A Popular Cord Cutting App Has Returned to Google TV & Android Devices After a DMCA Complaint Because of Its Browser

Luke Bouma

If you are a cord cutter, you may have heard of the popular cord cutting app Downloader. The app was one of the first ways you could get a browser on the Fire TV and allows you to easily download content to your device. Recently Google removed it from the Google store, preventing it from being easily downloaded to Google TV and Android devices after a DMCA complaint because of its browser.

The app was built by the owner of AFTVnews, Elias Saba, and it has been installed over 50 million times. First launched in 2016, it quickly added a full browser making it the first way to browse the web on the Fire TV. It also became a popular way to install Kodi after it was removed from the Amazon app.

Earlier this year, Google received a Digital Millennium Copyright Act complaint from a law firm representing several Israeli cable/satellite TV companies. This complaint led to Google removing the app from the app store because it contained a web browser that could be pointed to copyrighted infringing websites.

According to TorrentFreak at issue here are several websites that are facing a court order injunction requiring every ISP to block access to the sites. Though for now, the order to block the websites at the ISP level hasn't been enforced yet, according to TorrentFreak.

Now to the joy of many cord cutters, the Downloader app has returned to the Google Play Store following Elias Saba's efforts to dispute the DMCA complaint.

My Downloader app is now back in the Google Play Store! Thank you to everyone that helped draw attention to its unjust removal. If you sideloaded the app, you should uninstall it and reinstall it from Google Play to ensure you receive updates. https://t.co/SH7mfM5zW7

Now cord cutters can once again install the Downloader app Android and Google TV from the official app store, allowing them to browse the web on Android TV and Google TV devices.

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