Google Play deceptive Device Settings Changes policy: fixes and checks

Users need to know and agree before your app changes their device outside your app. Google also expects those changes to be easy to reverse.

What to check

Audit settings changes during installation, onboarding, ad interactions, and uninstall flows. Include bookmarks, home-screen icons, shortcuts, widgets, and browser settings.

Check whether an ad or third-party service causes a change. The policy doesn’t allow settings changes as an advertising service, even when a consent screen exists. It also restricts misleading or incentivized prompts to remove other apps or change settings.

How to address the rejection

Remove advertising-driven changes and misleading prompts. For legitimate app features, explain the exact change before it happens, obtain consent, and give users a straightforward reversal path.

Test declining the request and undoing an accepted change. If you rely on the policy’s verifiable-security-service exception, provide evidence for the specific security function. A generic cleaner or booster label doesn’t establish that exception.