, Google seems to "open one eye, close one eye", and has not achieved "a bowl of water is level".
Admittedly, Google needs to "treat everyone equally" when enforcing policy updates in order to protect its Play Store users fromMalicious cryptocurrency appsexpressexpress, who will mine Ethereum with his 10-year-old son. Leaving aside whether his son is old enough to participate in mining, in contrast to Google’s opposition to cryptocurrency mining, when one of its co-founders said that mining the second largest cryptocurrency also made people have to doubt the company’s policy .
Favoritism or not, the policy update also demonstrates Google's willingness to protect its users from harm. Admittedly, mobile devices are not the only miners of cryptocurrencies. Removing an app doesn't mean it's truly unusable, and users may install third-party apps from untrusted platforms. It is worth thinking about Google's attitude towards new and old applications in the future, and whether the ban will be eased or tightened.
