I don’t like the lack of transparency with how the Google Play Store doesn’t list the permissions if one pays for the app and instead only shows the permissions if one doesn’t pay.
I generally prefer it when devs release two apps – a free version and a paid version. This way it’s very clear on the Google Play Store what is being tracked in the paid app.
This won’t affect me personally, but I am curious if others would be more likely to use and pay for Sync if the permissions were more clear for the paid usage case.
This goes way back to when Google first introduced IAP. They were pushing to remove dupes from the store because it caused separate reviews and ratings. It could be that they just temporarily enforced it and now it’s not a concern for them anymore.
I remember when this happened to Sync for Reddit. Unfortunately Google Play Store, like most of these app stores, can enforce almost anything they want even if it’s outside of their policy because some stuff is so vague. And it’s usually hard to get clear information from anyone when your app gets pulled or whatever.