KDE Connect App was removed from Google Play Store and brought back in 24 hours

KDE Connect App was removed from Google Play Store and brought back in 24 hours

Earlier this week Google removed the KDE Connect Android app from the Google Play Store citing that the app “violated” new policy on SMS access. The main reason being that the said SMS features the app touts were either not considered fundamental to the core functionality (although it could be argued otherwise) and that not enough information was conveyed to the users by the store.

This lead KDE connect to push out a modified version of the App with the SMS plugin disabled. Thus KDE Connect is now back on the Google Play Store in its full glory. That was, after filing the requisite forms Google has whitelisted the app (hurrah) and it has upgraded itself as a fully featured version of KDE Connect.It is to be noted that the version distributed via F-Droid was not affected. If you have the KDE Connect Android app installed on your phone you will need to install the latest update to get get the SMS and call integration features back.

Once updated, you should be able to send and receive text messages from the Linux desktop using other the KDE Connect desktop app or the GSconnect extension.