Seems to me Google is trying to discourage free apps by making the process so painful that only people making money off them will jump through the hoops.
Having to upgrade the target API, mentioned in the article, is a good example. If you have 50 apps, just updating that is quite an effort. I started updating some of mine, but after the first few I hit one that required quite a bit of effort. At which point I just said "I'm done". My apps can expire from the store. I'm focusing more on web apps instead.
The reason I picked Android over iOS, and probably the same for a lot of people, was that it was the more open and free (as in freedom) platform. But Google is eroding away at any such advantages it had in that area.
Having to upgrade the target API, mentioned in the article, is a good example. If you have 50 apps, just updating that is quite an effort. I started updating some of mine, but after the first few I hit one that required quite a bit of effort. At which point I just said "I'm done". My apps can expire from the store. I'm focusing more on web apps instead.
The reason I picked Android over iOS, and probably the same for a lot of people, was that it was the more open and free (as in freedom) platform. But Google is eroding away at any such advantages it had in that area.