In 2026, Google quietly introduced one of the most brutal policies for indie developers: dormant accounts are automatically closed.

If you don’t actively publish or maintain apps, your developer account is considered “not in use” — and eventually terminated.

No appeal. No refunds. Just gone.

What is a Dormant Google Play Account?

A dormant account is an account with:

No active published apps
No production updates for a long time
No real developer activity

Google assumes you’re no longer a real developer.

The Real Problem

Most developers think:

Logging in is enough ❌
Creating drafts is enough ❌
Uploading internal tests is enough ❌

It’s not.

Google only counts production releases.

The Survival Strategy (White-Hat)

I used what I call a “Zombie App Strategy”:

Build one extremely simple app:

Offline only
No login
No ads
No analytics
No Firebase
No data collection

Example apps:

Simple Notes
To-Do List
Habit Tracker
Counter / Timer

The goal is not to make money.
The goal is to stay alive as a developer.

Why Flutter is Perfect

Flutter lets you:

Build fast
Reuse templates
Maintain with minimal effort

One Flutter template can spawn:

Notes app
Todo app
Counter app
Journal app

With 80% identical code.

My Exact Compliance Rules

To guarantee approval:

Target SDK 34+
No internet permission
No third-party SDK
Local storage only
Clear privacy policy: “No data collected.”

This removes 90% of policy risk.

The Maintenance Ritual

Every 6 months:

Bump version
Change icon or description
Publish update

That’s it.

You remain an “active developer” forever.

Final Thought

Google Play Console is no longer a playground.
It’s a license.

And licenses expire if you don’t use them.

The smartest developers in 2026 are not chasing downloads.

They’re chasing survival.

How I Revived My Dormant Google Play Developer Account with One Simple Flutter App

1. Ping-O-Matic

Ping-O-Matic provides an API to notify multiple search engines and services about blog updates.

API Endpoint: http://rpc.pingomatic.com/

POST http://rpc.pingomatic.com/

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<methodCall>
    <methodName>weblogUpdates.ping</methodName>
    <params>
        <param>
            <value>Your Blog Name</value>
        </param>
        <param>
            <value>https://yourblog.com</value>
        </param>
    </params>
</methodCall>

2. Superfeedr

Superfeedr offers a real-time feed API, including webhook notifications when your feed is updated.

API Endpoint: https://push.superfeedr.com/

curl -X POST https://push.superfeedr.com/
-u "your_username:your_token"
-d "hub.mode=publish&hub.url=https://yourblog.com/feed"

3. Google PubSubHubbub (WebSub)

Google's PubSubHubbub (WebSub) allows you to notify subscribers of updates via HTTP requests.

API Endpoint: https://pubsubhubbub.appspot.com/

curl -X POST https://pubsubhubbub.appspot.com/publish
-d "hub.mode=publish&hub.url=https://yourblog.com/feed"

4. BlogPingR

BlogPingR allows you to send ping requests to multiple blog directories after registration.

API Endpoint: Available upon registration.

5. PingMyLink

PingMyLink allows you to submit URLs to various search engines and directories via API.

API Endpoint: Available upon registration.

6. Twingly

Twingly offers an API to notify their search engine about new posts using XML-RPC.

API Endpoint: http://rpc.twingly.com/

POST http://rpc.twingly.com/

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<methodCall>
    <methodName>weblogUpdates.ping</methodName>
    <params>
        <param><value>Your Blog Name</value></param>
        <param><value>https://yourblog.com</value></param>
    </params>
</methodCall>

7. SEMrush

SEMrush offers an API for SEO tasks, including notifying search engines about content updates.

API Endpoint: Available with a paid account.

8. Pingler

Pingler may offer API access for premium users to automate ping submissions.

API Endpoint: Available upon registration for premium users.

9. FeedBurner Ping

FeedBurner's ping service can notify Google about feed updates.

API Endpoint: http://ping.feedburner.com/

curl "http://ping.feedburner.com?url=https://yourblog.com/feed"

Ping Services with API Examples

How to install Ubuntu 18 LTS at virtual machine

Using Netdata for Monitoring the Ubuntu resources

Before this, I have used a Window container for docker and never face issues with code 139.

Then I changed to WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux) container for the purpose to improve the performance.

But by using WSL I can't start a certain image, the container keeps restarting. This restarting state makes it is impossible to see the container logs by using the command $ docker logs -f <container>.

Hence instead of using $ docker-compose up -d I use $ docker-compose up so I can see the logs during the start.

sample

So somewhere I read this 139 related to system unable to access so location due to permission issues. Then to solve this issue at WSL by updating the .wslconfig by adding

kernelCommandLine = vsyscall=emulate

   Step 1 : Create a file named .wslconfig in your user directory
   Ex:- C://users/[your user name]/.wslconfig
   Step 2 : Add following line to the .wslconfig file

kernelCommandLine = vsyscall=emulate

Docker exited with code 139 (Solved)

Install Python

Download python here https://www.python.org/downloads/

After downloading find the application to install

Click on the application and install. Please tick the checkbox of "Add Python 3.10 to PATH".

Next open cmd or PowerShell then run $ python --version to make sure it has already been installed

Install Google-OR-Tools

Install the Google-OR-Tools as shown at their website at https://developers.google.com/optimization/install.

By using the Powershell run command $ python -m pip install --upgrade --user ortools

Google-OR-Tools installation complete

Running Python program

Then after installing the OR-Tools we can start the code. Furthermore, Google has given a sample script at https://developers.google.com/optimization/introduction/python that we can try.

Use any IDE that you like, for example, I use Sublime. Create a new file paste the script and save it as "program.py"

Next, find the file directory and open the File Explorer. Then by using the Shift + Right Click on Mouse inside the folder.

You will be able to open the PowerShell at the folder directory/location. Choose the "Open PowerShell window here" option.