Downloader, an app frequently used by cord cutters to get a browser on the Fire TV along with Android and download content to your device, was once again been pulled from the Google Play store. This time, Warner Bros. Discovery appears to be the one behind the move. Now Google has restored the app and returned it to the Google Play Store.
The Downloader app has been installed more than 10 million times through he Google Play Store. It allows anyone to easily sideload apps and use a browser on Android and Google TV. Now twice this year it has been taken down by DMCA requests over the fact that it has a browser. Now Google has restored the app on the Google Play Store.
“I have no way of knowing for sure, but my best guess as to why Google intervened this time and not the first time is the complete lack of information in the new DMCA takedown request. While, as absurd and incorrect of a claim as it was, the first DMCA takedown request at least provided specifics as to why it believed my app infringed on its copyright. I presume this took control out of Google’s hands and put it into the DMCA process laid out by federal law. The new DMCA request provided no details as to how my app was infringing on copyrighted content, which, I believe, allowed Google to invalidate the takedown request.” Said Elias Saba, owner of the Downloader app on his website AFTVnews.
There is no way of knowing exactly why this DMCA takedown was filed. Warner Bros. Discovery and the legal company behind the takedown did not respond to our requests for comment. The good news for cord cutters is that the app is now back in the Google Play Store.