Summary
- Google Play Protect scans Android for malware in real time, but can sometimes miss infected apps.
- Android 15 could offer a new way to protect devices from misbehaving apps by quarantining them.
- The security measure places quarantined apps in silent mode, limiting their activities and interactions with other apps.
Android users get protection against malware with Google Play Protect, which now even scans for malware in real time. However, it is not uncommon to occasionally miss a malware-infected app. It’s a good thing that Android 15 can offer users a new way to protect their devices from misbehaving apps. In the meantime, you can also pay attention to the Independent Security Review badge, which lets you know that an app meets industry-wide security and privacy standards.
Google wants to make it easier for you to identify secure apps from the Play Store
A badge will mark apps that meet industry-wide security and privacy standards.
In a report for Android Authority, AOSP code expert Mishaal Rahman explains that Android 15 may offer users a new way to keep misbehaving apps under control by quarantining them. There is no way for users to quarantine apps manually, even if they use the command line, but the security measure appears to be designed more as an automated half-step between outright deletion and The current approach is that the system does nothing without sufficiently strong evidence. of abuse on the part of the application.
Quarantined apps will still be visible on the Home screen and in Settings, but notifications will not be visible, all app activity will be stopped, and all active windows will be hidden. And the restrictions continue, as the app is unable to ring the device, its services cannot be called by other apps, and it cannot receive broadcasts from other apps or the system.
Source: Android Authority
New permissions make this possible, but the Play Store isn’t using them yet
Quarantined apps will behave the same as disabled apps and the same APIs are used, except that an additional flag is passed. Using the SUSPEND_APPS permission, misbehaving apps are quarantined. But a recent update revealed that the latest QUARANTINE_APPS permission is also involved. Only the System Checker, set at the operating system level, will be able to access this permission, which effectively means that the Google Play Store will be the only app with the power to quarantine other apps.
Code for the App Quarantine feature was first spotted in Android 14 QPR2 Beta 1 late last year, but there’s no confirmation of when the feature will reach all Android users. Android. It is plausible that the feature is not available on Android 15, but on later versions, as the Google Play Store or Google Play Services currently does not ask for the necessary permission.
This security measure seems to be a step in the right direction, since Google Play still needs to improve in other areas. Time will tell what other security measures Google will take to keep your Android device safe.
