Google has taken significant strides in enhancing the security of its Android ecosystem, as evidenced by its recent annual review of Android and Google Play security. The tech giant reported that, through 2025, it successfully blocked over 255,000 Android apps from gaining excessive access to sensitive user data. Additionally, more than 1.75 million apps were rejected from publication on Google Play due to various policy violations.
Strengthening App Security
The review highlights the effectiveness of Google’s ongoing efforts to maintain a safe environment for both developers and users. “We’re constantly improving our policies and protections to encourage safe, high-quality apps on Google Play and stop bad actors before they cause harm,” a Google spokesperson stated.
To bolster these protective measures, Google implemented over 10,000 safety checks on published apps. The integration of the latest generative AI models into the review process has significantly enhanced detection capabilities, allowing human reviewers to identify complex and evolving malicious patterns with greater speed and accuracy.
- Banning over 80,000 “bad developer accounts.”
- Detecting more than 1.75 million policy-violating apps.
- Denying access to sensitive user data for over 255,000 apps.
In addition to these measures, Google tackled the issue of spam ratings and inauthentic reviews, which pose a considerable risk to user perception of apps. Last year, the company blocked an impressive 160 million ratings, effectively preventing an average 0.5-star drop that apps targeted by “review bombing” would have otherwise experienced.
Play Protect and Enhanced Fraud Protection
Google’s Play Protect, a built-in security suite, now scans over 350 billion apps daily and has identified over 27 million malicious apps that were sideloaded from outside Google Play. The service’s ‘enhanced fraud protection’ has been expanded to cover more than 2.8 billion Android devices across 185 markets, successfully blocking 266 million installation attempts from 872,000 unique risky apps.
The Play Integrity API service, designed to help app developers safeguard their software against abuse and unauthorized access, processes over 20 billion checks each day. In 2025, new hardware-backed signals and in-app remediation prompts were introduced to further strengthen this service.
Moreover, Google has incorporated built-in protections against “tapjacking attacks” in Android 16, released last June. This feature requires minimal effort from developers while effectively blocking hidden windows that load ads, which are automatically tapped for fraudulent financial gains.
Looking ahead, Google remains committed to investing in AI-driven defenses, expanding developer verification processes, and embedding compliance tools directly into development workflows. These initiatives aim to prevent policy violations before apps reach the publication stage, ensuring a safer and more reliable Google Play experience for all users.
