- Google downloaded the Donald Trump 2020 campaign app from the Play Store.
- The app just wasn’t working properly.
- The developers did not respond to requests to fix it.
Don’t search for Donald Trump’s 2020 campaign software in the Play Store. Android police reports that Google pulled down the official Trump 2020 app for Android after violating guidelines on non-working apps.
The Trump app was completely broken before it shut down. AP said. It would either generate a network error or get stuck on a loading screen. A Google spokesman said the company asked the developer “several times” to fix the problem, but apparently got no response.
The policy requires a minimum level of functionality, e.g. B. Loading and not responding.
It wasn’t entirely surprising that the official campaign tool broke. The Trump app was originally released in 2016 for the former president’s original campaign and received only two updates after that (including the 2020 election update). While it’s unclear what Trump is up to with the app now, he clearly has less incentive to take care of the customer once he’s in office.
Still, the timing might raise your eyebrows. It comes weeks after Google pulled Parler’s social media app from the Play Store for allegedly improper moderation of the community and sparking the January 6 riot in the U.S. Capitol. While Google apparently had good technical reasons for ditching the Trump app, removing it could further boost claims of anti-conservative bias against the internet giant.
There is a degree of irony. Trump attempted to ban TikTok’s app over concerns about possible data collection by the Chinese government, but deadlines came and went when the former White House apparently lost interest. Now Trump’s app is gone – and TikToks is still here.