Posted by Suzanne Frey – VP, Product, Belief & Progress for Android & Play
Figuring out that you simply’re constructing on a secure, safe ecosystem is important for any app developer. We constantly spend money on defending Android and Google Play, so hundreds of thousands of customers around the globe 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 contains 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 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 crucial 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 flexibility to verify 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 problems 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 via 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 help
Performing in your suggestions, we’ve improved our coverage expertise to provide you clearer updates, extra time for substantial modifications, extra versatile necessities whereas nonetheless sustaining security requirements, and extra useful data with dwell Q&A’s. Quickly, we’ll be attempting a brand new manner 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, enable you perceive our insurance policies, navigate our Coverage Heart, and assist to repair points earlier than app submission via new options in Console and Android Studio.
We’re additionally increasing our in style Google Play Developer Assist Neighborhood, which noticed 2.7 million visits final yr from builders seeking 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 online business and customers from scams and assaults
The Play Integrity API is a necessary instrument to assist shield your online business from abuse resembling fraud, bots, dishonest, and information theft. Builders are already utilizing the APIs to make over 500M day by day checks for doubtlessly fraudulent or dangerous habits. The truth is, 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 degree 33) and above, making it quicker, extra dependable, and extra personal for customers. We additionally launched enhanced safety indicators that will help you resolve how a lot you belief the atmosphere your app is operating in, which we’ll routinely roll out to all builders who use the API in Could. You may decide in now to begin utilizing the improved verdicts at this time.
We’ll be including new options later this yr that will help you cope with rising threats, resembling the flexibility to re-identify abusive and dangerous gadgets in a manner 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 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 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 increase 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 teenagers or just attracts their consideration, there may be an added accountability to make sure a secure and trusted expertise. We need to associate with you to maintain youngsters and youths secure on-line, and shield their privateness, and empower households. Along with Google Play’s Trainer Accredited 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 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 more durable for malicious actors to cover or trick customers into dangerous installs, which is not going to solely shield your online 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 this can be 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 dwell 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 increase after a profitable launch in choose international locations 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 extra international locations 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 net functions, in addition to cloud configurations. Not too long ago, the ADA launched Utility Safety Assessments (ASA) v1.0, which supplies clear steerage to builders on defending delicate information and defending in opposition to cyber assaults to strengthen consumer belief.
What’s subsequent
Please hold the suggestions coming! We recognize understanding what could make our builders’ experiences extra environment friendly whereas making certain we keep the best requirements in app security. Thanks on your continued partnership in making Android and Google Play a secure, thriving platform for everybody.
