All news with #google play tag

Google to Flag Android Apps for Excessive Battery Use

🔋 Google will begin flagging Android apps on Google Play that show high background activity and cause excessive battery drain. The change centers on a new Android Vitals metric called excessive partial wake locks, and apps that cross the bad-behavior threshold may be labeled as battery drainers and lose prominence in discovery surfaces. Developers will receive alerts in their Android Vitals dashboard and have until March 1, 2026 to remediate issues.

Malicious Android Apps on Google Play Reach 42M Downloads

🔒 A Zscaler report found 239 malicious Android apps on Google Play that were downloaded a combined 42 million times between June 2024 and May 2025, driven largely by adware, spyware, and banking trojans. Telemetry shows a 67% year-over-year increase in mobile-targeted malware, with adware now comprising roughly 69% of detections and spyware up 220% YoY. Zscaler highlights evolving strains such as Anatsa, Android Void, and Xnotice, and advises timely updates, strict app permissions, disabling unnecessary Accessibility access, and regular Play Protect scans.

Google Removes 224 Android Apps in Large SlopAds Fraud

🚨 Researchers at HUMAN disrupted a global Android ad-fraud operation dubbed "SlopAds" that used 224 malicious apps on Google Play to generate roughly 2.3 billion ad bid requests per day. The apps, downloaded over 38 million times across 228 countries, used obfuscation and steganography to hide a malicious FatModule payload assembled from PNG images. The campaign used Firebase Remote Config and hidden WebViews to deliver continuous fraudulent ad impressions and clicks; Google has removed the identified apps and updated Google Play Protect to warn affected users.