Pregnancy and parenting app Healofy dropped from Playstore by Google

Key Highlights

Healofy, which is motherhood and prenatal app have been removed from the Play store by Google due to violations of Google’s developer policy.

The exact nature of the violations is unknown. These terms of these violations can range from restricted content to spam and promotions for attracting users.

However, the founders of Healofy are working with Google for correcting their violations and reinstating the app on the Playstore.

Healofy,which is motherhood and the prenatal app has been removed from the Play store by Google due to violations of Google’s developer policy. The exact nature of the violations is unknown. However, this seems to be a harsh step taken by Google. The company usually provides a month’s time before taking down any app unless the violation is of the highest scale.

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These terms of these violations can range from restricted content to spam and promotions for attracting users. Google hasn’t directly commented on Healofy yet but has said that any violation of their developer policies will be met with the strictest action. The app will not be available for over 72 hours on Playstore.

However, the founders of Healofy are working with Google for correcting their violationsand reinstating the app on the Playstore.  “The core of our product comprises of our users. We take the privacy and date of our users very seriously,” said Gaurav Aggarwal, CEO of Healofy. They have now followed the guidelines of the Playstore very closely and hope to uphold them now and in the near future. The founders also hope that their App will make a return to the Playstore as soon as possible and thanked their potential users for their utmost patience.

This isn’t the first time Google has taken such severe action against an App. Security on the Android platform is taken extremely seriously by Google. The company has also been pushing forth stringent laws on apps that commit large scale Ad fraud. In April of this year, Google removed 46 Apps which were developed by the Chinese app developer DO Global despite the App having millions of downloads. The company also banned the apps of another popular AD developer-DU group as it found it guilty of committing AD fraud. The coding of the apps was such that the advertisements in the Apps were opening by themselves even when the app wasn’t in use by the users. A spokesperson for Google commented that they actively investigate malicious behavior and when violations are found, action is taken, which includes removal of the App from Playstore.

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Gaurav Aggarwal and Shubham Maheshwari founded Healofy in 2016. This app was designed as a social network for sharing prenatal and motherhood related information and tips. As of March, the app was used by 50,000 active users. The app has been making a foray into new markets of fashion, lifestyle and food. It will soon be available in 8 regional languages as well as English and Hindi. The company also has its focus on connecting new mothers who live in smaller towns and villages to e-commerce.

The issues related to developer violations come directly after Healofy secured funding of ₹55 crore in March from Baby tree group, a Chinese maternity and childcare platform, Omidyar Network India and BAce Capital. Also, it raised funding from the founder of Shaddi.com, Anupam Mittal and Citrus Pay founder, Jitendra Gupta along with some silicon valley based investors, in October 2017.

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