Last month Google announced that they will soon start to remove Android apps that uses the Accessibility API for non-accessibility purposes. While we understand Google’s desire to prevent developers from abusing or taking advantage of APIs for purposes other than what it was intended for, this led to a bit of a backlash.This is because there are quite a few apps out there, some major ones in fact, that rely heavily on the API. In fact taking away access to the API would in some cases break the app completely. The good news is that Google has since decided to reevaluate their decision, and are asking developers to email them, describing their use/need for the API. Google has also stated that they’ll be putting their previous decision on hold for another 30 days while they reconsider their next move.
According to the email which was shared on Reddit by ishaangarg94, “If you believe your app uses the Accessibility API for a responsible, innovative purpose that isn’t related to accessibility, please respond to this email and tell us more about how your app benefits users. This kind of feedback may be helpful to us as we complete our evaluation of accessibility services.”
Basically it sounds like Google could make some exceptions for certain apps, which like we said there are some major ones involved, such as LastPass, Greenify, Tasker, Universal Copy, and so on.