The open source mail client FairEmail has been removed from the Google Play Store. The developer Marcel Bokhorst no longer wants to develop the app, but it is still usable. On the XDA Developers forum and on the app’s website, Bokhorst gives various reasons for his decision: personal problems, the imbalance between low income and high development and support costs, as well as unfair ratings from Google. But the main reason seems to be the frustrating communication with Google about the app requirements.

Meanwhile, Bokhorst has in the Fair Email website posted a notice saying that all of its projects ended after Google classified FairEmail as spyware and gave it no chance to object. The application will not be further developed and there will be no further support. In it Frequently asked questions about the theme Bokhorst explains that the app can still be used; major bugs could still be fixed. Will also do it The source code of the application remains on GitHub to be found. In the Playstore alternative, F-Droid, which offers open source applications, is FairEmail also yet to be found.

frustrated developers

Time and again Bokhorst had in his FairEmail thread on the XDA forums reported unfair user reviews and frustrating communication with Google. An update earlier this week classified its mail app as spyware because it would upload users’ contacts. However, Bokhorst did not get a clear answer from Google when he asked where exactly was the problem with the update and how he could fix it.

This seems to have finally been the decisive factor for Bokhorst to remove the app from the store (it had previously removed the criticized update) and end its projects. The associated GitHub repository is now set to read-only. The developer of the Total Commander file manager, who was recently threatened with being banned from the Play Store by Google, felt just as powerless as Bokhorst.

(gref)