Potential confusion in search reults

[ljanus]

Hi, I wanted to find this app so I searched “Seal app” in google. I came across an app and a website that were both appeared above this github, and I believe the app is violating the term of the license below. Although I was quick to figure out they were not the real Seal it still got me concerned enough to write this as this is the kind of app I can see myself recommending to friends or family. I am not sure what if anything can be done about these examples but I wanted to bring it to attention here anyways.

Warning

Except for the source code licensed under the GPLv3 license, all other parties are prohibited from using Seal's name as a downloader app, and the same is true for Seal's derivatives. Derivatives include but are not limited to forks and unofficial builds.

The first result is “Seal Downloader” by “Hit K Apps” on Google Play. It has over 500 thousand downloads, has ads, and requires more permissions than the actual Seal from F-Droid. It was originally released on July 4th 2023 and was last updated at time of writing on November 4th 2023. The publisher has no other apps released. The UI, Name, and Icon all serve to make it seem like an official Seal Play Store release upon first glance, except there is no mention or link back to JunkFood02 or the github.

The next three results for me were F-droid and two random APK download sites. Nothing surprising.

The fifth result was SealAPK dot net, which currently appears as “Seal APK v1.10.0 Download for Android (Official)”. It does mention the developer: “JunlFood24” and later on “JunkFood02” and the github, but does not provide a link, instead encouraging downloads from the site. Honestly the site could just be a fansite, if not for the constant claims of being ”official” and offering APK downloads.

Only below the “People also ask” container on the results page does the actual github show up.

While looking at other discussions I saw people asking about a Google Play store release as well as someone who was working on an official website. I can’t help but wonder if these would help make it easier to find the actual open source app and prevent confusion.