Regarding NRICTools

Today, I'm disappointed and sad to announce that NRICTools had been removed from Google Play Store. This has happened despite myself trying my best for the past few weeks to get the app reinstated. In the email sent by Google to me, Google states that NRICTools does not comply with their Deceptive Behaviour policy. 

In Google's Deceptive Behaviour policy, Google states that any application that generates or facilitates the generation of ID cards are considered 'dishonest behaviour'. I cannot avoid nor argue the fact that NRICTools does indeed allow users to generate and do facilitate the generation of ID cards in a way. I also understand that there are existing apps on Google Play that does the exact same thing as NRICTools. The formula to generate and to verify NRIC can be easily found on the Internet and is used to power the features available on NRICTools. 

Please be advised that any perceived compliance or non-compliance of other developers’ apps doesn’t affect the compliance of your apps. We will approve or reinstate your app if we find that the initial decision was made in error.
​- Google Play Team

What happened?

A few weeks ago, I received an email from Google stating that the in-app billing library used in NRICTools is outdated and will no longer be supported moving forward. I immediately opened up NRICTools source code and began removing all the old in-app billing library logic and implemented the new Google Play Billing Library 4. I did internal testing on all my personal devices and it was working well. The new update bearing version 67 was then uploaded to Google Play for review for production. ​

Pre-launch report generated for NRICTools version 67

The update was subsequently approved for production by Google and I rolled out the update to about 50% of the userbase. A few days later, I checked my Google Play Console and found that there were no reported crash on users who have installed the new version of NRICTools with the new billing library, so I updated the roll-out to 100%. After the roll-out to 100%, I was hit with the suspension. 

Once your app is suspended, you forfeit the users, statistics, and ratings of the removed application. If your developer credentials are still in good standing with Google Play and if your app allows for it, you can publish a new compliant version of the application.
​- Google

Below I publish a few facts and statistics about NRICTools because I like transparency...

1. NRICTools was available on Google Play for more than 5 years
2. ​NRICTools received 13 ratings with an average of 4.769 stars on Google Play
3. I delivered more than 30 updates to NRICTools in the past 5 years
4. NRICTools always try to target the latest Android version (Version 67 targets Android 12)
5. NRICTools facilitates with the scanning of SafeEntry QR codes by redirecting the user to the website
6. No internet access required and app also does not request for internet access in app manifest
7. I always try to remove required permissions if possible
   1. For example. NRICTools implemented the SAF (Storage Access Framework) in Android and removed the permission for storage media access
8. 245 active devices with NRICTools
   1. Android 11 - 110 users
   2. Android 10 - 84 users
   3. Android 9 - 28 users
   4. Android 8.1 - 10 users
   5. Android 8.0 - 5 users
   6. Remaining OS - 8 users
9. 1116 downloads
   1. Android 10 - 350
   2. Android 9 - 209
   3. Android 6.0 - 123
   4. Android 11 - 72
   5. Android 7.0 - 70
   6. Remaining - 292
10. NRICTools was only made available to Singaporean/Malaysian users
11. 3 user donated and unlocked the Themes feature
    1. I know this is a very small number but thank you for your support
    2. The donate feature was actually developed for me to try out and learn how to implement IAP on Android apps, so I really didn't expect anyone to Donate to me.
12. NRICTools earned absolutely nothing from ads

NRICTools's idea first started as a Windows application that a good friend and I developed using NET Framework 2.0 back in secondary school. I took computer studies as a subject and was told by my teachers that NRIC numbers can actually be verified using a formula. Back then, NRIC numbers weren't so sensitive and there also wasn't any spotlight on the use of NRIC numbers. 

We live in a very different world today and this also meant the end of NRICTools on Google Play.

Moving forward

For fans of NRICTools (if there's any at all), I will try to build a version of NRICTools (with the Google Play Billing feature used for Donate completely removed and Themes feature available for all) and publish the APK here soon. I will also sign the APK with the same key so you can simply install over your existing installation. I will do it once I have the time. NRICTools currently uses AAB (App bundles) for publishing to Google Play, so that will change back to APK. 

In the future, I might also release a version of NRICTools on Google Play with the generate feature removed. You can still type your NRIC to verify I guess... Not sure if I would want to risk my developer standing on Google Play for that though.

I felt that it was quite hard to communicate with Google Play support when all they said was NRICTools "facilitates the generation of ID cards, social security numbers" with no understanding of the facts provided that the logic is readily available online and there was no shady behaviour. I understand that what they claimed is true, but to use the term "Deceptive Behaviour" just doesn't seem right to me. Well, I guess their platform, their rules.

APK available here (Google Play Billing not yet removed)

They initially claimed that the area of concern is actually in my app description...

That's all
As always, take care (stay safe) and I will see you soon