[4cao]

I think there might be more to this story. This app is what people generally use to sideload apps on a locked Google TV device such as the Google Chromecast. One such commonly sideloaded app is SmartTube, an unofficial YouTube client with no ads and SponsorBlock included:

https://smartyoutubetv.github.io/

I'm not surprised Google is eager to take it down under any pretext, and not so eager to restore it.

[capableweb]

So because the application can load a URL that can be loaded in any browser, the application should be banned? Time to ban all browsers then I guess...

Besides, Google claimed that the application was collecting email addresses while the app technically couldn't collect email addresses.

If they want to ban something, setup proper rules like "No browsers allowed" and then ban the apps under those rules, instead of trying to hide the real reason for the ban.

[4cao]

I'm not saying what they did was in any way justified, just providing context that seems to be missing from the reporting: to sideload e.g. SmartTube you need an app like this first, and it must be available from the Play Store. Google has an incentive to disrupt this under any pretense as it costs them ad revenue.