14 DAY TRIAL // There are a lot of BitTorrent apps apps on Android, and the Google Play Store has never seemed to have a problem with any of them, contrary to Apple who banned them from reaching its own store.
But this could change very soon if what happened to developers of new BitTorrent client BiblyBT is the result of a new policy created by Google.
An update to the torrent app was rejected in the Google Play Store because it used the word BitTorrent in the description, despite the client originally approved to be listed in the store with the same text being used.
“Hi developers at Bigly Software, thanks for submitting BliglyBT Torrent Downloader & Remote Control to Google Play. I reviewed your app and had to reject it because it violates out metadata policy. The apps’ full description mentions other brands: Bittorrent,” the message sent to the dev reads.
Plenty of unofficial BitTorrent apps in the store
It’s not known if this was an automated message or submitted by a Google employee, but after replacing the word BitTorrent with torrent, the update was accepted in the Google Play store.
While at first it seemed liked BitTorrent Inc., which is the actual owner of the BitTorrent trademark in the US, requested Google to block apps that might be using its name, this doesn’t seem to be the case. TorrentFreak says the company confirmed no such request was made, so this was a decision made entirely by Google.
If this is the result of a new policy in the Google Play Store, the rest of apps using the BitTorrent protocol and having this word in the description could be affected as well when new updates are shipped, though for the time being this doesn’t seem to be the case.
As you can see in the screenshots in the photo gallery, the word BitTorrent shows up in the description of several apps in the Google Play Store and not developed by BitTorrent Inc., so it’s unclear what exactly happened in the case of BiglyBT.
