Posted by Suzanne Frey – VP, Product, Belief & Progress for Android & Play
Realizing that you simply’re constructing on a protected, safe ecosystem is important for any app developer. We repeatedly spend money on defending Android and Google Play, so tens of millions of customers all over the world can belief the apps they obtain and you may construct thriving companies. And we’re devoted to repeatedly bettering our developer instruments to make world–class safety even simpler to implement.
Collectively, we’ve made Google Play one of many most secure and most safe platforms for builders and customers. Our partnership over the previous few years consists of serving to you:
At present, we’re excited to share extra about how we’re making it simpler than ever for builders to construct protected apps, whereas additionally persevering with to strengthen our ecosystem’s safety in 2025 and past.
Making it simpler so that you can construct safer apps from the beginning
Google Play’s insurance policies are a vital element of making certain a protected expertise for our shared customers. Play Console pre-review checks are an effective way to resolve sure coverage and compatibility points earlier than you submit your app for overview. We not too long ago added the power to examine privateness coverage hyperlinks and login credential necessities, and we’re launching even extra pre-review checks this yr that can assist you keep away from widespread coverage pitfalls.
That can assist you keep away from coverage issues earlier than you submit apps for overview, we’ve been notifying you earlier about sure insurance policies related to your apps – beginning proper as you code in Android Studio. We at present notify builders by Android Studio about a number of key coverage areas, however this yr we’ll develop to a a lot wider vary of insurance policies.
Offering extra coverage assist
Appearing in your suggestions, we’ve improved our coverage expertise to present you clearer updates, extra time for substantial adjustments, extra versatile necessities whereas nonetheless sustaining security requirements, and extra useful info with stay Q&A’s. Quickly, we’ll be making an attempt a brand new method of speaking with you in Play Console so that you get info if you want it most. This yr, we’re investing in much more methods to get your suggestions, make it easier to perceive our insurance policies, navigate our Coverage Heart, and assist to repair points earlier than app submission by new options in Console and Android Studio.
We’re additionally increasing our widespread Google Play Developer Assist Neighborhood, which noticed 2.7 million visits final yr from builders trying to discover solutions to coverage questions, share data, and join with fellow builders. This yr, we’re planning to develop the neighborhood to incorporate extra languages, resembling Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, and Portuguese.
Defending your small business and customers from scams and assaults
The Play Integrity API is a necessary device to assist shield your small business from abuse resembling fraud, bots, dishonest, and information theft. Builders are already utilizing our new app entry danger function in Play Integrity API to make over 500M each day checks for probably fraudulent or dangerous conduct. Actually, apps that use Play Integrity options to detect suspicious exercise are seeing an 80% drop in unauthorized utilization on common in comparison with different apps.
This yr, we’ll proceed to improve the Play Integrity API with stronger safety for much more customers. We not too long ago improved the know-how that powers the API on all units working Android 13 (API degree 33) and above, making it sooner, extra dependable, and extra personal for customers. We additionally launched enhanced safety indicators that can assist you determine how a lot you belief the atmosphere your app is working in, which we’ll mechanically roll out to all builders who use the API in Could. You’ll be able to decide in now to start out utilizing the improved verdicts right now.
We’ll be including new options later this yr that can assist you take care of rising threats, resembling the power to re-identify abusive and dangerous units in a method that additionally preserves person privateness. We’re additionally constructing extra instruments that can assist you information customers to repair points, like in the event that they want a safety replace or they’re utilizing a tampered model of your app.
Offering extra validation in your app
For apps in choose classes, we provide badges that present an additional layer of validation and join customers with protected, high-quality, and helpful experiences. Constructing on the work of final yr’s “Authorities” badge, which helps customers establish official authorities apps, this yr we launched a “Verified” badge to assist customers uncover VPN apps that take additional steps to show their dedication to safety. We’ll proceed to develop on this and add badges to extra app classes sooner or later.
Partnering to maintain youngsters protected
Whether or not your app is particularly designed for teenagers or just attracts their consideration, there’s an added duty to make sure a protected and trusted expertise. We need to companion with you to maintain youngsters and teenagers protected on-line, and shield their privateness, and empower households. Along with Google Play’s Trainer Authorized program, Households insurance policies, and instruments like Prohibit Declared Minors setting inside the Google Play Console, we’re constructing instruments like Credential Supervisor API, now in Beta for Digital IDs.
Strengthening the Android ecosystem
Along with serving to builders construct stronger, safer apps on Google Play, we stay dedicated to defending the broader Android ecosystem. Final yr, our investments in stronger privateness insurance policies, AI-powered risk detection and different safety measures prevented 2.36 million policy-violating apps from being revealed on Google Play. In contrast, our most up-to-date evaluation discovered over 50 occasions extra Android malware from Web-sideloaded sources (like browsers and messaging apps) than on Google Play. This yr we’re engaged on methods to make it even more durable for malicious actors to cover or trick customers into dangerous installs, which won’t solely shield your small business from fraud but additionally assist customers obtain your apps with confidence.
In the meantime, Google Play Defend is at all times evolving to fight new threats and shield customers from dangerous apps that may result in scams and fraud. As it is a core a part of person security, we’re doing extra to maintain customers from being socially-engineered by scammers to show this off. First, Google Play Defend stay risk detection is increasing its safety to focus on malicious functions that attempt to impersonate monetary apps. And our enhanced monetary fraud safety pilot has continued to develop after a profitable launch in choose international locations the place we noticed malware primarily based monetary fraud coming from Web-sideloaded sources. We’re planning to develop the pilot all through this yr to extra international locations the place we have now seen increased ranges of malware-based monetary fraud.
We’re even working with different leaders throughout the {industry} to guard all customers, it doesn’t matter what machine they use or the place they obtain their apps. As a founding member of the App Protection Alliance, we’re working to ascertain and promote industry-wide safety requirements for cell and net functions, in addition to cloud configurations. Just lately, the ADA launched Software Safety Assessments (ASA) v1.0, which offers clear steering to builders on defending delicate information and defending in opposition to cyber assaults to strengthen person belief.
What’s subsequent
Please preserve the suggestions coming! We respect figuring out what could make our builders’ experiences extra environment friendly whereas making certain we preserve the best requirements in app security. Thanks in your continued partnership in making Android and Google Play a protected, thriving platform for everybody.
