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Here at theUMB, we strive for transparency. Sometimes, that takes the form of letting our readers catch a glimpse of our experiences or relaying some facet of our deeply personal marital intimacy. Today, honestly, I’ll just be sharing some frustration.

Those of you who follow our social channels or have signed up for our weekly emails heard our announcement about theUMB’s first mobile app, Christian Truth or Dare ✞. This app, released on Google Play just in time for Valentine’s festivities, was the realization of over a year’s worth of ideas and development. It’s not the prettiest thing, but it’s pretty simple to use, and it offers a lot of versatility in that usage. Which is important when dealing with sexual issues, since every individual human being has their own set of boundaries.

Disappointment

Well, last night, in a weekly staff meeting, we discovered that Google had pulled down our app. The following is an excerpt from the email they sent to us:

 After further review, your app will not be reinstated because it violates the Sexually Explicit Material provision of our Content Policy.

Our policy states:
“Apps that contain or promote pornography are prohibited; this includes sexually explicit or erotic content, icons, titles, or descriptions.”

 For example, your app’s supported website had sexually explicit content (Toys).

 If you publish a new version of your app, please make sure it complies with our policies. As app names are unique, you’ll need to use a slightly modified app name and a new package name when you upload the APK.

 You may want to review these resources for additional guidance:

 Content Policy:
 https://play.google.com/about/developer-content-policy.html#sexual-content

We were shocked. We’d had a little back-and-forth with getting certain screenshots approved, but we assumed that the existence of dozens of secular “truth or dare” apps already listed indicated our approach would pass muster. Clearly we’d been mistaken.

The line about our website having “sexually explicit content (Toys)” was also a bit of a surprise. We wrote about them, and to be fair that post includes an image that depicts some such toys. We’d hardly have considered it pornographic, though, particularly by secular standards. Again, clearly we’d been mistaken.

Our volunteer developer — poor guy — is more surprised and more devastated than anyone. He’s put a lot of time into this (which we appreciate greatly), and he’s taking it somewhat personally. He felt he’d built something that would comply with all their rules and regulations. Clearly he’d been mistaken.

But chin up, one and all.

Next Steps

As you might guess, though, we’re not walking away from this.

We’re exploring some creative solutions that might get this back up and listed in Google Play that should align with their policies. If that doesn’t work, we’ll just distribute our app manually. It’s less than ideal, but I understand that Android has such an option. Either way, keep an eye out (or sign up for our Weekly Updates) and we’ll keep you posted on its availability in the near future.

We’re not sure if we’ll experience similar challenges if we attempt to distribute this app on Apple devices as well, but hopefully some of our efforts to adjust for Google will reduce those risks.