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Android Safe Browsing is finally live and ready to protect your devices
The feature spotted in October is rolling out now
While you might not think about your vulnerability to security threats when you're doom-scrolling, Google has your Android device’s best interest in mind. To that end, the company has been developing ways to create a safer browsing experience. To protect your Android devices from malware, phishing, and everything in between, Google is debuting a new browsing feature.
Google is getting serious about Android's phishing problems
New features being piloted have financial fraud squarely in their sights
Whether you’ve experienced a phishing scam personally or know a victim, you're surely aware of the extensive damage it can cause. Aside from the emotional impact, your finances can take a hit, depending on how much access the scammer gets to your sensitive information. Google knows how easy it can be to fall for a phishing scam, even if you’re up to speed on new types of online fraud. Now, the company is launching a pilot program in one city, specifically to address the financial fraud impacting Android device owners.
Google will start scanning for Android malware in real time
Having to worry less about what's on your phone is a win in our book
Android is about as open as operating systems get these days. Compared to iOS, which allows very little wiggle room for non-Apple authorized customization, Android users can do almost anything to their phone — for better or worse — with a little bit of tinkering. One of the ways people can utilize the openness of their smartphone is by sideloading apps outside the Google Play Store, which can obviously be a bit dangerous regardless of whether you’re as careful as they come with technology or not. Malware can come in all shapes and sizes, so Google has taken the steps to finally roll out an enhanced version of Google Play Protect, which we mentioned was being worked on last month.
Google Play Protect isn't waiting to scan your apps anymore
Real-time scanning for sideloaded apps at the time of installation
Google Play Protect is well known for scanning many apps — in fact, Android's de facto antivirus tool scans more apps than there are people on Earth every day through its routine checks. Since Google Play Protect became its own app in 2021, many have speculated about what new features might be in store, and it looks like a big one is rolling out soon.
The latest Google Play system update will let you track app installation progress across your devices
Play Protect info gets injected into device privacy settings on Android 13
It's been nearly a year since Google started sharing all the changes bundled in monthly Google Play system updates on Android. We've seen a few of these land already this month, starting off with improvements to the Google Kids Space. Later, Google added new Wear OS features, followed by alerts for compromised passwords. Now we've got a few more to check out, as new Play Store and Play Protect-related features start coming to smartphones near you.
Google splits Play Protect into a dedicated app, but it’s not yet clear what's in store for it
You'll need Android 12 to even install the app
Play Protect has always been a background service as part of the Play Store that helps to keep your phone safe from nefarious apps. It’s been around for several years and scans billions of apps (even the sideloaded ones) every day without you even noticing it, unless it catches a piece of malware and notifies you about it. Google is now breaking out this safety tool from the Play Store and giving it a dedicated app. However, what new capabilities Play Protect has received as part of this change is still up in the air.
Android developer class action suit targets Play Store and its 30% transaction fee
The suit needs approval from federal court
Epic Games is waging legal war against Apple and Google for what it calls the exorbitant 30% revenue share those companies make on every app and in-app purchase. Indeed, every developer finds themselves paying the piper for the privilege of using what may arguably be the only practical commerce platforms of Android and iOS, but they don't usually have the means to file a suit. Now, though, one law firm is attempting to round up the aggrieved with proposed class-action litigation against Google.
Google's Play Protect service, which helps protect you from accidentally sideloading malware, is now blocking the installation of the benchmarking app AnTuTu. Google Chrome is also warning users that navigate to Antutu's official download page that the site contains "harmful apps." This news follows the application's removal from the Play Store earlier this year
Google's Advanced Protection limits sideloading of non-Play Store apps and turns on Play Protect automatically
Some pre-installed OEM app stores will still be accessible
For those most at risk who feel they need the strongest security possible, Google's Advanced Protection program offers the most up-to-date safeguards possible on any Android device. Today, a couple of new features are being announced to further protect users from malware attacks and keep personal information secure.
With recent scam apps incidents in mind, it might look like Google isn't very good at keeping malware and fraud out of the Play Store, but the company is hard at work to allow as little in as possible. It has shared today that thanks to security advancements, it could keep more than 790,000 policy-violating apps from entering the Play Store, and has also prevented more than 1.9 billion malware installs from sources outside of its distribution platform in 2019.
Google has always maintained that its own Play Store security mechanisms were strong enough to keep your devices safe from malware and other bad actors, but this was proven wrong again and again and again. Thus it makes sense that the company has announced the App Defense Alliance, a partnership with ESET, Lookout, and Zimperium that aims to stop bad apps before they can reach anyone's Android devices.
Google Play Protect is just about two years old, as it was introduced at I/O 2017. The tool scans all applications installed on your phone for identified malware— whether they are from the Play Store or from a sideloaded APK. At Google I/O 2019, it was revealed that Play Protect now scans 50 billion applications each day.
The Play Store is a breeding ground for Google's A/B tests. Every couple of days, the app shows different interfaces and options for some users, and it's tough to stay on top of them all. Recently, the Play Store started showing a dedicated Events tab for gaming, rolling out Pixel updates on Android Q, and we know it's working on a Material Design revamp. But there's much more in the works. In the past couple of days, app updates started behaving a little weirdly for some users, with the most important sign being the appearance of simultaneous downloads. We've also spotted a new Play Protect interface, the ability to browse TV shows by networks, and a mysterious internal app sharing toggle. Without further ado...
Security firm Trend Micro has discovered 29 malicious beauty camera apps that aim to phish user traffic and steal your photos. The apps have already been removed by Google from the Play Store, but only after accumulating millions of downloads.
From time to time we come across a story of an app being removed from the Play Store unjustly and the developer getting frustrated with the lack of warning or communication, and more frustratingly, the absence of a valid reason. The case of popular apps Power Shade (500K installs) and Material Notification Shade (1M+ installs) has proven to be a little different though, and possibly more head-scratching than that.
Google's legal troubles in Europe continue as a European Commission court has accepted an injunction filed by alternative app store Aptoide. The antitrust complaint came after Google used Play Protect to warn users that Aptoide was potentially harmful.
Every week, I examine somewhere in the neighborhood of a hundred app updates while looking for changes. The most interesting things turn into APK Teardowns or Download posts. Many of the remaining updates are unremarkable, amounting to a few bug fixes, routine updates to libraries, or even just pixel-level adjustments to layouts and images. However, there are usually a few updates that land somewhere in between. I don't want to spam readers with dozens of short posts, but I hate to ignore things that people might want to know about, so I'm going to wrap up the leftovers for a little weekend reading and call it Update Notes.
Today Google has released its 4th annual so-called "Android security year in review," a number-heavy report meant to demonstrate the improvements made over the last year when it comes to security. And it's not just ego-stroking, Android made great strides during 2017 on the subject. From the launch of Play Protect to increased distribution of security patches, Android as a platform has never been more secure.
At this year's I/O, Google announced Play Protect, a user-facing security screening process for apps on Android phones based on the old Verify Apps. Basically, it scans apps you install, comparing their content against known malware components, and notifies you if any potential risks are found. And it turns out, it's not infallible, as an older "packed" malware package was able to trick it.
Play Protect, the fancy reincarnation of Verify Apps that promises to make app scanning and malware detection more visible to users, has been promised since Google I/O but it took a while for it to start showing up. First, we noticed that the Verify Apps security setting was changed to Play Protect, but that is a buried menu that few people would often run into. Now, the more user-facing aspect is starting to show up in the Play Store.