My App Got Rejected for "Device Automation" on Google Play — Here's What I Had to Do

#android #googleplay #flutter #devjourney

I built a small Android app called ALL SMS — it automatically forwards incoming SMS messages to a phone number, email, or webhook. Simple concept, clear use case. Then Google Play rejected it.

The rejection email cited the Device Automation policy, but the explanation was vague enough that I genuinely had no idea what was missing.

What is Google Play's Device Automation Policy?

The policy applies when your app performs automated actions on the device without direct user input — things like forwarding SMS, sending emails, triggering webhooks, or saving files automatically.

Google's stance: "You must clearly describe every automated action your app performs, and users must be aware of and consent to it."

Fair enough. But my app already had an SMS forwarding feature front and center. So what was wrong?

I Went Straight to Google

Instead of guessing, I submitted a support inquiry through the Play Console. After some back and forth (with help from a specialist), I got the real answer:

To qualify as a Device Automation app, your app must include at least 4 OS-level automation actions.

This isn't clearly stated in the public docs — at least not that I could find. But that was the benchmark. My app technically had automated features, but one was partially hidden in the UI and the implementation wasn't complete enough to count. I was sitting at 3.

What I Built to Fix It

I went back and made sure 4 clear, working automation actions were front and center in the app:

Forward SMS to a phone number — the core feature, always worked
Forward SMS to email — via SMTP or Gmail OAuth
Send SMS to a webhook (HTTP POST) — great for Slack, Zapier, custom servers
Auto-save SMS to CSV (newly added) — with a built-in in-app CSV viewer

Each one visible, documented, and clearly explained in the UI.

Key Takeaways

If you're building an app that touches device automation on Android:

You need at least 4 OS-level automation actions — this was confirmed by Google support, not public docs
Every automated action must be clearly visible in your UI, not buried in settings
Your demo video matters — show each automation actually running
If the rejection reason is vague, ask Google directly via Play Console support. It's the fastest way to get real criteria

The rejection was frustrating, but it pushed me to build a better app. The CSV feature I added is now one of the more useful parts of it.