I built the first Android Browser with Adblock, hit a million users. Then Google took it down

It is late and I am burning the midnight oil fixing a compatibility issue brought about because the platform that the product (which shall not be named) was based upon changed radically.

The story of Javelin Browser

Javelin Browser was the first Android Browser built by yours truly which came with a built-in VPN and Ad-Block.

It hit a million users, then Google took it down:

After review, Javelin Incognito Browser, com.jerky.browser2, has been removed from Google Play because it violates our personal and sensitive information policy and section 4.3 of the Developer Distribution Agreement. This app won’t be available to users until you submit a compliant update.

In other words, the app was blocking ads and Google did not like it. So they took it down.

Of course I can submit it for manual review, and that I did. And as expected, it was rejected. Ttere was no recourse. An app that  I built single-handedly to a million users taken down by Google, just because they can.

Never build a business on another platform. Learn from myself, Zynga, and many others who had our hands burnt when we built a product on top of another platform.