How to fix the Device and Network abuse policy issue in Google play store app submission

Question

Recently we pushed one app into Google play store, our app hosts the youtube video links & play the content through YouTube player.

We received policy violation note saying, like below. Here the info what they have provided is purely generic. I'm not getting what is the mistake.

Can you please help us. Here is the email i got from google play support team

it violates our device and network abuse policy. If you submitted an update, the previous version of your app is still live on Google Play.

Here’s how you can submit your app for another review:

Your app shouldn’t access or use a service or API in a manner that violates its terms of service. For example, make sure your app doesn’t download, monetize, or access YouTube videos in a way that violates the YouTube Terms of Service.

Read through the Device and Network Abuse policy for more details and examples.

Make sure your app is compliant with all other policies listed in the Developer Program Policies. Remember that additional enforcement could occur if there are further policy issues with your apps.

Benbena

Can anybody share their mobile app name where they are using YouTube services? – Safekeeping

Answer 1

I know it' too late to answer for this question. I am sure, it will help some people,

I got same reply from google. I couldn't figure out what is the issue. So I emailed them to elaborate the issue rather than telling in general. The issue was, I was displaying banner ad while playing video. This violates their youtube policy. I removed the banner ad when video plays and uploaded the apk again. They accepted the apk this time.

You can always mail google asking about the issue, they will respond back in 1-2 days.

Hope it helps some people.

Avalon

100% perfect answer. I had same issue. Can you tell us that if we are displaying Banner ads while playing Facebook video in Webview . is it also a violation? – Leoraleos

@PirFahimShah i never tried that.! you can give a try and share your feedback on this. Google not gonna suspend your app for this. Let everyone know what happens. Happy coding :) – Avalon

haha, I can not give a try to that. Google is much strict about its policy – Leoraleos

@PirFahimShah haha.. you are right! Google Mother getting smarter every day! let's not take the risk! – Avalon

Very late response, but how can you contact them? I cannot find any contact info – Turnabout

@GillisHaasnoot you can reply to the mail which they have sent – Avalon

@Gillis Haasnoot Chain reply to the same mail from from you received the mail. – Breger

@Avalon how were you able to detect when the youtube video was playing so you can hide the banner? – Swordsman

@Swordsman i spent a week to figure out the issue and i couldn't fix it. Finally, I wrote to google asking for clarification. They explained the issue with screenshot. It was Google support team who helped me. :) – Avalon

@Avalon but my question was more about the code. How can you hide the banner when video starts playing? thanks! – Swordsman

@Swordsman i am sorry for replying late. There are call back function with youtube api. So, you call ad hide function when video is loaded – Avalon

Perfect, I hide the ad when the YT video is playing. Submitted it and it was back in the play store, changes took 30 minutes, 2 hours later it was back available..thanks man! – Villarreal

@Darshn, can you please let me know you app available in Playstore? – Safekeeping

@Safekeeping my app not available in play store now. I can assist you if you need any help. I am working on similar app right now. – Avalon

@Darshn, how did you manage to have Youtube videos in your app? Can you please send me the right pointers or approaches we need to follow? – Safekeeping

@Safekeeping I just followed the document provided by google. please refer the link here => developers.google.com/youtube/android/player – Avalon

@Avalon or anyone in this forum, can you please tell me, in our mobile apps we can only access videos that we upload in YouTube or any available videos in YouTube? – Safekeeping

@Safekeeping we can access any video from youtube – Avalon

can anyone tell me in my case i am just redirecting to youtube app by using links not playing in my app, does it violates the youtube policy??? – Neighboring

@Neighboring i guess, it wont violates the youtube policy ! – Avalon

Answer 2

In our case, it was that the webview had an iFrame of a youtube video.

You must pause the video when the activity goes on pause / stop.

Google doesn't tolerate playing the youtube videos in background

Ensepulcher

Answer 3

In my case, I had a WebView linked to Google News - that included YouTube videos. The app violates the Device and Network Abuse policy. "Background play of YouTube content is not allowed in any cases."

Solution - I added this code

override fun onPause() {
    super.onPause()
    mWebView?.onPause()
    mWebView?.pauseTimers()
}

override fun onResume() {
    super.onResume()
    mWebView?.onResume()
    mWebView?.resumeTimers()
}

Gummy

This was my app problem too, adding this helped – Sidecar

Answer 4

just paste this in your manifest this code worked for me several times when I had this problem after submitting the app <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.ACCESS_NETWORK_STATE"/>

Strychnine