Android is Google's operating system used by billions of devices around the world .
The platform is known for the high level of customization options and overall intuitiveness it offers.
The software is updated frequently by Google, which means new features and improvements are constantly being introduced. While some new features are immediately noticeable, others are definitely more subtle.
On the Android Developers blog, the tech giant recently discussed how it "battled bad apps and malicious developers" last year and reiterated its commitment to making Android a safer ecosystem.
Specifically, the company said it “introduced a series of new policies” in 2018 as part of an effort to combat malicious apps on its platform.
Google said its new actions were responsible for an increase in app submission rejections, the suspension of some others, and the removal of harmful apps.
“In 2018, we introduced a series of new policies to protect users from new abuse trends, identified and removed malicious developers faster, and stopped more malicious apps from entering the Play Store.
“The number of rejected applications increased by more than 55% and we increased application suspensions by more than 66%.
“These increases can be attributed to our continued efforts to strengthen policies to reduce the number of harmful apps on the Play Store, as well as our investments in automated protection and human review processes, which play a critical role in identifying and removing bad apps.”.
Additionally, Google said that its Play Protect system “now scans over 50 billion apps on users’ devices every day, to make sure that apps installed on them don’t behave in harmful ways.”.
The US technology company said the new victory means Android apps downloaded from the Play Store are "eight times less likely" to harm users' devices than those downloaded through other means.
Looking ahead, Google names three areas it will seek to further improve this year:
- Protecting user privacy
- Developer integrity
- Harmful content and behavior in applications
More specifically, Google said it has "improved" its account grouping and matching technologies to prevent malicious developers from returning to the Play Store.
The American tech giant was keen to explain that when some developers are banned, they often create new accounts or buy them on the "black market" in an attempt to make another appearance in the Android store.
Finally, he said that 80 percent of “serious policy violations” are committed by “repeat offenders.”.
While Google's latest victory certainly doesn't mean Android is free of malware, it does appear to provide its users with increased security overall.
