Donald Trump’s Truth Social gets go ahead from Google Play Store: All you need to know

Former US President Donald Trump’s social media app, Truth Social has been approved for distribution on the Google Play Store, according to an Axios report from Wednesday. 

The app, run by Trump Media & Technology Group, will make its debut on the Play Store in short order, according to Google. It previously launched on the Apple App Store in February 2022. 

Truth Social had been previously rejected from the Play Store on the grounds that it did not sufficiently moderate its content. In addition, Google had told the social media app at the time that content on the platform included incitement of violence and threats of physical harm, which were in violation of Play Store policies. The app itself says that it has its own guidelines that prohibits content that “depict violence, threats of violence or criminal activity.”

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Most of America’s population uses iPhones so its easy to see why Truth Social moved there first. However, Android users make up a not insignificant amount of people. Android phones make up 40% of the US smartphone market.

One of the perks about them is that you can download apps from third-party developers, which includes those who aren’t on the app store. Additionally, Android users can often directly download an app from a website, although that usually means circumventing security permissions and going through a few extra steps. Truth Social has been available to Android users through such means.

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The former US president set up the social media app after being banned from Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. At the time, social media companies justified the ban by accusing the the former TV personality that their messages on their platforms had led to the January 6, 2021 riots. Trump has often touted Truth Social as a free-speech alternative, however, the app has often come under fire for being a hotbed of misinformation and conspiracy theories, one of the more popular ones being that the result of the 2020 presidential elections were rigged.