Google Rolls Out App Access Risk Feature to Keep Users Safe From Dangerous Apps: Report

Developers can now protect users from applications that might record a user's screen or control their smartphone while using sensitive applications.

Written by David Delima | Updated: 11 September 2024 16:01 IST

Google Rolls Out App Access Risk Feature to Keep Users Safe From Dangerous Apps: Report

Photo Credit: Unsplash/ Mika Baumeister

Only approved accessibility apps from the Play Store won't be flagged by the feature

Highlights

Google will help developers warn users about risky apps on their phones
These apps must be closed while using apps that deal with sensitive data
Google will not inform developers about apps detected on a user's device

Google now offers developers access to a new feature that could help them protect user data from dangerous applications. The company's Play Integrity API has been updated with a feature called app access risk that can verify whether a user has installed apps that could capture the contents of a user's screen or control device actions, then prompt the user to close those applications. This could protect users from malicious apps that are used to record a user's screen while using sensitive applications.

The company has updated its Play Integrity API with support for the new app access functionality that was showcased at Google I/O 2024. The updated documentation for the API (via Android Authority) explains that developers will be able to request information about a user's smartphone, including applications that can be used to "capture the screen, display overlays, or control the device" or whether Play Protect "has found risky or dangerous apps installed on the device."

Users will be prompted to close risky applications
Photo Credit: Google

If the Play Integrity API detects an application that is either unknown to Google Play Protect or a known app that is capable of recording the screen or controlling the device, the developer can use this information to display a prompt asking users to close the application, in order to continue.

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Not all apps that meet the above-mentioned criteria will trigger the new app access risk prompt. Accessibility apps that have been vetted by Google will reportedly be allowed to run even when apps with sensitive information are opened, according to the report.

The app access risk feature, which is part of the Play Integrity API, will handle the process of listing the apps and prompting the users to close them, preventing developers who use the app access risk feature from collecting information about apps detected on a smartphone.

While the feature is currently in public beta, some developers have already added support for the functionality, according to the report. The feature could help protect users who might have already been duped into installing malicious apps that can record the contents of their screen while using banking or payment apps.

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Further reading: Google Play, Android

David Delima

Email David Delima

As a writer on technology with Gadgets 360, David Delima is interested in open-source technology, cybersecurity, consumer privacy, and loves to read and write about how the Internet works. David can be contacted via email at DavidD@ndtv.com, on Twitter at @DxDavey, and Mastodon at mstdn.social/@delima. More