Developer Policy Center (original) (raw)
Providing a safe and trusted experience for everyone
Our policies are designed to deliver your apps and games safely to billions of people worldwide. Explore this page for information on our policies, read the Developer Distribution Agreement, and find educational resources to get started.
Explore our policies and resources below
Before submitting an app to Google Play, ensure it complies with these content policies and with local laws.
When developers impersonate others or their apps, it misleads users and hurts the developer community. We prohibit apps that mislead users by impersonating someone else.
When developers copy someone else's work or deceive users, it hurts users and the developer community. Don't rely on misleading or unfair use of other people's work.
Privacy, Deception and Device Abuse
We're committed to protecting user privacy and providing a safe and secure environment for our users. Apps that are deceptive, malicious, or intended to abuse or misuse any network, device, or personal data are strictly prohibited.
If you include an SDK in your app, you are responsible for ensuring that their third-party code and practices do not cause your app to violate Google Play Developer Program Policies. It is important to be aware of how the SDKs in your app handle user data and to ensure you know what permissions they use, what data they collect, and why.
Google Play supports a variety of monetization strategies to benefit developers and users, including paid distribution, in-app products, subscriptions, and ad-based models. To ensure the best user experience, we require you to comply with these policies.
The promotion and visibility of your app dramatically affects store quality. Avoid spammy store listings, low quality promotion, and efforts to artificially boost app visibility on Google Play.
Spam, Functionality, and User Experience
At a minimum, apps should provide users with a basic degree of functionality and a respectful user experience. Apps that crash, exhibit other behavior that is not consistent with a functional user experience are not allowed on Google Play.
Malware is any code that could put a user, a user's data, or a device at risk. Because Malware is potentially harmful to users, apps containing Malware are strictly prohibited from Google Play.
Mobile Unwanted Software (MUwS)
Apps that violate Mobile Unwanted Software principles are potentially harmful to the user experience, and we will take steps to protect users from harmful software.
Before submitting an app that targets children to the Google Play Store, you are responsible for ensuring your app is appropriate for children and compliant with all relevant laws.
In addition to compliance with the content policies set out elsewhere in this Policy Center, apps that are designed for other Android experiences and distributed via Google Play may also be subject to program-specific policy requirements. Be sure to review the list below to determine if any of these policies apply to your app.
Learn more about how our policies apply, how we enforce our policies, and how you can manage policy violations.
Latest Information
Learn more about the policy updates and key reminders we announced in October.
In case you missed it, all developers must provide data deletion options for their Data safety section in Play Console by Dec 7, 2023.
Discover what we're working on to help you navigate privacy and security on Google Play, and build trust with your users.