Update: We just got word from YouMail that they are back on the market! There is a lengthy blog post that helps explain want led up to the removal and eventual return of the app. Glad to see YouMail is back!
After a T-Mobile complaint, Google pulled YouMail’s voicemail app from the Android Market on Tuesday without any warning. YouMail’s CEO, Alex Quilici took to his company’s blog and questioned why it had been removed and further questioned why T-Mobile had yet to contact him with any issues. Well, T-Mobile sees the matter differently and says they did try to reach out to Quilici in November regarding the matter:
“We reached out to YouMail in early November and asked them to address issues with their application that were negatively impacting our customers’ experience. We’re in contact with YouMail and they are working to resolve these issues. Once they do, we’ll be glad to once again support their application.”
It seems a matter of miscommunication is at hand as Quilici swears that T-Mobile has never contacted him as T-Mobile says they did attempt to reach him about their concerns.
Communication problems aside, a bigger issue is at play here…a carrier can complain to Google and have an app removed from the Android Market. Did Google do any due diligence before removing the app at the carrier request? Did Google talk to the developer first? Google, for its own actions, likely won’t want any part in this situation even so they removed the app without checking with the app developer.
We hope that T-Mobile and YouMail can resolve this issue and that YouMail makes a swift return to the Android Market. That being said, Google needs to look at how it handles these situations in the future and make sure that consumers don’t end up caught in the middle of a developer/carrier dispute.