Google plans to remove apps using Accessibility Services for the wrong reasons from Play Store

In general, accessibility refers to making an Android app more accessible to users with certain disabilities such as those who are visually impaired. While it’s in every developer’s best interests to make their apps more accessible to users with disabilities, there are a special class of applications that are designed to enhance the usability of all Android apps for users with disabilities. These are called Accessibility Services.

While Accessibility Services can greatly extend the functionality of applications, they can potentially create a security risk. Once granted the right permissions, the API can be used to read data from other apps. Likely for this reason, Google has sent emails to app developers regarding the usage of Accessibility Services.

The company is informing developers that if their application uses an Accessibility Service for any reason other than assisting users with disabilities, then they must remove the use of this permission within 30 days or their application will be removed from the Play Store. Failure to abide by this requirement can result in an infraction against a developer’s Play Store account, which can eventually lead to account termination.