Posted by Suzanne Frey – VP, Product, Belief & Progress for Android & Play
Understanding that you just’re constructing on a protected, safe ecosystem is important for any app developer. We constantly put money into defending Android and Google Play, so tens of millions of customers around the globe can belief the apps they obtain and you’ll construct thriving companies. And we’re devoted to repeatedly enhancing 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 this time, 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 crucial part 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 evaluation. We not too long ago added the power to test privateness coverage hyperlinks and login credential necessities, and we’re launching even extra pre-review checks this yr that will help you keep away from frequent coverage pitfalls.
That will help you keep away from coverage issues earlier than you submit apps for evaluation, we’ve been notifying you earlier about sure insurance policies related to your apps – beginning proper as you code in Android Studio. We presently notify builders by Android Studio about a couple of key coverage areas, however this yr we’ll increase to a a lot wider vary of insurance policies.
Offering extra coverage assist
Appearing in your suggestions, we’ve improved our coverage expertise to offer you clearer updates, extra time for substantial modifications, extra versatile necessities whereas nonetheless sustaining security requirements, and extra useful data with reside Q&A’s. Quickly, we’ll be making an attempt a brand new approach of speaking with you in Play Console so that you get data whenever you want it most. This yr, we’re investing in much more methods to get your suggestions, assist you perceive our insurance policies, navigate our Coverage Middle, and assist to repair points earlier than app submission by new options in Console and Android Studio.
We’re additionally increasing our fashionable Google Play Developer Assist Group, which noticed 2.7 million visits final yr from builders trying to discover solutions to coverage questions, share information, and join with fellow builders. This yr, we’re planning to increase the group to incorporate extra languages, resembling Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, and Portuguese.
Defending your corporation and customers from scams and assaults
The Play Integrity API is an important device to assist defend your corporation from abuse resembling fraud, bots, dishonest, and knowledge theft. Builders are already utilizing the APIs to make over 500M every day checks for doubtlessly fraudulent or dangerous conduct. In truth, 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 expertise that powers the API on all units working Android 13 (API stage 33) and above, making it quicker, extra dependable, and extra non-public for customers. We additionally launched enhanced safety alerts that will help you determine how a lot you belief the setting your app is working in, which we’ll mechanically roll out to all builders who use the API in Could. You may choose in now to begin utilizing the improved verdicts at present.
We’ll be including new options later this yr that will help you cope with rising threats, resembling the power to re-identify abusive and dangerous units in a approach that additionally preserves consumer privateness. We’re additionally constructing extra instruments that will help 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 further 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 exhibit their dedication to safety. We’ll proceed to increase on this and add badges to extra app classes sooner or later.
Partnering to maintain children 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 wish to associate with you to maintain children and teenagers protected on-line, and defend their privateness, and empower households. Along with Google Play’s Trainer Authorised program, Households insurance policies, and instruments like Limit 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 instances 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 is not going to solely defend your corporation from fraud but in addition assist customers obtain your apps with confidence.
In the meantime, Google Play Shield is at all times evolving to fight new threats and defend customers from dangerous apps that may result in scams and fraud. As it is a core a part of consumer security, we’re doing extra to maintain customers from being socially-engineered by scammers to show this off. First, Google Play Shield reside 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 increase after a profitable launch in choose nations the place we noticed malware based mostly monetary fraud coming from Web-sideloaded sources. We’re planning to increase the pilot all through this yr to further nations the place we now have 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 system they use or the place they obtain their apps. As a founding member of the App Protection Alliance, we’re working to determine and promote industry-wide safety requirements for cellular and internet functions, in addition to cloud configurations. Lately, the ADA launched Utility Safety Assessments (ASA) v1.0, which gives clear steering to builders on defending delicate knowledge and defending in opposition to cyber assaults to strengthen consumer belief.
What’s subsequent
Please hold the suggestions coming! We respect figuring out what could make our builders’ experiences extra environment friendly whereas making certain we keep the very best requirements in app security. Thanks in your continued partnership in making Android and Google Play a protected, thriving platform for everybody.
