Google is doing everything it can to make Android OS more secure for its users. In the past few months, Google Play Protect has been updated with new features to protect users from scammers. Guess what? Google is at it again. This time, it is updating Google Play Protect to automatically revoke app permissions for potentially harmful apps.
Google Play Protect will automatically revoke app permissions for harmful Android apps
In today’s Security Blog, Google mentions that the new feature will prevent malicious apps from accessing user data, including phone storage, photos, cameras, and more. The company says that you can always restore the permissions for such apps. However, Google will still ask you to confirm your decision for “added security.”
It’s important to note that Google Play Protect will scan all the apps you’ve installed on your phone. This includes apps that you may have sideloaded from third-party websites. Since the probability of sideloaded apps carrying malware is always high, it’s actually a good thing for you. During the scan, if Google Play Protect suspects that the installed app is harmful, it will notify you to uninstall it.
It’ll further warn you to remove any app you downloaded from the Google Play Store if flagged as harmful. Not to forget, Play Protect can automatically reset app permissions for apps that you haven’t used in a long time. If such apps turn out to be harmful, it can also disable or block them automatically.
New safety features have been constantly rolled out in the past
But, what if you have disabled Google Play Protect? In such a case, it will display notifications on Chrome and your Android device suggesting you reenable it. This way Google Play Protect can always keep you safe from harmful apps.
Speaking of new safety features, Google recently added a new verification badge for VPNs, letting users know that they meet its security standards. In a similar effort to tackle scammers and malicious apps, Google also recently added a live threat detection feature for voice calls on the Pixel phones.
