Appreciate your perspective — and I agree, technically, free apps can be published without issue. But from my experience (and others I've followed in the FOSS space), the “uphill battle” isn't about being blocked or targeted — it’s more about discovery, sustainability, and alignment with the platform’s incentives.

On stores like Google Play, the design favors apps with ad revenue, IAPs, or growth metrics — not minimal, ethical apps with no monetization. Free, privacy-respecting tools often get buried or flagged for things like lack of user engagement, sparse permissions, or not following monetization guidelines (like not using Google’s billing).

That’s why I released my app, MBCompass, on F-Droid first. It's where users expect simple, ethical apps — and where visibility isn't tied to commercial strategy.

So yeah, free apps aren't “targeted,” but the environment isn’t really designed to support or surface them either.