New ask Hacker News story: Tell HN: Google will require devs to show a phone number for Google Play users

Tell HN: Google will require devs to show a phone number for Google Play users
7 by kruuuder | 2 comments on Hacker News.
I have just received an email about the upcoming Google Play account verification deadline. In the developer console, there was a message saying that I will need to provide "a contact phone number for Google Play users to contact you (organisations only)". I'm a solo developer, and my Android app has a few hundred thousand users. It's grown way beyond a hobby project, so now I’m in the "organization account" category. These changes have been discussed before [0], but as far as I can tell, it wasn't clear if that phone number was was just for Google to get in touch with us. The latest update clarifies that displaying a contact number for Google Play users is indeed mandatory. Does anyone know more about this? Are all developers that offer more than hobby projects now required to offer phone support for their apps? The idea of this is really stressing me out. [0] https://ift.tt/lqdcpwK