Google Play has delisted UpScrolled, the “censorship-resistant” social media app founded by Issam Hijazi, following its rapid growth to over 2.5 million users and its brief stint as a top-ranked alternative to TikTok.
While the app remains available for existing users, Google has not provided a specific reason for the removal; UpScrolled’s team confirmed they are working with the Play Store for reinstatement while maintaining their commitment to unfiltered content.
This development follows the app’s rapid ascent in popularity, particularly amid concerns over content moderation on competing platforms like TikTok.
Reminder that Google is on it’s third attempt to prevent or limit the installation of APKs outside of the Play Store, meaning they are near the point they can effectively control what apps people run.
When this happens I’m flashing graphene os onto my pixel 9
Do it now, use obtainium, droidfy and aurora. Nearly every app works except google wallet.
My only problem stopping me is I use my phone for work too. Microsoft auth, outlook. Mostly just auth. I was looking it up a bit ago and people said it breaks it for work accounts
Not a good idea to mix personal and work devices. I’d recommend getting a cheap budget phone to use for work.
Or ask your work to give you a phone?
My company insists on spyware for my phone, so I insist they give me a phone for work stuff. I leave it off in a drawer at home when I’m not on call.
Its not me but the person I responded to that is using one phone, so their work may not provide such things.
I’d recommend demanding work getting a cheap budget phone.
If they require you have work software they can provide the hardware to run it.
Your phone is your phone.
I currently use MS Auth on my Graphene OS phone. Have installed Play Services on that profile, though
I use edge for mails and texts because msoft auth stopped prompting and working.
The MS auth I need for a work VPN has been set up to call my phone instead, letting me sign in by tapping the # button after answering the phone call from MS.
The updated F-Droid Basic is great, it’s modern and it
- UI rewritten from scratch with Kotlin compose
- improved search, also searching in descriptions and translations
- easier to discover new apps, also highlighting the most downloaded ones
- installation approval before downloading
- multiple updates/downloads at the same time
- notifying user of issues with apps (e.g. signing key changed)
- optional Material You color theme
- improved filtering of lists source
u should do that anyway, it’s so nice to not feel watched while typing
why wait
This was the real reason for me to ditch the whole Google
I may compromise privacy
but I’d die for FREEDOM
And this is why, we sold have https://joinloops.org/ instead
That’s a different type of platform though. Upscrolled = insta, Loops = tiktok.
So, join Pixelfed?
I don’t see why not, if you want, why not both
De-listed where? It’s listed still for me.
I’m guessing it was a regional de-listment and it just wasn’t specified.
Being said, this page was enough to make me install the app, still unsure if I wanna use it or not but, I don’t wanna risk losing the ability to install the app either.
It’s back. It was gone for just a few hours it seems
The more I work for tech companies the more I genuinely end up believing that stuff like this being removed is in fact just incompetence at least 50% of the time
A lot of companies seem to automatically delist things that get mass reported, which makes them subject to interference by armies of paid or unpaid trolls. Hopefully the issue gets corrected but this seems to happen more and more frequently.
I work in tech too, and I’m convinced almost none of these abusive tactics are the result of incompetence.
The abuse is the point. They need to constantly remind people who is in charge.
Hanlon’s razor
This is what Google does. They censor content and keep it gone as long as there isn’t a sufficient retaliation.
It’s what they did to remove AdNauseam from their addon repository. The only difference is nobody fought back so it remains gone to this day without justifiable reason.
The devs confirmed it was delisted. Not sure what its current status is. Seeing mixed messages online so it might be regional delisting or it might have been restored.
No website is certainly a choice
EU, what about Google monopolies??
Clickbait? The developer is Palestinian/Australian, the app’s audience is global, and it’s not just Palestine-specific. So what’s up with the sensationalised title?
It’s an app developed by a Palestinian which got popular because of recent increasing censorship on TikTok and Instagram against Palestine.
I’m aware. But it’s not just Palestine being censored, it’s currently anything the current U.S administration doesn’t like. So anything anti-trump/Zionist/Israel/ICE falls into this category.
I’m saying the title is misleading because it could be construed as “a social media app/platform specifically made for Palestinians”, which is what most people that haven’t heard of the app before would assume by reading the title alone.
That’s true but most of the hammer is coming down on Palestine content right now. Netanyahu publicly said the goal of the TikTok purchase was to censor for Israel and they’re pulling out all the stops. ICE content isn’t nearly as censored as Palestine content atm
Palestine is just one topic the US is bashing down. The common theme out there us US censorship and control.
The most common theme of censorship worldwide is most certainly Palestine.
Yes its all about you
If anything the app is Australian, Australian made, the developers are in Australia… this is clickbait
IIRC the app is Australian but founder is Palestinian-Australian
Ditch Google Play !
You can use Obtainium and F-Droid to install apps as directly from the Developer as possible.
You can use Aurora Store to get things from the App Store anonymously.
If you want, you can install /e/os (any phone) or GrapheneOS (Pixels only) to de-google your Android as much as possible !
F-Droid (main repo + izzy’s repo) is enough for 70-80% of app needs and their quality is very good (in play store there is millions app but most off them is scam and trash)
Google is a fucking monopoly. (Please do not use any Google product. If you care about freedom, there are tons of alternatives for most products.)
Start with:
switch to DuckDuckGo search or Brave Search
switch to Firefox on your phone and use uBlock Origin (not the weak lite version, but the full Origin version)
Good job you’ve done 80% of the work. You can continue to de-Google
btw
Nice
I switched to Vivaldi and ecosia, barely notice a difference.
It’s back I am downloading it now. Good guy google with the streisand effect.
E: Oh it’s just isreal hating which is fun and all but doesn’t get anyone anywhere but a list lol
deleted by creator
They still haven’t removed twitter for the AI generated child porn.
No politic here!
I just downloaded it from my playstore
