I have just received an email about the upcoming Google Play account verification deadline. In the developer console, there was a message saying that I will need to provide "a contact phone number for Google Play users to contact you (organisations only)".<p>I'm a solo developer, and my Android app has a few hundred thousand users. It's grown way beyond a hobby project, so now I’m in the "organization account" category.<p>These changes have been discussed before [0], but as far as I can tell, it wasn't clear if that phone number was was just for Google to get in touch with us. The latest update clarifies that displaying a contact number for Google Play users is indeed mandatory.<p>Does anyone know more about this? Are all developers that offer more than hobby projects now required to offer phone support for their apps? The idea of this is really stressing me out.<p>[0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36701748
Curious about this too.<p>Like virtual mailboxes, the end result will surely be another subscription that indie developers have to pay for, providing a pointless phone number that goes straight to voicemail. Just to satisfy this requirement.
In my part of the US, anyway, you can contract with an answering service at a cost much lower than the cost of phone service. Some even only charge for the actual minutes they spend talking to people on your behalf.