What it means
Google Play treats MANAGE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE as access to sensitive data or capabilities. An app that requests it must qualify for an allowed use and say so in a declaration in Play Console; Google can reject an update, or remove the app, when the use is not declared or not allowed. It is allowed when the app's core feature needs broad file access: file managers, backup and restore, anti-virus, device migration, on-device file search or encryption tools.
Rejections for this policy arrive as Play Console policy messages whose wording varies, so this page quotes the policy itself rather than one message.
Deadline
No upcoming date is recorded by the store check: the policy is in force, and the declaration is checked at review.
How to fix it
1. Check whether your app qualifies
The permission is allowed when the app's core feature needs broad file access: file managers, backup and restore, anti-virus, device migration, on-device file search or encryption tools. If that is not your app's core feature, do not declare it: remove it.
2. If it qualifies: fill in the declaration
In Play Console, open Policy, then App content, and complete the declaration for this permission: the feature that needs it, why no alternative works, and, when Play Console asks for it, a short video of the feature.
3. Otherwise: remove it, including from libraries
Use MediaStore for media files and the Storage Access Framework (system file picker) for documents the user chooses. If a dependency adds the permission, remove it from the merged manifest:
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.MANAGE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE" tools:node="remove" />Check before you submit
Upload the APK, AAB or split-APK set (XAPK, APKS, APKM) on the store check page. It runs PLAY-PERMISSION-DECLARATION against the dates on this page, then deletes the file: nothing about the app is kept. The same engine runs offline in the Narvy CLI, and exits with code 1 when a blocker is found, so it can gate a CI job.
narvy store-check app-release.aabFAQ
A library added this permission. Is my app concerned?
Yes. Google reviews the uploaded build, and its merged manifest includes the permissions of every dependency. Remove it with tools:node="remove" if the app does not need it.
Does the store check tell me whether my use is allowed?
No. It detects the permission in the build and tells you a declaration is needed. Whether the use qualifies is Google's review decision.