Posted by Suzanne Frey – VP, Product, Belief & Development for Android & Play

Figuring out 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 thousands and thousands of customers world wide 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 the moment, 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 part of making certain a secure expertise for our shared customers. Play Console pre-review checks are a good way to resolve sure coverage and compatibility points earlier than you submit your app for assessment. We lately added the power to test 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 frequent coverage pitfalls.

That can assist you keep away from coverage problems earlier than you submit apps for assessment, we’ve been notifying you earlier about sure insurance policies related to your apps – beginning proper as you code in Android Studio. We at the moment notify builders by means of Android Studio about just a few 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 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 Heart, and assist to repair points earlier than app submission by means of new options in Console and Android Studio.

We’re additionally increasing our standard Google Play Developer Assist Group, 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 neighborhood to incorporate extra languages, comparable to Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, and Portuguese.

Defending your enterprise and customers from scams and assaults

The Play Integrity API is an important instrument to assist defend your enterprise from abuse comparable to fraud, bots, dishonest, and information theft. Builders are already utilizing the APIs to make over 500M every day checks for doubtlessly 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 lately improved the expertise that powers the API on all units operating 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 resolve how a lot you belief the surroundings your app is operating in, which we’ll routinely roll out to all builders who use the API in Could. You’ll be able to decide in now to begin utilizing the improved verdicts at this time.

We’ll be including new options later this yr that can assist you take care of rising threats, comparable to the power to re-identify abusive and dangerous units in a manner 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 further validation to 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 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 youngsters secure

Whether or not your app is particularly designed for teenagers or just attracts their consideration, there may be an added duty to make sure a secure and trusted expertise. We wish to accomplice with you to maintain youngsters and teenagers secure on-line, and defend their privateness, and empower households. Along with Google Play’s Trainer Permitted program, Households insurance policies, and instruments like Prohibit 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 risk detection and different safety measures prevented 2.36 million policy-violating apps from being printed on Google Play. Against this, 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 tougher for malicious actors to cover or trick customers into dangerous installs, which is not going to solely defend your enterprise 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 this can be 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 Shield dwell risk detection is increasing its safety to focus on malicious purposes 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’ve got 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 internet purposes, in addition to cloud configurations. Not too long ago, the ADA launched Software Safety Assessments (ASA) v1.0, which gives clear steerage to builders on defending delicate information and defending in opposition to cyber assaults to strengthen person belief.

What’s subsequent

Please maintain the suggestions coming! We respect understanding what could make our builders’ experiences extra environment friendly whereas making certain we keep the very best requirements in app security. Thanks to your continued partnership in making Android and Google Play a secure, thriving platform for everybody.