A summary of Google Play’s 30 October 2025 policy updates and developer requirements covering age restrictions, financial declarations, medical labelling, and accessibility compliance.
Google issued a series of policy updates on 30 October 2025, allowing developers at least 30 days to bring their apps into compliance. The update introduces a new Age-Restricted policy, strengthens financial and medical regulations, clarifies the use of the Accessibility API, and adds administrative controls such as a Financial Features Declaration and a 180-day appeals period.
A new Age-Restricted Content and Functionality policy requires apps that include matchmaking, dating, or real-money gambling/games/contests to use Play Console tools to prevent minors from accessing those features. This aims to strengthen child protection measures across the Play ecosystem.
Implementation checklist
The country-specific requirements for personal loan apps in India have been updated to align with the government’s official list of approved digital lending apps. Apps must appear on this list and meet Play policy standards to remain available on Google Play. Newly published personal-loan apps must comply by 30 October 2025.
Source: Google Play
Every app must now complete the Financial Features Declaration in the Play Console — even those without financial functionalities. From 30 October onwards, updates cannot be published until this declaration has been completed. This aims to improve transparency and help Google identify apps requiring additional review.
The Health and Medical Functionalities policy now includes aspects of the MDCG guidance for medical device apps serving EU users. Google will display a visible “Medical Device” label for EU-certified medical device apps and offer additional guidance for developers operating in EU markets. Teams offering diagnostic or therapeutic applications should assess regulatory compliance and labelling ahead of key deadlines.
Google has clarified that any use of the Accessibility API allowing an app to autonomously initiate, plan, or perform actions is prohibited — to prevent apps from changing device settings or carrying out hidden UI actions without explicit user consent. Developers of assistive technology must ensure clear consent flows and avoid automation that alters device states without user initiation.
Source: Google Play
Minor but important updates include renaming the “Maskware” category in the Malware policy to “Riskware”, along with clearer guidance and non-compliance examples under the Subscriptions policy to improve disclosure practices.
Google has introduced a 180-day appeals window for account terminations to focus review efforts on legitimate cases and deter fraudulent claims. This affects the period within which account holders may request reinstatement.
Android now requires apps to be published by verified developers in order to be installed on certified Android devices. Developers are encouraged to complete verification steps and register for early access programmes where relevant.
Play Policy Insights, now available to all Android Studio developers, provides real-time policy guidance (lint warnings, summaries, and links) during coding. Google is also introducing a new Key Considerations section across several policies (Target API Level, Permissions, Device & Network Abuse) to highlight concise Do’s and Don’ts. These tools are designed to reduce unexpected issues during review.
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Developers have at least 30 days from 30 October 2025 to comply with these updates. Refer to Play Console Policy Deadlines for app-specific schedules.
These updates demonstrate Google’s continued effort to create a more regulated app ecosystem, building on earlier measures such as the 2023 spam policy crackdowns and preparations for the EU Digital Services Act, which have already reduced malicious apps by over 40% according to industry analyses. By introducing age-based restrictions in gambling apps, the changes could significantly limit young users’ exposure to addictive features, reflecting similar outcomes on Apple’s App Store.
For Indian lending platforms, alignment with official government registers helps address increasing concerns over digital fraud, where non-compliant apps have led to millions in annual losses. In health tech, the MDCG integration and new labelling improve post-market surveillance, vital as EU medical app submissions rose by 25% last year.
Looking forward, adoption of Play Policy Insights is expected to shorten review times by 20–30%. However, smaller developers may encounter challenges with mandatory declarations — potentially prompting Google to extend grace periods if compliance rates lag.
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