Posted by Suzanne Frey – VP, Product, Belief & Progress for Android & Play
Understanding that you just’re constructing on a secure, safe ecosystem is important for any app developer. We constantly put money into 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 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:
Right now, we’re excited to share extra about how we’re making it simpler than ever for builders to construct secure 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 important element of making certain a secure 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 lately added the power to verify 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 way of Android Studio about a number of key coverage areas, however this yr we’ll broaden to a a lot wider vary of insurance policies.
Offering extra coverage help
Appearing in your suggestions, we’ve improved our coverage expertise to provide you clearer updates, extra time for substantial adjustments, extra versatile necessities whereas nonetheless sustaining security requirements, and extra useful data 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 data while you want it most. This yr, we’re investing in much more methods to get your suggestions, provide help to perceive our insurance policies, navigate our Coverage Middle, and assist to repair points earlier than app submission by way of 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 seeking to discover solutions to coverage questions, share data, and join with fellow builders. This yr, we’re planning to broaden the neighborhood to incorporate extra languages, corresponding to Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, and Portuguese.
Defending what you are promoting and customers from scams and assaults
The Play Integrity API is a necessary instrument to assist shield what you are promoting from abuse corresponding to fraud, bots, dishonest, and information theft. Builders are already utilizing our new app entry threat function in Play Integrity API to make over 500M each day checks for probably fraudulent or dangerous conduct. In actual fact, 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 lately improved the know-how that powers the API on all gadgets operating Android 13 (API stage 33) and above, making it quicker, extra dependable, and extra personal for customers. We additionally launched enhanced safety indicators that can assist you resolve how a lot you belief the setting your app is operating in, which we’ll robotically roll out to all builders who use the API in Might. You possibly can decide in now to begin utilizing the improved verdicts in the present day.
We’ll be including new options later this yr that can assist you take care of rising threats, corresponding to the power to re-identify abusive and dangerous gadgets in a method that additionally preserves consumer 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 on your app
For apps in choose classes, we provide badges that present an additional layer of validation and join customers with secure, high-quality, and helpful experiences. Constructing on the work of final yr’s “Authorities” badge, which helps customers determine official authorities apps, this yr we launched a “Verified” badge to assist customers uncover VPN apps that take additional steps to reveal their dedication to safety. We’ll proceed to broaden on this and add badges to extra app classes sooner or later.
Partnering to maintain youngsters secure
Whether or not your app is particularly designed for youths or just attracts their consideration, there’s an added accountability to make sure a secure and trusted expertise. We wish to accomplice with you to maintain youngsters and youths secure on-line, and shield their privateness, and empower households. Along with Google Play’s Trainer Permitted program, Households insurance policies, and instruments like Limit Declared Minors setting throughout 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 menace 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 tougher for malicious actors to cover or trick customers into dangerous installs, which won’t solely shield what you are promoting from fraud but in addition assist customers obtain your apps with confidence.
In the meantime, Google Play Defend is all the time 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 consumer security, we’re doing extra to maintain customers from being socially-engineered by scammers to show this off. First, Google Play Defend stay menace 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 broaden 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 broaden the pilot all through this yr to extra nations the place we’ve seen greater 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 cellular and net functions, in addition to cloud configurations. Just lately, the ADA launched Utility Safety Assessments (ASA) v1.0, which gives clear steering to builders on defending delicate information and defending towards cyber assaults to strengthen consumer belief.
What’s subsequent
Please preserve the suggestions coming! We recognize realizing what could make our builders’ experiences extra environment friendly whereas making certain we preserve the best requirements in app security. Thanks on your continued partnership in making Android and Google Play a secure, thriving platform for everybody.
