Millions of apps were rejected from Google Play in 2024, and for good reason

Google is strict about the security of its Play Store, and in 2024, it blocked more malicious Android apps than ever that violated its policies and posed security risks.

In a recent security blog post, Google detailed how its AI-powered threat detection tools helped prevent 2.36 million harmful apps from being published on the Play Store, an increase from 2023’s 2.28 million and 2022’s 1.5 million. Google also blocked 158,000 developers who attempted to publish harmful apps. It’s not just AI doing all the work, either — humans are still involved.

“Today, over 92% of our human reviews for harmful apps are AI-assisted, allowing us to take quicker and more accurate action to help prevent harmful apps from becoming available on Google Play,” Google said in a blog post. “That’s enabled us to stop more bad apps than ever from reaching users through the Play Store, protecting users from harmful or malicious apps before they can cause any damage.”

Related

You can get the Google Play store on most devices — except for this popular brand

Google Play Store can give you so much, but you need to have a specific kind of device to reap the benefits.

Google is taking more steps to protect sensitive data

The tech giant is also automatically revoking app permissions from harmful apps

Google / Pocket-lint

Google also outlined how it is working with developers to reduce the amount of sensitive data apps need to access. The tech giant said that in 2024, it prevented 1.3 million apps “from getting excessive, unnecessary access to sensitive user data.” Typically, an app that requests overly demanding user data permissions is a red flag to Google.

Google’s Play Protect service now automatically revokes permissions from Android apps that potentially pose a threat also. This means Play Protect could cut off an app’s permissions to access sensitive data like your storage and photos. Users can restore the permissions if they think the app is safe.

Google also recently added badges to specific apps like VPNs and official government services. If you’re going to download an app from your local government, it should be marked with a government badge that reads, “Play Verified this app is affiliated with a government entity.” The same goes for VPNs, which now have a “Verified” badge to indicate it is safe to use. Google is taking many steps to protect Android users, and based on the numbers it presented in its report and its actions, it is paying off.

Related

Google’s Pixel 9a could cost more than expected

The Pixel 9a is expected to launch soon, but one model may have a slight price increase.