That was about five years ago. At that time, I was a developer…well, when I say “developer”, I just mean a boy who was new to the world of programming. 😅 I’ve been coding for about a year, focusing on building websites and Java Android apps. But I want more. I dreamed of creating games – games that would light up the Google Play Store. ✨
So, I started learning Unity. I’m coding with my friend Younes (shout out to us! Hickam and Eunice 🙌), we’re new to the ecosystem, but we even think we’ve created some surprisingly good games: Password cracking, keep it up, count, chess game, Guess the color game, duck and run,etc. Honestly, for two amateurs, our game is pretty solid and deserves to compete with Ketchapp and Voodoo games (at least, that’s what we tell ourselves 😂).
We decided to take the leap and purchase a Google Play developer account. We paid a total of $25 for the account. What a beautiful moment! We can actually publish apps! 😍 Being young and inexperienced, we got multiple rejections from Google in the beginning (violating terms and policies and whatnot 🙄). But in the end, we successfully released our game.
You can’t imagine the dopamine rush we get when we see our game appear on the Google Play Store. 🥳 I tell my friends and family: “Hey! Go to Google Play and search “Keep It Up” (our game name) or “Look for “Studio Lab tech” (our chosen brand name, haha). The joy was unreal.
Some screenshots from when we were building the game
Fast to disaster
After about a year, life became busy with studies. We don’t have time to develop new games. One day, while I was browsing Upwork and Fiverr, looking for tasks to make extra money, I stumbled upon an offer: People with a Google Play developer account could publish an app for just $5. 🤔
I thought: “Wow, this is me! I have a developer account.” Quick $5?
So, I did it. I uploaded the app, fixed a few bugs flagged by Google, and got my $5. OK! I started actively looking for these publishing jobs. But one thing confuses me – why don’t these developers spend $25 to buy their own account? This seems illogical. 🤷♂️
It didn’t take long for me to find out…the hard way. 😔
the beginning of the end
After releasing a few apps for $5 each, Google started sending alerts. successively. Violations. Terms and Policies. The worst part? I can’t delete the app I uploaded. I tried archiving them but hesitated. Archiving means refunding $5, right? So, I left them. Big mistake. 😓
Then came the dark day. I woke up, checked my email as usual, and saw this message:
“Hello Studio Lab Tech developers, this is a notification that your Google Play developer account has been terminated.”
Just like that, we were terminated. I immediately called my friend. At first, we weren’t too worried. Surely there has to be a way to recover the account, right? Wrong. After some research, we discovered the devastating truth:
You can no longer be a Google Play developer. once. 😱
Even creating a new account doesn’t work. Google has a way to detect it. Our Android development career is over. 💔
Growing up but being restrained
Four years later, my friends and I are now experienced developers. We’ve done it in web and app development: Java, React Native, Unity C#, Kotlin, Ionic, Flutter… you name it. But for what? We can build incredible applications, but we can’t ship them. How happy are you to see our work appear on Google Play? Gone. 😢
Google’s decision feels extremely harsh and unfair. People will change. Even criminals have a chance at redemption. But for us, it’s a life sentence. We were young, inexperienced and didn’t understand the rules. We’ve learned a lot since then, but the ban remains.
Now, I’m a full-end developer using React, MongoDB, Laravel, Symfony, Java, and Python. But what about Android apps? I’m locked out. Some of the best apps I’ve built sit idle, unreleased, and it breaks my heart every time I think about not being able to share them with the world. 💔
Google, why?
From a business perspective, Google’s policy is understandable. They hope to save time and money by eliminating risky accounts. But a lifetime ban? This is extreme. Why not charge a higher account recovery fee or allow a trial period? Why not give it a second chance? 😕
I sent out multiple appeals over the years explaining my situation. “I’m just a kid,” I wrote. But every time, the answer is the same: “No.”
My career—at least half of it—is dead. I know I’m not alone. Many developers face the same situation. We don’t ask for much—just a chance to prove that we have changed and redeemed ourselves. 🙏
Google, please reconsider.
To anyone reading this: What can we do? Is there still hope? My wish, my dream is for Google to give me a second chance. Until then, the apps I built will remain unreleased and a part of my career will remain unfinished. 😔