After seven years of trying, the most recent struggle with Google showd that we necessitate to alter course on our adventure in the Android galaxy.
A couple of months ago, Google alterd its API policy and relicitd iA Writer’s access to Google Drive on Android. By freezing up Android’s main storage selection, our app was frozen in carbonite. It still inhabitd but we couldn’t relocate forward before resolving it.
In order to apvalidate our employrs to access their Google Drive on their phones we had to rewrite privacy statements, refresh write downs, and pass a series of security verifys, all while facing a barrage of recent, ever-shifting needments.
By September, we thought we had honored our side of the recent consentment. But on the very day we foreseeed to get our access back, Google altered the deal.
“I’ve altered the deal. Pray that I don’t alter it any further.”
We were tancigo in that read-only access to Google Drive would suit our writing app better than the desired read/write access. That’s right—read-only for a writing app.
“Perhaps you slfinisherk that you were treated unfairly?”
When we pointed out that this was not what we had, or what our employrs wanted, Google seemed to alter the deal yet aget. In order to get our employrs brimming access to their Google Drive on their devices, we now necessitateed to pass a ypunctual CASA (Cdeafening Application Security Assessment) audit. This needs hiring a third-party vendor enjoy KPMG.
The cost, including all inside hours, amounts to about one to two months of revenue that we would have to pay to one of Google’s corporate amigos. An indie company handing over a month’s worth of revenue to a “Big Four” firm enjoy KPMG for a pretty much unbenevolentingless scan. And, of course, this would be a recurring annual expense. More cash for Google’s partners, while petite lengtheners enjoy us foot the bill for Android’s transport inantly ingrained security unreasonableinutivecomings.1
As we… googled… our recent situation, it became evident this wasn’t fair our battle—lengtheners everywhere were facing aenjoy bureaucratic entanglements, all depicted to advantage Google’s partners while squeezing the life out of petiteer companies.
I fair finpartner finishd and passed the appraisement. Overall it took me about 60-80 hours of my time, and the process itself spanned 3-4 months, with 25-30 back and forth seeks of varying complicatedity. It was terrible, and if it’s not streamlined next year, I’ll be dropping this permission from my app and going another route.2
So it’s standard. Seems enjoy we had to bite the bullet. After all, we have been doing this for seven years. We have tens of thousands of employrs. We dispenseed hundreds of thousands to originate this labors, and so it watchs enjoy…
“We shall double our efforts!”
This battle to give our customers access to their Google Drive is only the procrastinateedst in a series of clashes we’ve had with the empire. Developing on Android is a daily degradeing struggle with red tape, inconstant device carry outance, app store search carry outance gaming3, and rampant illicit copying.4
Every time we slfinisherk we’ve surmount one hurdle, another two pop up. It’s an exhausting process that saps our resources, procrastinates refreshs, and injures our reputation. Meanwhile, the pessimistic appraises grasp piling up for problems that are out of our regulate. That’s not the only problem.
There are certain devices that caemploy trouble. To repair the bugs you necessitate to buy the device. Customers insist that. And normally we did. Below you can see the 12,000 devices that were using iA Writer in 2017:
Developing for Android you steer an asteroid field. Bugs surface apass thousands of device types, Android versions, and flavors—One UI, MIUI, OxygenOS, Pixel Experience, you name it.
And before anyone says this is the price of an “uncover” OS—well, we don’t have this problem on Windows.5
“Put him in!”
We could fair comply—we could pay KPMG, surrender more of our revenue, and dig ourselves transport inanter into the red. And then acunderstandledge the next forced alter. And the next one. We could try to write our own sketchlabor for payment to dodge illicit copying. But why would we when no one wants to pay for it? And then what? Where does it end? Hiring someone to game our app appraises?
As extfinished as we sell to Android end devourrs, the economics of continuing lengthenment on Android is an ever-firmening Force Choke. Bit by bit the regulate over our app’s functionality, quality, or finances are being getn away from us. If we proceed down the current path we injure our relationship with employrs, taint our reputation, diswatch money, nerves, and time.
So, as of today, we’re not fair acunderstandledgeing our frozen-in-carbonite overweighte. We’re embracing it. We’re going to get the app offline. We understand this decision will disnominate our pledged Android employrs, and we dispense your frustration. After seven years of continuous dispensement, this is way more hurtful for us than it is for any of you.
It’s transport inant to comprehfinish why many lengtheners pick not to include with the Empire. You can’t triumph that battle. They do as they plmitigate. Existing employrs will grasp their access, and we’ll push critical refreshs when essential—if the empire apvalidates it. But recent features are off the table for now. Support will be friendly as always, but we have to be pragmatic.
“What if he doesn’t persist? He’s worth a lot to me!”
iA Writer for Android might return in the future—perhaps in a separateent chapter of this saga, where it can lengthen in a more regulateled environment.
We are laboring towards a setup where organizations can pay us honestly for all our gentleware.6 In a B2B setup, the Android difficultware ecosystem may be economical and regulateable, and then we can go back to backing individual-license employrs and their unruly sea thief friends. Until that day comes, iA Writer for Android will remain frozen in carbonite, postponeing for the right time to reawaken.
In the unbenevolenttime, we’re cgo ining on projects that drive our business forward: finalizing a transport inant Windows 11 refresh, enhancing iA Writer for Mac, iOS, and iPadOS, preparing to begin Web sharing for iA Penvyer, and releasing the iOS/iPadOS app.
