Popular automation app Tasker kicked out of Google Play Store

17.11.2015
Tasker is one of the more powerful apps in the Play Store, offering you limitless customization for how you use your device.

Not anymore. Google has apparently removed the app on the grounds that it uses a permission that disables the new Doze feature.

However, the developer tells Android Police that the feature isn’t even in the Play Store version: it’s in a beta build that is only available on the Tasker website. His theory is that someone reported the issue to Google, which moved too quickly to take down Tasker, or that Play Services identified the feature when doing the usual scan of apps on someone’s device.

If you want Tasker right now, you can download a trial version directly from the Tasker site. You’ll just need to hang tight until Tasker and Google iron this out for the full, paid build. There’s a Google Groups forum thread about the issue, so you can follow along there if you want to see how this plays out.

Why this matters: We’ve seen this kind of hiccup before, and we’d wager that before too long Tasker will be up and running again. It will just take the developer to connect with the right authority from the Play Store to get everything squared away. While it’s better for the ecosystem for Google to take a stronger hand with Play Store security, it looks like there could be cause for some refinement in the process.

(www.greenbot.com)

Derek Walter