Affiliate links on Android Authority may earn us a commission. Learn more.
Popular SNES emulator SuperRetro16 booted from Google Play Store
SuperRetro16 is, without a doubt, one of the most popular ways to play Super Nintendo games on your Android device. However, it looks like Google has issued a takedown notice to Neutron Emulation, the company that owns SuperRetro16.
That means that, as of now, SuperRetro16 is unavailable on the Google Play Store for the first time in over ten years.
According to a screenshot of the takedown notice Neutron posted to Twitter, it is unclear why Google booted the app from the Play Store. The notice gives a generic summation of “Violation of Google Play policy” and doesn’t go much further than that.
Check out the tweet below:
After 10 years on the Play Store, SuperRetro16 has been suspended by @Google. We have always strived to comply with Google Policy. This has been endlessly frustrating and demoralizing developer experience. We will try to upload a new compliant version and migrate paid our users. pic.twitter.com/Ia40S5DPYa— Neutron Emulation (@SuperGNES) March 2, 2019
In the tweet, Neutron says it will try to post a new version of the app and migrate over users who paid for the premium, ad-free version of SuperRetro16. However, if Google decides to reinstate the original version of the app, Neutron would then have to shut down this new version of the app and migrate everyone back.
In the tweet thread under the announcement, many paying customers request access to an APK, which they could sideload and bypass the Play Store altogether. It’s not clear if Neutron is mulling over this route or not.
This situation is very similar to recent issues Titanium Backup faced. That app was also booted from the Play Store with little explanation, and it was days before it was reinstated.
In the meantime, if you want to play SNES games on your Android device, click below for a list of alternatives.