Nextcloud cries foul over Google Play Store app rejection

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

Nextcloud’s Play Store Issue and Current Status

  • Google rejected the Nextcloud Android app for using MANAGE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE (“all files” access), a permission it had been allowed to use as an exception for ~2 years.
  • This breaks features like auto-upload / backup of arbitrary folders (photos, WhatsApp, app data, SD card trees, etc.) in the Play Store build.
  • A later comment says Google responded and agreed to re‑grant the permission on resubmission, so full functionality should return soon.

Security Lockdown vs Functionality

  • One side argues Google is rightly tightening storage access after years of abuse by shady apps exfiltrating data via broad filesystem permissions.
  • They say Nextcloud should use Android’s Storage Access Framework (SAF) / scoped storage, letting users grant per‑folder access via system dialogs.
  • Others say this is paternalistic: advanced users want to explicitly grant “full disk” access to trusted tools like sync/backup apps, and Google shouldn’t forbid that.

Can SAF Replace All-Files Access? (Technical Dispute)

  • Supporters of SAF:
    • Claim SAF has existed since Android 4.4 and can handle “pick directory and sync everything under it” scenarios.
    • Argue Nextcloud misreads docs: SAF can maintain persistent directory access and doesn’t inherently expose its data to other apps.
  • Critics of SAF:
    • Point out restrictions: no access to Downloads/ root/ Android/data/obb, and performance / complexity issues, especially with native code.
    • Say some workflows (e.g., full-device backups, arbitrary app data, SD cards) are impossible or degraded versus legacy APIs.
    • Note other projects (Syncthing, Kiwix, some editors) dropped or weakened Android support over these constraints.

Competition, Monopolies, and Policy Asymmetry

  • Many see this as anticompetitive: Google can protect its own backup/Drive ecosystem while gatekeeping competitors via Play policy.
  • Others counter that Google Drive on Android also doesn’t sync arbitrary folders and doesn’t use the same high-privilege permission; some Google system apps (Files, Android Auto) do.
  • Broader comparison with Apple:
    • Debates over DMA, notarization, “core technology fees,” and walled‑garden vs “prison cell” metaphors.
    • Some argue both platforms are converging on tightly controlled, less “general-purpose” devices.

User Control, Rooting, and Attestation

  • Some say sideloading/F-Droid/GrapheneOS are the “escape hatch.”
  • Others respond that hardware attestation and bank apps’ root checks already punish users who deviate, making Android “a shitty version of iOS.”

Developer Experience & Nextcloud Quality

  • Several devs describe Play review as opaque, copy‑pasted, and easily abused via bogus reports.
  • Opinions on Nextcloud itself are mixed: powerful and empowering for self-hosters, but often buggy, unpolished, and painful to maintain beyond simple use cases.