All news with #google play protect 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.

Android droppers now pushing SMS stealers and spyware

🛡️ Security researchers warn that Android dropper apps are increasingly used to deliver not only banking trojans but also SMS stealers, spyware and lightweight payloads. According to ThreatFabric, attackers in India and parts of Asia are packaging payloads behind benign "update" screens to evade targeted Play Protect Pilot Program checks, fetching and installing the real payload only after user interaction. Google says it found no such apps on Play and continues to expand protections, while Bitdefender links malvertising campaigns to Brokewell distribution.