If you’ve been searching the Android Market for the official YouMail app, but can’t seem to find it, it’s because it has been removed by Google. Nothing all that unusual really, as apps are removed for all sorts of reasons quite regularly; except YouMail has been jilted thanks to a complaint to Google from T-Mobile.
YouMail’s CEO, Alex Quilici, spoke to GigaOm after getting the news the app was no longer available, saying he’d never been contacted by T-Mobile, but instead learned about their involvement through a message from Google. T-Mobile claims the app is “causing adverse network disruption” and that the app “could be used in a way that is harmful to devices, networks or users.”
If you’ve not heard of YouMail before, it provides visual voicemail services with a social edge, thanks to Twitter and Facebook integration. It’s also cross-platform, with a version of its app available in the iTunes App Store, BlackBerry App World and Windows Marketplace. At the time of writing, none of these have been removed.
Google advised YouMail to contact T-Mobile and attempt to “negotiate a revision or agreement to republish.” What’s strange is that no other carrier has yet flagged up any problems with the app, nor are there seemingly any complaints from the 2 million plus US users of “harmful” effects from the app.
In the meantime, new Android YouMail users must be patient until the situation is resolved, or perhaps YouMail will chose one of the other Android app stores to relaunch its app instead.
