Google Play Protect is getting a new feature called live threat detection. It can analyse app behaviour in real-time and then warn you if something seems suspicious.
The feature, unveiled at Google’s I/O developer conference earlier this year, is now available for the following phones right now:
Basically, any Pixel phone released since October 2021 is compatible. If you own one of them, check and download any software updates. If you don’t see anything there, it might be already installed on your device.
However, the feature won’t remain exclusive to Google phones for long. As The Verge reports, it’s expected to be available on phones from OnePlus, Lenovo (Motorola), Nothing, Oppo and others “in the coming months”.
Live threat detection is designed to identify hard-to-detect malicious apps that are hiding their intentions. Instead of just scanning apps upon download, Play Protect continues to monitor the apps’ behaviour on the phone, making it possible to detect malware that may be inactive to begin with.
This happens directly on the device through Android’s Private Compute Core, which protects user data. Users then receive immediate alerts if action is needed.
The same phones will also benefit from AI-based scam call detection, which analyses your phone calls and notifies you if it thinks the caller was a scammer. It’s currently in beta ahead of a full release, and will also come to other handsets at a later date.
This article originally appeared on our sister publication M3 and was translated and adapted from Swedish.
