Google updated Google Play Protect to better secure Android users from malicious apps

• Google Play Protect helps Android devices stay secure against malicious apps found in the Google Play Store and other third-party app stores.
• Google has announced that Google Play Protect is now enabled by default to secure all Android devices.

Google has made new updates to its Google Play Protect to protect Android users from potentially harmful applications (PHA).

What is Google Play Protect?

Google Play Protect is a feature that helps Android devices stay secure against malicious apps found in the Google Play Store and other third-party app stores. Google Play Protect scans apps on users’ Android devices and warns users about any detected harmful apps.

“Google Play Protect is the technology we use to ensure that any device shipping with the Google Play Store is secured against potentially harmful applications (PHA). It is made up of a giant backend scanning engine to aid our analysts in sourcing and vetting applications made available on the Play Store, and built-in protection that scans apps on users' devices, immobilizing PHA and warning users,” Google said in a blog.

What's new - Google has announced that Google Play Protect is now enabled by default to secure all Android devices.

Google has made Google Play Protect as a default built-in feature of every Android device, instead of users manually enabling the feature. Google Play Protect is now enabled by default and users are notified that Google Play Protect is running. However, users are provided with an option to disable Google Play Protect whenever desired.

By numbers

• Google Play Protect feature protects nearly 2 billion devices in the Android ecosystem per day.
• In 2018, Google released a new feature that warns users when they are installing new apps. This feature warns users over 100,000 times every day.

What to watch for - Google Play Protect has long been able to automatically disable malicious apps on users’ Android devices. However, this feature does not remove an app from users’ device but notifies users about the harmful apps. Notifying users on potentially harmful apps, helps them to stay aware of harmful apps, not open the apps, and remove the apps from the device.

The bottom line - Google Play Protect is an effective security system that protects users’ Android devices and their data from many potentially harmful apps (PHA).