Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority
TL;DR
- Google is testing a new feature that could let Play Store users pause Play Protect instead of disabling it.
- Many users disable Play Protect while sideloading apps but forget to enable it again, which could result in the installation of malicious apps.
- The change could better protect users against bad apps by automatically turning on Play Protect after a day of being paused.
Google Play Protect performs safety checks on all Android apps before you download them, helping to ensure they are safe to use. However, it may interfere with the installation of apps that aren’t from the Google Play Store or haven’t been verified by the tool. When sideloading apps, many users choose to disable Play Protect to avoid blocking third-party downloads. However, it’s important to re-enable Play Protect afterward. Failing to do so could leave your device vulnerable to malicious apps, especially if attackers use social engineering to trick you into sideloading harmful software in the future. Google seems to be working on a solution that can help fix this user oversight.
An APK teardown helps predict features that may arrive on a service in the future based on work-in-progress code. However, it is possible that such predicted features may not make it to a public release.
An APK investigation of the Google Play Store app version 43.4.23-31 has revealed that Google is working on a feature that will allow users to temporarily pause Play Protect instead of disabling it altogether.
AssembleDebug / Android Authority
When available, users will be able to pause Play Protect for a day, and the security tool will automatically switch on the next day. The screenshot above shows the new setting and the prompt that accompanies it. Interestingly, the prompt also warns that “requests to pause or turn off play protect may be a scam.
The prompt to pause Play Protect will appear when users hit the toggle to turn it off. It’s unclear when the feature will roll out widely, but it should happen soon enough.
