App update constantly rejected by PlayStore for MANAGE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE permission and app description is also not updating

Question

My app helps users to manage whatsapp stickers link to app and it supports SDK30 in first release but after that release now when I am trying to update new version of app playstore sent me app status rejected, I tried multiple times, I've mentioned the cause for the permission in app description and even in app while asking for the permission, but neither my app is updating nor my app's short and long description are updating. I have filled the Sensitive permission form too, whenever I try to release new version google send me

Publishing Status App Status: Rejected

Your app has been rejected and wasn't published due to a policy violation. If you submitted an update, the previous version of your app is still available on Google Play.

Issue: Access to device storage not required

The feature you identified does not require unrestricted access to device storage. There are other privacy friendly options for accessing files in shared storage, such as using the system file picker, or, depending on the use case, you can follow the recommendations for receiving data from other apps listed here.

Please update your app so that the feature uses a privacy friendly alternative and remove All Files Access (MANAGE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE) permission.

Policy: All Files Access Permission

Files and directory attributes on a user's device are regarded as personal and sensitive user data subject to the Personal and Sensitive Information policy and the following requirements:

Apps should only request access to device storage which is critical for the app to function, and may not request access to device storage on behalf of any third-party for any purpose that is unrelated to critical user-facing app functionality. Android devices running Android "R" (Android 11) or later, will require the MANAGE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE permission in order to manage access in shared storage. All apps that target R or later and request broad access to shared storage ("All files access") must successfully pass an appropriate access review prior to publishing. Apps allowed to use this permission must clearly prompt users to enable "All files access" for their app under "Special app access" settings. For more information on the R requirements, please see this help article.

Read more about Use of All Files Access Permission See Android storage use cases and best practices and how to open files using storage access framework Address this issue in the Play Console. Issue: Not a core feature

The feature you identified that is dependent on this permission does not appear to be critical to the core functionality of your app.

Core functionality is defined as the main purpose of the app. Without this core functionality, the app is "broken" or rendered unusable. The core functionality, as well as any core features that comprise this core functionality, must all be prominently documented and promoted in the app's description.

Please update your app so that the feature does not use this permission or ensure that the core functionality is prominently documented and promoted in the app's description and resubmit your app on Play Developer console.

Policy: All Files Access Permission

Files and directory attributes on a user's device are regarded as personal and sensitive user data subject to the Personal and Sensitive Information policy and the following requirements:

Apps should only request access to device storage which is critical for the app to function, and may not request access to device storage on behalf of any third-party for any purpose that is unrelated to critical user-facing app functionality. Android devices running Android "R" (Android 11) or later, will require the MANAGE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE permission in order to manage access in shared storage. All apps that target R or later and request broad access to shared storage ("All files access") must successfully pass an appropriate access review prior to publishing. Apps allowed to use this permission must clearly prompt users to enable "All files access" for their app under "Special app access" settings. For more information on the R requirements, please see this help article.

Read more about Use of All Files Access Permission See Android storage use cases and best practices Address this issue in the Play Console.
Issue: Need to use Media Store API

You have requested access to All Files Access permission but it appears that your app's core feature requires access to only Media Files. With the MediaStore API, apps can contribute and access media that's available on an external storage volume without the need for the access all files permission.

Please update your app so that the feature uses Media Store APIs and remove All Files Access (MANAGE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE) permission.

Policy: All Files Access Permission

Files and directory attributes on a user's device are regarded as personal and sensitive user data subject to the Personal and Sensitive Information policy and the following requirements:

Apps should only request access to device storage which is critical for the app to function, and may not request access to device storage on behalf of any third-party for any purpose that is unrelated to critical user-facing app functionality. Android devices running Android "R" (Android 11) or later, will require the MANAGE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE permission in order to manage access in shared storage. All apps that target R or later and request broad access to shared storage ("All files access") must successfully pass an appropriate access review prior to publishing. Apps allowed to use this permission must clearly prompt users to enable "All files access" for their app under "Special app access" settings. For more information on the R requirements, please see this help article.

Read more about Use of All Files Access Permission See Android storage use cases and best practices and how to access media files from shared storage Address this issue in the Play Console.

Anting

Just let the user pick the required directory with ACTION_OPEN_DOCUMENT_TREE and you can do what you want. What seems to be messing around with the data of another app. – Smithers

@Smithers I can't do that because I need access to multiple paths if user have multiple whatsapp apps, second thing now with scoped storage most of the users don't know where their important whatsapp media files are stored so it is very difficult for users to explore and give access to them. – Anting

Multiple paths? Please tell all so we can try to find a solution. – Smithers

@Smithers like see If user have 2 whatsapps, first simple whatsapp and second whatsapp business, now both apps store files seperately, now MediaStore provides images and documents and whatsapp stickers are in format of webp images, so i need to look for the path where they are stored and get stickers from there and many of my users use whatsapp mods which have unknown package names which user is not aware of and files are stored under that name, so for making my app accessible to all user, I treverse through the files and recognise if it's a whatsapp folder either mod or normal. – Anting

@Mananjain, have you update your app with targetSdkVersion to 30? Or still it is with 29? I am getting rejection from Play console after updating to the store. Check my question (#70035532). – Downy

Answer 1

After lots of struggle and research I decided to reduced target SDK version to 29 and post the update for my app and I was able to post updates and surprisingly it updated for sdk 30 too, If you're facing the same issue, just change target sdk to 29 and keep compile sdk to 30, try it, It worked for me maybe it will work for you too. Maybe it's a loophole in google's system but it worked for me.

Anting

Its not working. I have set target SDK to 29 but not working – Seigneur

Answer 2

Using MANAGE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE is not a good idea, unless your app is a file manager, antivirus, or cleaner app. However, in your case, you only need access to a specific folder, i.e. /sdcard/emulated/0/WhatsApp. We still have a workaround to grant full access from this folder via Storage Access Framework folder picker.

You can force the user to select WhatsApp folder via Intent.ACTION_OPEN_DOCUMENT_TREE, and then save the permission status with ContentResolver#takePersistableUriPermission(). But writing your own code to handle this may requires a lot of effort.

I suggest you to use SimpleStorage. Because it is simpler:

class MainActivity : AppCompatActivity() {

    private val storageHelper = SimpleStorageHelper(this)

    override fun onCreate(savedInstanceState: Bundle?) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState)
        setContentView(R.layout.activity_main)

        storageHelper.onStorageAccessGranted = { _, root ->
            Toast.makeText(
                this,
                "Folder ${root.getAbsolutePath(this)} is accessible now.",
                Toast.LENGTH_SHORT
            ).show()
        }

        btnRequestStorageAccess.setOnClickListener {
            // Force the user to select directory /sdcard/emulated/0/WhatsApp
            // The access will be granted once the user selected this folder,
            // and then you can explore this directory.
            storageHelper.requestStorageAccess(
                requestCode = REQUEST_CODE_STORAGE_ACCESS,
                initialPath = FileFullPath(this, StorageId.PRIMARY, "WhatsApp"),
                expectedStorageType = StorageType.EXTERNAL,
                expectedBasePath = "WhatsApp"
            )
        }
    }

    override fun onSaveInstanceState(outState: Bundle) {
        storageHelper.onSaveInstanceState(outState)
        super.onSaveInstanceState(outState)
    }

    override fun onRestoreInstanceState(savedInstanceState: Bundle) {
        super.onRestoreInstanceState(savedInstanceState)
        storageHelper.onRestoreInstanceState(savedInstanceState)
    }
}

This answer may not meet your expectations, but you can try this alternative.

Elviraelvis

Answer 3

App Should meet all the policies to get approved by the Google Play console

<uses-permission  android:name="android.permission.MANAGE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE"/>

the all files access permission when your app cannot effectively make use of the more privacy friendly best practices, such as using the Storage Access Framework or the Media Store API.

Replace

Environment.getExternalStoragePublicDirectory()

with

Context.getExternalFilesDir("filename");

Clastic

Answer 4

I had the same error for a month but finally, Google Play Store accepted my uploads.

Briefly, what I did was to create new builds for each track, and -interestingly- it worked!

(Before my countless update trials, our latest version on Production was 2.23.5 (build 1), our active tracks were Internal Testing Track and Production, and I was trying to upload my updates to Internal Testing Track.)

Below are the steps that I've applied:

1. Created a new build 2.24.1 (build 1) with all necessary changes. (e.g. upgrading targetSdkVersion to 30, removing MANAGE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE permission, etc.)
2. Activated our inactive tracks (Open, Closed Alpha, and Beta Testing Tracks), uploaded the same build 2.24.1 (build 1) to these tracks, and then paused those tracks. (I've paused them as I won't use them actively, you may not want to pause it)
3. Created another build 2.24.1 (build 2) which was completely the same as build 1. I've just updated its build number.
4. Uploaded 2.24.1 (build 2) to the Internal Testing Track.
5. Created another build 2.24.1 (build 3) which was completely the same as build 3. I've just updated its build number.
6. Uploaded 2.24.1 (build 3) to the Production Track.
7. Went to "Publishing Overview" page, activated Managed Publishing in order to manually publish my uploads to Production and other tracks as they got accepted.
8. Sent these uploads to review at once and voila, Google accepts your uploads!

Fragment

Answer 5

Currently play store is only accepting app which has compile sdk version and target sdk version greater than or equal to 30. so by reducing target sdk version to 29 will not work because you can not upload that app on play store. Now accord to play store polices Google Play restricts the use of high risk or sensitive permissions, including a special app access called All files access. This is only applicable to apps that target Android 11 (API level 30) and declare the MANAGE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE permission, which is added in Android 11. Also, this policy does not impact the usage of the READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE permission.

long story short your app must meet all the policies to get approved. You should only access the all files access permission when your app cannot effectively make use of the more privacy friendly best practices, such as using the Storage Access Framework or the Media Store API.

remove external storage permission from manifest file. Try to apply this where you need access of files :

replace

Environment.getExternalStoragePublicDirectory()

with

Context.getExternalFilesDir(Environment.DIRECTORY_DOWNLOADS)

because accord to google policies app can read and write to app specific files and folders.

do not forget to add

android:requestLegacyExternalStorage="true"

in manifest application tag for target sdk version above 29.

also use content provider to access files from app specific folder. if you dont know how to do so you can refer to this.

Stablish

But my app wanted MANAGE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE this permission. So how can I upload it? Like my app is "File Manager" – Albertype

I have access to only directory documents. Still my application got rejected – Cockeye

Answer 6

Yesterday same issue faced by me:

• Target sdk (29) downgrading didn't work for me.

• I just commented out "MANAGE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE" permission into my manifest, updated version code, made new release build and finally uploaded into play console without any issue.

  <uses-permission  android:name="android.permission.MANAGE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE"  />
  

Floriated