/!\ BE AWARE OF YOUR APP, DavinciDevelopers try to steal them and sell them on the market !!
Hello guys,
Be careful, if you post an apk of your free app here, somebody will try to take the apk, remove the signature, and upload it as a paid version on the market !
The proofs : (edited to add new stolen softwares)
Llamadroid
- http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=10113570#post10113570
- http://www.androlib.com/android.application.com-kebab-llamadroid-zzjjD.aspx
(removed today, on 5th january)
Typo clock
- http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=814054
- http://www.appbrain.com/app/beautiful-clock-widget-3d/com.semicuda.typoclock
Iron soldiers
- http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=862875
- http://www.appbrain.com/app/iron-soldiers/vuxia.ironSoldiers
(removed from market today, on 5th january, but still referenced)
Championship racing 2010
- http://www.vividgames.com/sub_game.php?id=42
- http://www.androlib.com/android.application.com-vividgames-championship_racing_2010-zzxwq.aspx
(removed today, on 5th january)
Liquid wallpaper
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=878252
http://www.appbrain.com/app/liquid-physics/livewallpaper.liquid
Bluetooth Scanner
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=900923
http://www.androidzoom.com/android_games/casual/bluetooth-scanner_pvqg.html
(New !! Now, we have proof that ALL his apps are stolen)
And even Gameloft best sellers (paid games) :
http://www.androlib.com/android.app...ndroid-gand-gloftspaw-heroofsparta-zjCDi.aspx
(removed from market today, on 5th january, but still referenced)
http://www.androlib.com/android.application.com-gameloft-android-gand-gloftavar-avatar-zjCEx.aspx
(removed from market today, on 5th january, but still referenced)
Minigore
http://minigore.blogspot.com/2009/07/what-minigore-is.html
http://www.appbrain.com/app/minigore-hd/com.ambushgames.minigore
http://www.androlib.com/android.application.com-ambushgames-minigore-zzjqD.aspx
Zuma's revenge
Original
http://www.zumasrevengegame.com/
http://store.steampowered.com/app/3620/
Scammers
http://www.appbrain.com/app/zumas-revenge-hd/com.popcap.zumas_revenge
http://www.appbrain.com/app/zumas-revenge/com.fox.game.zumasrevenge
How is it possible ?
Google does not check your apk signature when you upload a software.
Even if you signed yous apk with you key, somebody else can put this on his google account.
The signature can be deleted easily if needed.
He can change the title of your app, so nobody see it, but he can't change the apk name nor the icon.
Why do we post our apk here ?
To have testers, to correct bugs, to have a perfect look and feel before put it on the market.
Because on the market people are rude, we have only one chance, so we need to avoid bugs.
And when we put our app online, we want to choose if it's paid or free (with ads or not).
What is the problem ?
If DavinciDevelopers steal and upload your app, he will lock your pak name.
2 apps can't have the same name on the market.
You may have a name like com.myname.myapp.apk
Where "myname" is the same in every app you do.
If he take that, this is a major issue for you because you will be associated to him on every search (google.com, market...).
So, you will have to change your app name and maybe your company name....
Within 1 or 2 days, the market is parsed from androlib, androidzoom, appbrain... and it's done. Google.com will see those websites, and you are trapped.
You will have your buggy app on the market, some people will pay for that, the thief will have some money, and every users will have a bad opinion of your app.
Why DavinciDevelopers does this ?
To make benefit from your work.
Because he doesn't care you are working from a long time on your app.
Because he doesn't care if your work is ruined, he will find somebody else.
How can we be protected ?
Because 2 apps can't have the same name, you should put your app on the market first.
If your app is in development stage, you can upload it as "draft", so it will not be visible on the market, but the name will be locked.
Who is DavinciDevelopers ?
Somebody that have 83 apps on the market !
Almost all of them are themes.
If you look the package name you can see for example :
com.nd.android.pandatheme.p__3d_android_theme
at :
http://www.androlib.com/android.application.com-nd-android-pandatheme-p__3d_android_theme-qAmiz.aspx
google search : "pandatheme", first link :
http://home.pandaapp.com:888/
So he is not a developer. He makes themes with a free online tool and sell them... nice.
And for the real apps he uploaded (about 5), they all are stolen, coming from poland, germany, and other places.
Almost every of them comes from XDA dev forums.
ps : this message should be marked as sticky in every development section.
Wow, I can't believe this
It gets even better! Check this out:
http://www.androlib.com/android.app...ndroid-gand-gloftspaw-heroofsparta-zjCDi.aspx
http://www.androlib.com/android.application.com-gameloft-android-gand-gloftavar-avatar-zjCEx.aspx
He released the liquid physics live wallpaper I posted on here as well.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=878252
http://www.appbrain.com/app/liquid-physics/livewallpaper.liquid
Attacking GameLoft was a bad move for this/these guy(s).
They hit somewhere they shouldn't have I think.
Khoral said:
Attacking GameLoft was a bad move for this/these guy(s).
They hit somewhere they shouldn't have I think.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
He has ripped off Popcap as well
http://www.appbrain.com/app/zumas-revenge-hd/com.popcap.zumas_revenge
And MiniGore
http://www.appbrain.com/app/minigore-hd/com.ambushgames.minigore
So STICKY!!!
It's really funny the website slogan:
http://davincidevelopers.weebly.com/
Innovation is everything. WTF
What do you thing, does it matter to left a comment like: app is stolen,... Seller steals apps from real developers or something else in market for "his" apks?
I wrote an email to appbrain and told them about this: maybe they can at least exclude this person from appbrain???
Has anyone emailed him to let him know that we all know?
Dirtbags
Sent from your mom's phone
kiltedthrower said:
Has anyone emailed him to let him know that we all know?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Like they would care... they just want to make some quick money from other's work.
The only way we can solve this if somehow we contact google to do something about it.
Since yesterday, he deleted some apps from his market.
I'm the developer of iron soldiers, I had been notified yesterday by another xda forum user that he stole my app.
I emailed him and within 3 or 4 hours he removed the app.
He answered me that he is so sorry, that he shares his key with other people and he didn't know... blabla.
Anyway, he has many stolen apps so he is hard to believe.
Now I see that thanaos2042 created a new thread (thanks ) and that google already referenced it :
If you google "davincideveloppers", this post is already in the first page !
Internet has a memory, and his name will not be forgotten.
they sell a lot of apps which is 80++ but they still using free website ....what a cheapskate...
Holy ****. Mods, please sticky this!!
I sincerely hope Google kicks their ass for this. I'm not familiar with the ToS but I hope they get hit with a lawsuit and instant refunds to say the least.
Stealing from Indie Developers is simply ****ed up. Wouldn't it be funny if a massive attack was launched against this asshole's website? (wink wink)
Chalup said:
Stealing from Indie Developers is simply ****ed up. Wouldn't it be funny if a massive attack was launched against this asshole's website? (wink wink)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, it wouldn't. He/they are using a free web host so that would effectively be an attack on a whole lot of innocent sites.
Terrible to steal!
stolen apps are all over the market, ive even seen the r2d2 live wallpaper from the droid, on the market for 99p,
Good to know about these flagrant ripoffs
Looks like someone took their website down. The link now shows a page that isn't published.
Edit: Looks like Google could do something about this since it appears to be a violation of the terms of service (see 11.4, 13.3 and 16)
11. Content licence from you
11.1 You retain copyright and any other rights you already hold in Content which you submit, post or display on or through, the Services. By submitting, posting or displaying the content you give Google a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free, and non-exclusive licence to reproduce, adapt, modify, translate, publish, publicly perform, publicly display and distribute any Content which you submit, post or display on or through, the Services. This licence is for the sole purpose of enabling Google to display, distribute and promote the Services and may be revoked for certain Services as defined in the Additional Terms of those Services.
11.2 You agree that this licence includes a right for Google to make such Content available to other companies, organizations or individuals with whom Google has relationships for the provision of syndicated services, and to use such Content in connection with the provision of those services.
11.3 You understand that Google, in performing the required technical steps to provide the Services to our users, may (a) transmit or distribute your Content over various public networks and in various media; and (b) make such changes to your Content as are necessary to conform and adapt that Content to the technical requirements of connecting networks, devices, services or media. You agree that this licence shall permit Google to take these actions.
11.4 You confirm and warrant to Google that you have all the rights, power and authority necessary to grant the above licence.
13.3 Google may at any time, terminate its legal agreement with you if:
(A) you have breached any provision of the Terms (or have acted in manner which clearly shows that you do not intend to, or are unable to comply with the provisions of the Terms)
16. Copyright and trade mark policies
16.1 It is Google’s policy to respond to notices of alleged copyright infringement that comply with applicable international intellectual property law (including, in the United States, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act) and to terminating the accounts of repeat infringers. Details of Google’s policy can be found at http://www.google.com/dmca.html.
16.2 Google operates a trade mark complaints procedure in respect of Google’s advertising business, details of which can be found at http://www.google.com/tm_complaint.html.
Thanks in advance for taking the time to read this. I am having a hard time finding a solution to my problem. I know this isnt the "correct" place for this post but XDA is the best and I know the answers are here.
I make applications for people and businesses. They pay me for my services. They are very simple apps that, for the most part, bring someones social medias to a single place with some other basic features. The issue I am having is that when I submit these app to google, they claim impersonation...
"This is a notification that your application, The Unofficial Futureman App, with package ID com.singlestoneapps.futureman, has been suspended from the Google Play Store. REASON FOR SUSPENSION:Violation of the impersonation or deceptive behavior provisions of the Content Policy. Please refer to the impersonation policy help article for more information.
If you are authorized to publish on behalf of the original content or brand owner, please contact us via the Google Play Help Center and attach verifiable and accepted proof of permission.
This particular app has been disabled as a policy strike. If your developer account is still in good standing, you may revise and upload a policy compliant version of this application as a new package name.
This notification also serves as notice for other apps in your catalog. You can avoid further app suspensions by immediately ensuring that no other apps in your catalog are in violation of (but not limited to) the above policy. Please also ensure your apps’ compliance with the Developer Distribution Agreement and Content Policy.
All violations are tracked. Additional suspensions of any nature may result in the termination of your developer account, and investigation and possible termination of related Google accounts. If your account is terminated, payments will cease and Google may recover the proceeds of any past sales and/or the cost of any associated fees (such as chargebacks and transaction fees) from you.
If you feel we have made this determination in error, you can visit this Google Play Help Center article."
This isn't the only one I had the issue with. I submitted "rebutles" for them and never heard back from google. At this point, my account has been TERMINATED. They are claiming that I am pretending to be these people in order to get downloads. Whats form(s) do I need to bypass this? Is there a generic form? How do I submit it to google in order to avoid this issue? Any other advice is greatly appreciated.
Thanks again XDA
First off, it's been over the 72 hour thing. But, I'm more of getting some facts.
A few days ago I got an e-mail from Google saying they were taking down one of my apps because of... well you can read it. (Note it doesn't actual say what exactly I did wrong, what part was breaking the policy, or what the 2 year old app with no problems before hand was doing an impersonation of)
Anyways, what should I do? Since I made everything in the app 100% by myself for school. I know this is in error, but I have no idea what I'm defending since they marked this 2 year old app as impersonation
If anyone is at Google and reading this. Please PM me so we can figure this thing out. I will send you the packet name.
Below is what they sent
Hi Developers at ,
After review, Bob The Mole, , has been suspended and removed from Google Play as a policy strike because it violates the impersonation policy.
Next Steps
Read through the Impersonation article for more details and examples of policy violations.
Make sure your app is compliant with the Impersonation and Intellectual Property policy and all other policies listed in the Developer Program Policies. Remember additional enforcement could occur if there are further policy issues with your apps.
Sign in to your Developer Console and submit the policy compliant app using a new package name and a new app name.
What if I have permission to use the content?
Contact our support team to provide a justification for its use. Justification may include providing proof that you are authorized to use the content in your app or some other legal justification.
Additional suspensions of any nature may result in the termination of your developer account, and investigation and possible termination of related Google accounts. If your account is terminated, payments will cease and Google may recover the proceeds of any past sales and/or the cost of any associated fees (such as chargebacks and transaction fees) from you.
If you’ve reviewed the policy and feel this suspension may have been in error, please reach out to our policy support team. One of my colleagues will get back to you within 2 business days.
Regards,
The Google Play Review Team
LINKS
The policy
https://play.google.com/about/spam.html#impersonation-intellectual-property:impersonation
contact them
https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/troubleshooter/2993242
recently received many mails from google for many of my apps.
The email content is:
Code:
Hi Developers ,
We reviewed your app, XXXXXXX, with package name XXXXXX, and noticed that it violates our developer terms.
REASON FOR WARNING: Violation of the Deceptive behavior policy
You must explain to users why you are requesting the ‘android.permission.BIND_DEVICE_ADMIN’ in your app. Apps must provide accurate disclosure of their functionality and should perform as reasonably expected by the user. Any changes to device settings must be made with the user's knowledge and consent and be easily reversible by the user.
Please complete the following actions within 7 days, or your app will be removed from Google Play: Read through the Deceptive Device Settings Changes policy for more details, and make sure your app complies with all policies listed in the Developer Program Policies. If you don't need the BIND_DEVICE_ADMIN permission in your app: Remove your request for this permission from your app's manifest. Sign in to your Play Console and upload your modified, policy compliant APK. Or, if you need the BIND_DEVICE_ADMIN permission in your app: Include the following snippet in your app’s store listing description: “This app uses the Device Administrator permission.” Provide prominent user facing disclosure of this usage before asking the user to enable this permission within your app. Your disclosure must meet each of the following requirements: Disclosure must be displayed in normal course of usage of your app. Your users should not be required to navigate into a menu or settings to view disclosure. Disclosure must describe the functionality Device Admin permission is enabling for your app. Each security policy used with the Device Admin request must be declared in your disclosure, and each policy must be accompanied with justification for the request. Disclosure cannot only be placed in your privacy policy, TOS or EULA. Alternatively, you can choose to unpublish the app.
All violations are tracked. Serious or repeated violations of any nature will result in the termination of your developer account, and investigation and possible termination of related Google accounts.
Regards,
The Google Play Team
its is enough to update the store listing and the privacy policy ?
I do not think so. You were clearly told that `` Disclosure must be displayed in normal course of usage of your app. Your users should not be required to navigate into a menu or settings to view disclosure.'' and ``Disclosure cannot only be placed in your privacy policy, TOS or EULA. ''
I received the same email regarding my app.
The instructions are quite clear at the first glance. On a closer look, however, it's not so clear, at least in my case:
in my app, the device administrator function is not strictly needed. It depends on what the user wants. The default is that it is not needed. If I would now push a notice and the handling to the main activity, I would hopelessly scare and annoy users who may never even get close to giving the app device admin permissions.
The process to request device admin rights includes a textual description by the app explaining why the permission is needed, and what sub-parts of the device admin rights. In my eyes this already fulfills the requirements in the email. Or does it not?
I'm in a very awkward position right now. The time they allow me to react is very short (7 days) and they don't even provide a reply address. I have now contacted the support team, but if I don't a reasonable response within a few days I might have to butcher this out over night and sure as hell will get bad reviews because of this.
For me it makes sense to remove this functionality for a while. And try to find out from Google what they mean by ``normal course of usage''. I'm afraid that you must show this disclosure in main activity every time regardless.
grfgames said:
For me it makes sense to remove this functionality for a while. And try to find out from Google what they mean by ``normal course of usage''. I'm afraid that you must show this disclosure in main activity every time regardless.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah. Thing is that removing an integral part of an app on such short notice is likely to cause regression, let alone angry users that ask where the hell this has gone.
Google Play answered me now, twice, but only with the same lame text blocks. No real human interaction. I've now also posted to G+, let's see if anything happens there.
If I advertise this on the main page, I'm totally over-advertising an optional feature and even invite people to use it, which would be contrary to what Play want to archive. This sucks big time.
xrad said:
Yeah. Thing is that removing an integral part of an app on such short notice is likely to cause regression, let alone angry users that ask where the hell this has gone.
Google Play answered me now, twice, but only with the same lame text blocks. No real human interaction. I've now also posted to G+, let's see if anything happens there.
If I advertise this on the main page, I'm totally over-advertising an optional feature and even invite people to use it, which would be contrary to what Play want to archive. This sucks big time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you want your app to be available on PlayStore then what is so terrible about doing what they expect of developers that put their apps on PlayStore.
Everybody else must follow that rule, why shouldn't you?
It doesn't even matter what the circumstances are as to why you think it's unnecessary or unfair, all that matters is that is how it is to be done. Otherwise, no app on PlayStore, right?
grfgames said:
For me it makes sense to remove this functionality for a while. And try to find out from Google what they mean by ``normal course of usage''. I'm afraid that you must show this disclosure in main activity every time regardless.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I DO NOT PROVIDE HELP IN PM, KEEP IT IN THE THREADS WHERE EVERYONE CAN SHARE
@Droidriven: had you actually read my post, then you would understand that I'm in favor of the rule, but that I am criticizing the way they handle explain and enforce it. Essentially, their premise is that a the apps they are addressing with this current campaign always want to be devadmin. Mine only wants to be so if the users asks for it. But Google doesn't tell anything about such a scenario and only talks to me using bots and people using predefined text blocks. All on very short notice.
xrad said:
@Droidriven: had you actually read my post, then you would understand that I'm in favor of the rule, but that I am criticizing the way they handle explain and enforce it. Essentially, their premise is that a the apps they are addressing with this current campaign always want to be devadmin. Mine only wants to be so if the users asks for it. But Google doesn't tell anything about such a scenario and only talks to me using bots and people using predefined text blocks. All on very short notice.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know. I was just saying that you're gonna have to do it their way in the end anyway. It's unfair but it is what it is.
I DO NOT PROVIDE HELP IN PM, KEEP IT IN THE THREADS WHERE EVERYONE CAN SHARE
my main issue is i lost my keystore during a hard drive problem so i cant update the application how ever if i updated my description and my privacy policy and say that i clearly use this permission it will solve this problem ??
any help will be appreciated
I received a notification from Google Play telling me that my app has been removed because of some violation regarding the collection of Advertising IDs.
My app, however, only fetches some publicly available data from the Internet and uses firebase to deliver push notifications to devices which install the app and subscribe to specific FCM topics.
My question is: how could I be leaking Advertising IDs? Are those IDs sent in the HTTP requests made by the app? (e.g. in the headers?) Or maybe it's because of the FCM subscriptions?
The full text of the email I received follows.
Hi developers at REDACTED,
After review, REDACTED, has been removed from Google Play due to a policy violation. This app won’t be available to users until you submit a compliant update.
Issue: Violation of Usage of Android Advertising ID policy and section 4.8 of the Developer Distribution Agreement
Google Play requires developers to provide a valid privacy policy when the app requests or handles sensitive user or device information. We’ve identified that your app collects and transmits the Android advertising identifier, which is subject to a privacy policy requirement. If your app collects the Android advertising ID, you must provide a valid privacy policy in both the designated field in the Play Console, and from within the app.
Next steps: Submit your app for another review
Read through the Usage of Android Advertising ID and User Data policies, as well as the Developer Distribution Agreement, and make appropriate changes to your app. If you decide to collect sensitive user information, be sure to abide by the above policies, and include a link to a valid privacy policy on your app's store listing page and within your app.
Make sure that your app is compliant with all other Developer Program Policies. Additional enforcement could occur if there are further policy violations.
Sign in to your Play Console and submit the update to your app. Alternatively, you may opt-out of this requirement by removing any requests for sensitive permissions or user data.
Alternatively, you may opt-out of this requirement by removing any requests for sensitive permissions or user data.
If approved, your app will again be available with all installs, ratings, and reviews intact.
If you’ve reviewed the policy and feel this removal may have been in error, please reach out to our policy support team. One of my colleagues will get back to you within 2 business days.
Thanks for helping us provide a clear and transparent experience for Google Play users.
Regards,
The Google Play Team
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