Google Play

Not to be confused with Google Store.
Google Play

Main page of Google Play
Developer(s) Google
Initial release October 22, 2008 (2008-10-22) (as Android Market)
March 6, 2012 (2012-03-06) (as Google Play)
Development status Active
Platform Android
Roku
Web
Type Digital distribution, software update
Website play.google.com

Google Play or Google Play Store, and originally the Android Market, is a digital distribution platform operated by Google. It serves as the official app store for the Android operating system, allowing users to browse and download applications developed with the Android SDK and published through Google. Google Play also serves as a digital media store, offering music, magazines, books, movies, and television programs. It previously offered Google hardware devices for purchase until the introduction of a separate online hardware retailer, Google Store, on March 11, 2015.[1]

Applications are available through Google Play either free of charge or at a cost. They can be downloaded directly to an Android or Google TV device through the Play Store mobile app, or by deploying the application to a device from the Google Play website.[2] Many applications can be targeted to specific users based on a particular hardware attribute of their device, such as a motion sensor (for motion-dependent games) or a front-facing camera (for online video calling).

Google Play was launched on March 6, 2012, with the merger of Android Market, Google Music, and Google eBookstore, marking a shift in Google's digital distribution strategy.[3] The services operating under the Google Play banner are: Google Play Music, Google Play Books, Google Play Newsstand, Google Play Movies & TV, and Google Play Games. The Google Play store has reached over 1.43 million apps published[4] and over 50 billion downloads.[5]

An update was applied to the Google Play Store in April 2013 which had been the changeover from the old, Google Play Store, which had been known to be sort of mismatched in the way the information, applications, books etc. were presented. The main change which came with the update of the Google Play Store in 2013 was aesthetics, changing the background of the play store to a lighter background, with many of the features that had previously been available mainly not receiving any sort of changes. Another visual change which had been presented in the update in 2013 had been when a user is searching for an application, they added the three vertical dots next to the application. The main reason for adding the three dots is as an option page which allowed the users to download the application without actually having to visit the page for the application, which would save time for the users. And the final noteworthy change to the Google Play Store was that they had taken the extremely cluttered pages and added a new card presentation of the applications, presenting the user with 4-6 applications at a time rather than 20 applications at a time.[6]

Catalog content

Android applications

Google Play makes free-of-charge applications available worldwide (except countries under United States embargoes),[7] while paid applications are available in 135 countries.[8] Applications can be installed from the device using the Google Play Store app or through the Google Play website on a PC. According to AppBrain Stats, there are over 1,400,000 applications available as of November 2014,[9] of which over 1,200,000 are free and over 200,000 are paid.[10] Google seems to remove low-quality apps from the store roughly once a quarter, when the number of available apps go down.[9]

As of November 2014, developers in 61 countries were able to distribute paid applications on Google Play.[11] To distribute apps, developers have to pay $25 as registration fee for a Google Play Developer Console account. Google states that this fee is charged to encourage higher quality products on Google Play.[12] Application developers can control which countries an app distributed in, as well as the pricing for the app and in-app purchases in each country.[13] Developers receive 70 percent of the application price, while the remaining 30 percent goes to the distribution partner and operating fees.[14] Revenue earned from the Google Play is paid to developers via Google Wallet merchant accounts, or via Google AdSense accounts in some countries.[15]

Google Play allows developers to release early versions of apps to a select group of users, as alpha- and beta-testing versions. This allows the developer to fix any issues before the app is released widely. Google Play also allows developers to release updates in stages, first to a subset of users and then progressively to larger portions of the userbase, ensuring that the smallest number of users are affected by any issues missed in testing.[13]

Some carriers, such as Sprint, offer direct carrier billing for application purchases.[16] Purchases of unwanted applications can be refunded within 15 minutes of the time of download.[17]

Applications meeting certain design criteria set by Google can be made compatible for Android Wear and Android TV devices, and for the Google Fit platform.

On 17 March 2009, about 2,300 applications were available in Android Market, according to T-Mobile chief technical officer Cole Brodman.[18] On 10 May 2011, during the Google I/O, Google announced that Android Market had 200,000 applications listed and 4.5 billion applications installed.[19] In October 2012, Google announced that Google Play had 700,000 apps available to download, matching the number of apps in Apple's App Store.[20] On 24 July 2013, Google announced that the Play Store now had one million applications listed and it had over 50 billion downloads.[21]

Year Month Applications available Downloads to date
2009 March 2,300[18]
December 16,000[22]
2010 March 30,000[23]
April 38,000[24]
August 80,000[25][26] 1 billion
October 100,000[27]
2011 May 200,000[19] 3 billion[28]
July 250,000[29] 6 billion
October 319,000[30]
December 380,297[31] 10 billion[32]
2012 January 400,000[33]
May 500,000[34]
June 600,000 20 billion[35]
September 675,000 25 billion[36]
October 700,000[20]
2013 February 800,000[37]
April 850,000 40 billion
May 48 billion[38]
July 1,000,000[21] 50 billion[21]
2014 June 1,200,000[39]
July 1,300,000[9]
December 1,430,000[40]
2015 Q1 1,500,000[41]
2016 Q1 1,900,000[42]

Music

Main article: Google Play Music
Availability of Google Play Music

Google Play offers an online music store with over 35 million songs,[43][44] cloud storage of up to 50,000 songs at no cost, and a subscription music streaming service called Google Play Music. Songs are priced at US$1.29, $0.99, $0.69, and free. Google Play Music is currently available in 58 countries.[45]

Books

Main article: Google Play Books
Availability of Google Play Books

Google Play is the world's largest eBook store with over 5 million titles.[44] Purchased books are stored in the cloud and can be downloaded in the PDF and EPUB formats.[46] Google adopts Adobe Content Server 4 as the digital rights management (DRM) solution to protect downloaded copies of ebooks. Books can be transferred to and read on a number of e-readers and other devices and applications that support the Adobe eBook DRM.[47] Books can also be read online on any web browser with JavaScript enabled,[48] through the Google Play Books app for Android and iOS devices, and on the Google Chrome browser on desktops through an HTML 5-based web app available from the Chrome Web Store.[49]

Purchase of books is currently supported in 65 countries.[45] Google requires users to provide payment information even for downloading free ebooks. In addition to downloading books from Google Play, users can upload books in the PDF or EPUB formats, which are stored in the cloud free of charge for up to 1,000 books.

Publishers and authors can publish their books for sale on Google Play through the Play Books Partner Centre. Google mandates publishers selling their ebooks on Google Play to also make the book available for a limited preview on Google Books. The publisher can set the percentage of the book to be made available for preview.

Google first began selling ebooks online through the Google eBookstore, which was launched on 6 December 2010, in the United States with over 3 million titles. It became a part of Google Play when the latter was launched.

As of September 2015, Google Play was not accepting new sign-ups for publishing.

Movies and TV shows

Availability of Google Play Movies & TV

There are thousands of movies and television shows available on Google Play Movies & TV, some in HD, including comedy, drama, animation, action and documentary.[50] Movies can be rented or purchased and watched on the Google Play website or via an application on an Android device. Some titles are only available for rental, some only for purchase, and others for both rental and purchase. TV shows can be purchased by episode or season but cannot be rented.[50] Alternatively, users can download movies and TV shows for offline viewing and view them later using the Google Play Movie app.[51]

Movies are available in 70 countries. TV shows are available only in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, the US and the UK.[45]

News and magazines

Further information: Google Play Newsstand
Availability of Google Play Newsstand

Google Play serves subscriptions to free and paid news publications, and magazines for reading on Play Newsstand. At the time of the launch of Play Newsstand, about 1,900 free and paid news publications were available. All magazines must offer at least a 14-day trial, while the free trial period offered for news sources (news editions) varies and is not mandatory. Subscriptions to paid content is currently supported in Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, France, Germany, Indonesia, Ireland, India, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Russia, South Korea, Spain, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom and United States.[45]

Devices

Google Play, before March 2015, had a Devices section for users to purchase Google Nexus devices, Chromebooks, other Google-branded hardware, and accessories. At the Google I/O in June 2012, Google announced that Nexus 7 tablets would be made available for purchase through Google Play.[52] At Google I/O 2013, it was announced that a special edition of the Samsung Galaxy S4 with stock Android 4.2 would be made available on Google Play on 26 June 2013.[53] Likewise, on 30 May 2013, HTC announced that a similar stock Android version of the HTC One would also be released the same day.[54] Android Wear devices, Chromecast and Chromebooks were other hardware devices listed for sale.

A separate online hardware retailer called the Google Store was introduced on March 11, 2015, replacing the Devices section of Google Play.[1]

Google Play-branded applications

Play Newsstand

Main article: Google Play Newsstand

On 20 November 2013, Google launched Google Play Newsstand, which combined the features of Google Play Magazines and Google Currents into a single product, which serves subscriptions to magazines, web feeds and server-generated topical feeds. Priced news sources and magazines can be subscribed from the Google Play Store app on Android or the Google Play website on any device, while free news sources can be subscribed from both within the app or from Google Play. All topical news feeds are free and can be subscribed only from within the app. Reviews and ratings can be submitted for all Newsstand content distributed through Google Play. All subscribed topics, feeds, sources and magazines are synced across devices signed in with the same Google account.

Play Newsstand featured about 1,900 free and paid publications at the time of its launch. The app automatically formats articles for reading on a phone or tablet, complete with images, audio and video inline. Articles are cached on the device for offline reading.[55][56]

Play Newsstand was released for iOS in September 2014, as an update to the Google Currents app. The Verge noted that the user experience across Android and iOS was nearly the same.[57]

Play Newsstand incorporates Google's Material Design language.[58] The app's home screen (the Read now view) displays articles on the basis of the user's interests which, according to Google, the app learns quickly. Subscribed topics show up as tabs on the home screen. Play Newsstand also supports RSS feeds.[59] Many formats of RSS content, however, are not supported.[60] Play Newsstand also allows users to bookmark articles for later reading.

Play Games

Main article: Google Play Games

Google Play Games is a service designed for Android which features real-time multiplayer gaming capabilities, cloud saves, social and public leaderboards, and achievements. The service was introduced at Google's I/O 2013 Developer Conference along with many other new services, and the standalone app was launched on 24 July at an event called "Breakfast with Sundar Pichai" together with the new Nexus 7, Android 4.3 and the Chromecast.[61][62] It lists both games and Google+ friends' games on its home screen and lets users see highlights from both categories. This service is similar to Apple's Game Center. It started out only available in a limited selection of games such as Super Stickman Golf 2, PBA Bowling, World of Goo, Osmos HD, and a few others but has since been added to thousands of games. According to Google, Google Play Games received over 100 million new users between January 2014 and June 2014, making it the fastest growing mobile gaming network of all time.[13]

History

Google Play originated from three distinct products: Android Market, Google Music and Google eBookstore.

The Android Market was announced by Google on 28 August 2008, and was made available to users on 22 October. Support for paid applications was introduced on 13 February 2009 for developers in the United States and the United Kingdom, with support expanded to an additional 29 countries on 30 September 2010.[63][64] In December 2010, content filtering was added to the Android Market and reduced the purchase refund window from 24–48 hours to fifteen minutes.[65]

Google eBookstore was launched on 6 December 2010, in the United States after extensive speculations regarding its release. It debuted with over 3 million ebooks, making it the world's largest ebookstore overnight. The international editions were to roll out beginning in early 2011.

In February 2011, Google introduced a web client for Android Market that provides access to it via a PC. Applications requested through the Android Market web page are downloaded and installed on a registered Android device.[66] In March 2011, Google added in-app billing to Android Market, allowing apps to sell in-app products.[67] In May 2011, Google added new application lists to Android Market, including "Top Grossing" applications, "Top Developers", "Trending" applications, and "Editors Recommendations". Google's Eric Chu said the goal of this change was to expose users to as many applications as possible. In July 2011, Google introduced a redesigned interface with a focus on featured content, more search filters, and (in the US) book sales and movie rentals.[68] In September 2011, the Motorola Xoom tablet received an update that brought the redesigned Android Market to an Android 3.x Honeycomb-based device.[69] In November 2011, Google added a music store to the Android Market.[70]

In March 2012, the maximum allowed size of an application's APK file was also increased from 50 MB to allow two additional files for a maximum of 50 MB for the APK and two additional files of 2 GB each, totalling [approx] 4GB.[71] On 6 March 2012, the Android Market was re-branded as Google Play.[72] On 2 May 2012, Google rolled out direct carrier billing for music, movies and books.[73] On 24 May 2012, Google introduced in-app subscriptions to Google Play.[74] On 12 July 2012, Google released update 3.8.15 which added Application Encryption functionality to help reduce application piracy. Since this update, many developers have noted compatibility issues causing various third-party widgets and keyboards to disappear after phone reboots or connecting to USB storage.[75] Currently, a fix is planned for a future release of Android OS.

In July 2014, Google expanded its All Access Music service (now Google Play Music) to Ukraine among five other countries. Ukraine thus joined Russia as the only former Soviet republics with access to the service.[76]

On April 4, 2016, Android's official blog announced a redesign of the icons used for the suite of Play apps, including Play Store, Play Movies & TV, Play Music, Play Games, Play Books, and Play Newsstand. The new icons have a similar style, and are meant to provide a consistent look across all devices and web.[77]

Interface

Apart from searching for content by name, apps can also be searched through keywords provided by the developer. For the discoverability of apps, Play Store consists of sections such as Featured apps showing apps meeting the Android design and quality criteria, Editor's Picks exceptional apps and games picked by the Google Play editorial team, Top Charts the most popular apps and games overall and by category, and Trending apps that are trending with other users. Existing apps that raise their quality can trend too. Play Store also features over 40 categories for browsing apps and regularly updated collections based on events and other interests.[13]

Google Play enables users to know the popularity of apps (and other content) by displaying the immediate round figure less than the number of times the application has been downloaded. The numbers shown are the products of multiplying 1 or 5 to the powers of 10. These include 1 billion, 500 million, 100 million, 50 million, 10 million, 1 million, 500 thousand, 100 thousand, 50 thousand and so on. The 'number of downloads' actually refers to the number of Google accounts associated with an app. The number is not affected by the uninstallation of apps, neither is it affected if the app is later reinstalled using the same Google account.

Users can submit reviews and ratings for apps and digital content distributed through Google Play, which are displayed publicly. Ratings are based on a 5-point scale. App developers can respond to reviews using the Google Play Developer Console.

Installation history

Google Play features a download history that allows users to view apps installed earlier without having to search manually. Purchased apps can be re-installed at a later date without having to re-buy it. Currently, however, there is no way to permanently delete or remove apps downloaded from the Google Play website (My Orders/My Android Apps).[78] Since version 3.9.16, users are able to remove apps from the "All Apps" list on devices only.[79]

Advertisements in free apps

Many of the free apps on the store use advertisements and are freemium — free apps with in-app purchases used as the sources of revenue.[80]

Google Play Store

Google Play Store
Developer(s) Google Inc.
Initial release 22 October 2008 (2008-10-22)
Stable release 6.4.12.C-all [0] 2744941[81] / 7 April 2016 (2016-04-07)
Development status Active
Operating system Android
Type Digital distribution
Website play.google.com
Get it on Google Play badge
Android App on Google Play badge

The Google Play Store is the official pre-installed app on Android devices which provides access to the Google Play store. It allows users to browse and download music, books, magazines, movies, television programs, and applications from Google Play. The Devices segment of Google Play is not accessible through the Play Store. With the introduction of Google Play on 6 March 2012, the Android Market app on old devices was upgraded to the Google Play Store app.[82]

Play Store filters the list of applications to those compatible with the user's device. In addition, users may face further restrictions to choice of applications where developers have tied-in their applications to particular carriers or countries for business reasons.[83] Carriers can also ban certain applications, for example tethering applications.[84]

There is no requirement that Android applications be acquired from the Play Store. Users may download Android applications from a developer's website or through a third-party alternative.[85] Play Store applications are self-contained Android Package files. Play Store does not install applications; it asks the device's PackageManagerService to install them. The package manager becomes visible if the user downloads an APK file directly into their device. Applications are installed to the phone's internal storage, and under certain conditions may be installed to the device's external storage card.[86]

Compatibility

The Play Store application is not open source. Only Android devices that comply with Google's compatibility requirements may install and access Google's closed-source Play Store application, subject to entering into a free-of-charge[87] licensing agreement with Google.[88] In the past, these requirements had included 3G or 4G cellular data connectivity,[89] ruling out Android-powered devices comparable to Apple's iPod touch, but this requirement had been loosened by the 2011 release of the Samsung Galaxy Player.

Some tablet computers such as Amazon Kindle Fire, do not provide access to Google Play, and instead use their manufacturer's own mobile content distribution service. Some owners use Android rooting to access Google Play, or use sideloading to load applications.[90] As of July 2013, Barnes & Noble released an update to the Nook HD adding Google Play. Some applications, upon downloading from Google Play, elicit a warning that they are about to overlay the previously loaded Nook version of the same application. BlackBerry 10 devices (OS 10.2.1 and higher) can sideload an app called SNAP which allows direct downloads of apps from Google Play[91]

Application approval

Google places some restrictions on the types of apps that can be published, in particular not allowing "sexually explicit material", "Violence and Bullying", "Hate Speech", "Impersonation or Deceptive Behavior", copyrighted material (without permission), and a few other activities.[92] Nevertheless, developers can still distribute the apps in .apk format and they can then be installed by users on their Android devices.

On 31 March 2009, Google removed all tethering applications from Android Market because they supposedly violated terms of service of certain carriers.[93] Google later restored tethering applications to Android Market, except those for the T-Mobile USA network, which was specifically the subject of the violation:[94]

On Monday, several applications that enable tethering were removed from Android Market catalog because they were in violation of T-Mobile's terms of service in the US. Based on Android's Developer Distribution Agreement (section 7.2), we remove applications from Android Market catalog that violate the terms of service of a carrier or manufacturer.

We inadvertently unpublished the applications for all carriers, and today we have corrected the problem so that all Android Market users outside the T-Mobile US network will now have access to the applications. We have notified the affected developers.

Google, April 2009[94]

As of 20 May 2010, PDAnet, Easy Tether and Proxoid were all available in the U.S. market for T-Mobile users. On 5 April 2011, Google withdrew the Grooveshark app from Android Market due to unspecified policy violations.[95] However, the app remained available for direct download via Grooveshark's website for those users who had enabled non-market application downloads.[96][97]

On 27 May 2011, Google banned SpoofApp, a Caller ID spoofing application typically used for prank calling which had been available in Android Market since 18 December 2008.[98] On 29 May 2011, Google banned the account of the developer of several video game emulators, including Nesoid, Snesoid, and N64oid and neither Google nor the developer publicly revealed the reason for the ban.[99]

In March 2013, Google began to pull ad blocking apps from Play Store (such as Adblock Plus) per section 4.4 of the developers' agreement, which prohibits apps that interfere with third-party servers and services.[100]

In March 2015, Google disclosed that over the past few months, it had been begun using a combination of automated tools and human reviewers to check apps for malware and terms of service violations before they are published in Play Store.[101]

Application security

Google uses an in-house automated antivirus system, called Google Bouncer, to remove malicious applications uploaded on to the marketplace.[102] This is meant to prevent repeat-offender developers, as well as check for anomalies in uploaded apps.

According to a 2014 research study released by RiskIQ,[103] malicious apps introduced through Google Play store have increased 388% between 2011 and 2013. The study also revealed that the number of malicious apps removed annually by Google has dropped drastically, from 60% in 2011 to 23% in 2013. Apps for personalizing Android phones led all categories as most likely to be malicious.[104]

Hackers at Black Hat in 2012 claimed to have found a way to circumvent the blocker system by creating a seemingly benign application that used a JavaScript exploit to steal contacts, SMS messages, and photos.[105]

Before installing an application, Google Play displays all the permissions that an app requires. A game may need to enable vibration, for example, but should not need to read messages or access the user's address book data. After reviewing these permissions, the user can decide whether to install the application.

Possible app permissions include functionality like:

Security software companies have been developing applications to ensure the security of Android devices. SMobile Systems, one such manufacturer, claims that 20% of apps in Android Market request permissions that could be used for malicious purposes, and 5% of apps can make phone calls without the user's intervention.[106][107][108] This is not a claim that the apps are actually malicious, but rather highlight the potential for malicious activity.

Security issues

In some cases applications which contained Trojans were hidden in pirated versions of legitimate apps.[109] In early March 2011, DroidDream, a trojan rootkit exploit, was released to the Android Market in the form of several free applications that were, in many cases, pirated versions of existing priced apps. This exploit allowed hackers to steal information such as IMEI and IMSI numbers, phone model, user ID, and service provider. The exploit also installed a backdoor that allowed the hackers to download more code to the infected device.[110] These apps were downloaded more than 50,000 times before Google took action and removed them from the Market. The exploit only affected devices running Android versions earlier than 2.3 "Gingerbread". In many cases, the only guaranteed method of removing the exploit from an infected device was to reset it to factory state, although community-developed solutions for blocking some aspects of the exploit were created.[111] Google started remotely removing the malicious apps from infected devices on 5 March, and also released its own app, the "Android Market Security Tool March 2011", which automatically removed the exploit. This app was automatically installed to all infected devices, and users with infected devices were notified via e-mail.[112]

Gift cards

The rumor of Play Store gift cards started after references to it was seen in the version 3.8.15 update to the Play Store app.[113] Soon after images of the gift cards started to leak,[114] and on 21 August 2012 they were made official by Google and rolled out over the next few weeks.[115]

Google Play gift cards are currently available in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States.[116]

Gift cards in a Target store in the U.S.

Availability

Users outside the countries/regions listed below only have access to free apps and games through Google Play.

Country/Region Paid apps and games Devices[117] Magazines[45] Books[45] Movies & TV[45] Music[45]
Customers can purchase[118] Developers can sell[119] Movies TV shows Standard All Access
 Albania Yes No No No No Yes No No No
 Algeria Yes No No No No No No No No
 Angola Yes No No No No No No No No
 Antigua and Barbuda Yes No No No No Yes No No No
 Argentina Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes
 Armenia Yes No No No No Yes No No No
 Aruba Yes No No No No Yes No No No
 Australia Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
 Austria Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes
 Azerbaijan Yes Yes No No No Yes No No No
 Bahamas Yes No No No No No No No No
 Bahrain Yes Yes No Yes Yes No No No No
 Bangladesh Yes No No No No No No No No
 Belarus Yes Yes No No Yes Yes No Yes Yes
 Belgium Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes
 Belize Yes No No No No Yes No No No
 Benin Yes No No No No Yes No No No
 Bolivia Yes Yes No No Yes Yes No Yes Yes
 Bosnia and Herzegovina Yes No No No No Yes No Yes Yes
 Botswana Yes No No No No Yes No Yes No
 Brazil Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes
 Bulgaria Yes Yes No No Yes No No Yes Yes
 Burkina Faso Yes No No No No Yes No No No
 Cambodia Yes No No No No Yes No No No
 Cameroon Yes No No No No No No No No
 Canada Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
 Cape Verde Yes No No No No Yes No No No
 Chile Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes
 China No Yes No No No No No No No
 Colombia Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes
 Costa Rica Yes Yes No No Yes Yes No Yes Yes
 Croatia Yes No No No Yes Yes No Yes Yes
 Cyprus Yes Yes No No No Yes No No No
 Czech Republic Yes Yes No No Yes Yes No Yes Yes
 Denmark Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes No Yes Yes
 Dominican Republic Yes Yes No No Yes Yes No Yes Yes
 Ecuador Yes No No No Yes Yes No Yes Yes
 Egypt Yes Yes No Yes Yes No No No No
 El Salvador Yes No No No Yes Yes No Yes Yes
 Estonia Yes Yes No No Yes Yes No Yes Yes
 Fiji Yes No No No No Yes No No No
 Finland Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes No Yes Yes
 France Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
 Gabon Yes No No No No Yes No No No
 Germany Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
 Ghana Yes No No No No No No No No
 Greece Yes Yes No No Yes Yes No Yes Yes
 Guatemala Yes No No No Yes Yes No Yes Yes
 Guinea-Bissau Yes No No No No No No No No
 Haiti Yes No No No No Yes No No No
 Honduras Yes Yes No No Yes Yes No Yes Yes
 Hong Kong Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes No No No
 Hungary Yes Yes No No Yes Yes No Yes Yes
 Iceland Yes Yes No No Yes Yes No Yes Yes
 India Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No
 Indonesia Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes No No No
 Ireland Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes
 Israel Yes Yes No No No No No No No
 Italy Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes
 Ivory Coast Yes No No No No Yes No No No
 Jamaica Yes Yes No No No Yes No No No
 Japan Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
 Jordan Yes No No Yes Yes No No No No
 Kazakhstan Yes Yes No No Yes Yes No No No
 Kenya Yes No No No No No No No No
 Kuwait Yes Yes No Yes Yes No No No No
 Kyrgyzstan Yes No No No Yes Yes No No No
 Laos Yes No No No No Yes No No No
 Latvia Yes Yes No No Yes Yes No Yes Yes
 Lebanon Yes No No Yes Yes No No No No
 Liechtenstein Yes No No No No No No Yes Yes
 Lithuania Yes Yes No No Yes Yes No Yes Yes
 Luxembourg Yes Yes No No Yes Yes No Yes Yes
 Macedonia Yes No No No No Yes No Yes Yes
 Malaysia Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes No No No
 Mali Yes No No No No Yes No No No
 Malta Yes Yes No No No Yes No Yes Yes
 Mauritius Yes No No No No Yes No No No
 Mexico Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes
 Moldova Yes No No No No Yes No No No
 Morocco Yes No No No No No No No No
 Mozambique Yes No No No No No No No No
 Namibia Yes No No No No Yes No No No
   Nepal Yes No No No No Yes No No No
 Netherlands Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes
 Netherlands Antilles Yes No No No No No No No No
 New Zealand Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes No Yes Yes
 Nicaragua Yes No No No Yes Yes No Yes Yes
 Niger Yes No No No No Yes No No No
 Nigeria Yes Yes No No No No No No No
 Norway Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes No Yes Yes
 Oman Yes No No Yes Yes No No No No
 Pakistan Yes Yes No No No No No No No
 Panama Yes Yes No No Yes Yes No Yes Yes
 Papua New Guinea Yes No No No No Yes No No No
 Paraguay Yes No No No Yes Yes No Yes Yes
 Peru Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes
 Philippines Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes No No No
 Poland Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes
 Portugal Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes No Yes Yes
 Qatar Yes No No Yes Yes No No No No
 Romania Yes Yes No No Yes No No Yes Yes
 Russia Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes
 Rwanda Yes No No No No Yes No No No
 Saudi Arabia Yes Yes No Yes Yes No No No No
 Senegal Yes No No No No Yes No No No
 Serbia Yes No No No No No No Yes Yes
 Singapore Yes Yes No No Yes Yes No No No
 Slovakia Yes Yes No No Yes Yes No Yes Yes
 Slovenia Yes No No No Yes Yes No Yes Yes
 South Africa Yes No No No Yes Yes No Yes Yes
 South Korea Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No
 Spain Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes
 Sri Lanka Yes No No No No Yes No No No
 Sweden Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes No Yes Yes
  Switzerland Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes No Yes Yes
 Taiwan Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No
 Tajikistan Yes No No No No Yes No No No
 Tanzania Yes No No No No Yes No No No
 Thailand Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes No No No
 Togo Yes No No No No Yes No No No
 Trinidad and Tobago Yes No No No No Yes No No No
 Tunisia Yes No No No No No No No No
 Turkey Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes No No No
 Turkmenistan Yes No No No No Yes No No No
 Uganda Yes No No No No Yes No No No
 Ukraine Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes
 United Arab Emirates Yes Yes No Yes Yes No No No No
 United Kingdom Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
 United States[lower-alpha 1] Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
 Uruguay Yes No No No Yes Yes No Yes Yes
 Uzbekistan Yes No No No Yes Yes No No No
 Venezuela Yes No No No Yes Yes No Yes Yes
 Vietnam Yes Yes No No Yes No No No No
 Yemen Yes Yes No No No No No No No
 Zambia Yes No No No No Yes No No No
 Zimbabwe Yes No No No No Yes No No No

See also

Notes

References

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