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Archived Web Articles Add Article

Google to pay $700 million to settle a lawsuit over how it runs its app store

Dec 19 2023

Google Play Pass bundles 350 Android games and apps for $4.99 per month

Sep 23 2019

Spyware backdoor prompts Google to pull 500 apps with >100m downloads

Aug 22 2017

Google is using machine learning to sort good apps from bad on the Play Store

Jul 12 2017

'Secure' apps in Google's Play Store are a crapshoot

Oct 14 2016

Google takes on Game Center with Google Play Games for Android

Jul 24 2013

Google Play Hits 1 Million Apps

Jul 24 2013

Google Play hits 600,000 apps, 20 billion total installs

Jun 27 2012

Google Introduces in-App Subscriptions for Android

May 24 2012

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Catalog content

Android applications

Further information: Android (operating system)

By 2017, Google Play featured more than 3.5 million Android applications.⁴⁵ After Google purged a lot of apps from the Google Play Store, the number of apps has risen back to over 3 million Android applications. As of 2017, developers in more than 150 locations could distribute apps on Google Play, though not every location supports merchant registration. Developers receive 85% of the application price, while the remaining 15% goes to the distribution partner and operating fees. Developers can set up sales, with the original price struck out and a banner underneath informing users when the sale ends.⁶⁷ Google Play allows developers to release early versions of apps to a select group of users, as alpha or beta tests.⁸ Users can pre-order select apps (as well as movies, music, books, and games) to have the items delivered as soon as they are available.⁹ Some network carriers offer billing for Google Play purchases, allowing users to opt for charges in the monthly phone bill rather than on credit cards.¹⁰ Users can request refunds within 48 hours after a purchase.¹¹

Games

Main article: Google Play Games

At the Google I/O 2013 Developer Conference, Google announced the introduction of Google Play Games.¹² Google Play Games is an online gaming service for Android that features real-time multiplayer gaming capabilities, cloud saves, social and public leaderboards, and achievements. Its standalone mobile app was launched on July 24, 2013.¹³

Books

Main article: Google Play Books

Google Play Books is an ebook digital distribution service. Google Play offers over five million ebooks available for purchase,¹⁴ and users can also upload up to 1,000 of their own ebooks in the form of PDF or EPUB file formats.¹⁵ As of January 2017[update], Google Play Books is available in 75 countries.¹⁶

Movies and TV shows

Main article: Google TV (service)

Google Play Movies & TV was a video on demand service offering movies and television shows available for purchase or rental, depending on availability.¹⁷

As of January 2017[update], movies are available in over 110 countries, while TV shows are available only in Australia, Austria, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Switzerland, the United States and the United Kingdom.¹⁸

In October 2020, Google Play Movies & TV was renamed Google TV.

Google announced on March 22, 2022, that Google Play will remove Play Movies & TV from their store and will be moved to Google TV by May 2022.¹⁹

Play Pass

Main article: Google Play Pass

On September 23, 2019, Google launched its Google Play Pass games and apps subscription service in the US.²⁰²¹ As of September 2019, subscribers could access the games and apps without ads and in-app purchases. The program is invitation-only for app developers, who then can integrate the service into their existing apps.²²

Device updates

Google introduced Project Mainline in Android 10, allowing core OS components to be updated via the Google Play Store, without requiring a complete system update.²³²⁴

Android 10 supports updates for core OS components including:

• Security: Media Codecs, Media Framework Components, DNS Resolver, Conscrypt
• Privacy: Documents UI, Permission Controller, ExtServices
• Consistency: Time zone data, ANGLE (developers opt-in), Module Metadata, Networking components, Captive Portal Login, Network Permission Configuration²⁵

On December 4, 2019, Qualcomm announced their Snapdragon 865 supports GPU drivers updated via the Google Play Store. This feature was initially introduced with Android Oreo but vendors had not added support yet.²⁶

Teacher Approved

In 2020, Google launched a new children-focused 'Teacher Approved' section for the Google Play Store. Apps marked as 'Teacher Approved' meet higher standards approved for educational purposes.²⁷²⁸

History

Google Play (previously styled Google play) originated from three distinct products: Android Market, Google Music and Google Books, (formerly Google eBookstore).²⁹

Apps

Android Market was announced by Google on August 28, 2008,³⁰³¹ and was made available to users on October 22.³²³³ In December 2010, content filtering was added to Android Market, each app's details page started showing a promotional graphic at the top, and the maximum size of an app was raised from 25 megabytes to 50 megabytes.³⁴³⁵³⁶ The Google eBookstore was launched on December 6, 2010, debuting with three million ebooks, making it "the largest ebooks collection in the world".³⁷ In January 2011 Google eBookstore was rebranded as Google Books. In November 2011, Google announced Google Music, a section of the Google Play Store offering music purchases.³⁸³⁹ In March 2012, Google increased the maximum allowed size of an app by allowing developers to attach two expansion files to an app's basic download; each expansion file with a maximum size of 2 gigabytes, giving app developers a total of 4 gigabytes.⁴⁰⁴¹ Also in March 2012, Android Market was re-branded as Google Play.⁴²⁴³⁴⁴

The Google Play Store, including all Android apps, came to ChromeOS in September 2016.⁴⁵⁴⁶

In May 2021, Google Play announced plans to implement a new section with privacy information for all applications in its storefront. The project is similar to App Store's privacy labels and is expected to be released in full in the first half of 2022. The feature will show users what kind of information each app collects, whether the data it stores is encrypted and whether users can opt out of being tracked by the application.⁴⁷

In December 2023, Google agreed to pay $700 million, mostly to its customers, to resolve complaints of anti-competitive behavior from U.S. states.⁴⁸ Google also agreed to give users the option to pay through another party other than Google at download time, and make it easier to download apps from web sites directly.⁴⁹ Google Play has until March 6, 2024, to comply with the new Digital Markets Act in the European Union.

Music

Main article: Google Play Music

Google Play Music was a music and podcast Streaming media and online music locker. It features over 40 million songs,⁵⁰ and gives users free cloud storage of up to 50,000 songs.⁵¹

As of May 2017[update], Google Play Music was available in 64 countries.⁵²

In June 2018, Google announced plans to shut down Play Music by 2020 and offered users to migrate to YouTube Music, migration to Google Podcasts was announced in May 2020.⁵³⁵⁴ In October 2020, the music store for Google Play Music was shut down.⁵⁵ Google Play Music was shut down in December 2020 and was replaced by YouTube Music and Google Podcasts.⁵⁶

News publications and magazines

Main article: Google Play Newsstand

Google Play Newsstand was a news aggregator and digital newsstand service offering subscriptions to digital magazines and topical news feeds.⁵⁷ Google released Newsstand in November 2013, combining the features of Google Play Magazines and Google Currents into a single product.⁵⁸

As of January 2017[update], the basic Newsstand service, was available worldwide. As of 2017, paid Newsstand content was available in more than 35 countries.

On May 15, 2018, the mobile app merged with Google News & Weather to form Google News. The Newsstand section continued to appear on the Google Play website until November 5, 2018, but now is only available through the Google News app.⁵⁹

Devices

Main article: Google Store

Until March 2015, Google Play had a "Devices" section for users to purchase Google Nexus devices, Chromebooks, Chromecasts, other Google-branded hardware, and accessories. A separate online hardware retailer called the Google Store was introduced on March 11, 2015, replacing the Devices section of Google Play.⁶⁰⁶¹

User interface

"Google Play Console" redirects here; not to be confused with Google Search Console or Google Stadia.

Apart from searching for content by name, apps can also be searched through keywords provided by the developer.⁶² When searching for apps, users can press on suggested search filters, helping them to find apps matching the determined filters.⁶³ For app discoverability, Google Play Store consists of lists featuring top apps in each category, including "Top Free", a list of the most popular free apps of all time; "Top Paid", a list of the most popular paid apps of all time; "Top Grossing", a list of apps generating the highest amounts of revenue; "Trending Apps", a list of apps with recent installation growth; "Top New Free", a list of the most popular new free apps; "Top New Paid", a list of the most popular new paid apps; "Featured", a list of new apps selected by the Google Play team; "Staff Picks", a frequently updated list of apps selected by the Google Play team; "Editors' Choice", a list of apps considered the best of all time; and "Top Developer", a list of apps made by developers considered the best.⁶⁴ In March 2017, Google added a "Free App of the Week" section, offering one normally paid app for free.⁶⁵⁶⁶ In July 2017, Google expanded its "Editors' Choice" section to feature curated lists of apps deemed to provide good Android experiences within overall themes, such as fitness, video calling, and puzzle games.⁶⁷⁶⁸

Google Play enables users to know the popularity of apps by displaying the number of times the app has been downloaded. The download count is a color-coded badge, with special color designations for surpassing certain app download milestones, including grey for 100, 500, 1,000, and 5,000 downloads, blue for 10,000 and 50,000 downloads, green for 100,000 and 500,000 downloads, and red/orange for 1 million, 5 million, 10 million, and 1 billion downloads.⁶⁹⁷⁰

Users can submit reviews and ratings for apps and digital content distributed through Google Play, which are displayed publicly. Ratings are based on a 5-point scale. App developers can respond to reviews⁷¹ using the Google Play Console.⁷²

Design

Google has redesigned Google Play's interface on several occasions. In February 2011, Google introduced a website interface for the then-named Android Market that provides access through a computer.⁷³ Applications purchased are downloaded and installed on an Android device remotely, with a "My Market Account" section letting users give their devices a nickname for easy recognition.⁷⁴ In May 2011, Google added new application lists to Android Market, including "Top Paid", "Top Free", "Editor's Choice", "Top Grossing", "Top Developers", and "Trending".⁷⁵⁷⁶ In July, Google introduced an interface with a focus on featured content, more search filters, and (in the US) book sales and movie rentals.⁷⁷

In May 2013, a redesign to the website interface matched the then-recently redesigned Android app.⁷⁸ In July 2014, the Google Play Store Android app added new headers to the Books/Movies sections, a new Additional Information screen offering a list featuring the latest available app version, installed size, and content rating, and simplified the app permissions prompt into overview categories.⁷⁹ A few days later, it got a redesign consistent with the then-new Material Design design language,⁸⁰⁸¹ and the app was again updated in October 2015 to feature new animations, divide up the content into "Apps and Games" and "Entertainment" sections, as well as added support for languages read right-to-left.⁸²⁸³⁸⁴

In April 2016, Google announced a redesign of all the icons used for its suite of Play apps, adding a similar style and consistent look.⁸⁵⁸⁶ In May 2017, Google removed the shopping bag from the Google Play icon, with only the triangle and associated colors remaining.⁸⁷⁸⁸ In March 2018, Google experimented by changing the format of the screenshots used for the App pages from the WebP format to PNG but reverted the change after it caused the images to load more slowly. The update also saw small UI tweaks to the Google Play Store site with the reviews section now opening to a dedicated page and larger images in the light box viewer.⁸⁹⁹⁰

In July 2022, Google announced a new logo for the Google Play Store that is more uniform in color with other Google services.⁹¹

Google Play Instant Apps

Launched in 2017, Google Play Instant, also known as Google Instant Apps, allows a user to use an app or game without installing it first.⁹²⁹³

App monetization

Google states in its Developer Policy Center that "Google Play supports a variety of monetization strategies to benefit developers and users, including paid distribution, in-app products, subscriptions, and ad-based models", and requires developers to comply with the policies in order to "ensure the best user experience". It requires that developers charging for apps and downloads through Google Play must use Google Play's payment system. In-app purchases unlocking additional app functionality must also use the Google Play payment system, except in cases where the purchase "is solely for physical products" or "is for digital content that may be consumed outside of the app itself (e.g. songs that can be played on other music players)."⁹⁴ Support for paid applications was introduced on February 13, 2009, for developers in the United States and the United Kingdom,⁹⁵ with support expanded to an additional 29 countries on September 30, 2010.⁹⁶ The in-app billing system was originally introduced in March 2011.⁹⁷ All developers on Google Play are required to feature a physical address on the app's page in Google Play, a requirement established in September 2014.⁹⁸

In February 2017, Google announced that it would let developers set sales for their apps, with the original price struck out and a banner underneath informing users when the sale ends. Google also announced that it had made changes to its algorithms to promote games based on user engagement and not just downloads. Finally, it announced new editorial pages for what it considers "optimal gaming experiences on Android", further promoting and curating games.^99100101

Payment methods

Google allows users to purchase content with credit or debit cards, carrier billing, gift cards, or through PayPal.¹⁰² Google began rolling out carrier billing for purchases in May 2012,¹⁰³¹⁰⁴ followed by support for PayPal in May 2014.¹⁰⁵¹⁰⁶

On July 31, 2023, Hong Kong and Macau added support for China UnionPay cards, and users can bind UnionPay cards through the Play Store app.¹⁰⁷

Gift cards

The rumor of Google Play gift cards started circulating online in August 2012 after references to it were discovered by Android Police in the 3.8.15 version update of the Google Play Store Android app.¹⁰⁸ Soon after, images of the gift cards started to leak,¹⁰⁹ and on August 21, 2012, they were made official by Google and rolled out over the next few weeks.¹¹⁰¹¹¹

As of August 2024, Google Play gift cards are available in the following countries: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Vietnam.¹¹²

Starting from June 2021, Google began enforcing region-locking by preventing users from redeeming gift cards of other countries despite usage of VPNs, based on location history tracking and device fingerprint activity data associated with a user's Google account usage history.¹¹³¹¹⁴

Subscriptions

Google introduced in-app subscriptions to Google Play in May 2012.¹¹⁵¹¹⁶ In June 2016, some sources reported that Google announced that subscriptions charged through Google Play would now split the revenue 85/15, where developers receive 85% of revenue and Google takes 15%, a change from the traditional 70/30 split in years prior. The move followed Apple's then-recently announced change of the same model, although commentators were quick to point out that while Apple grants the 85/15 revenue share after one year of active subscriptions, Google's subscription change takes effect immediately.^117118119 As of January 1, 2018, the transaction fee for subscription products decreased to 15% for any subscribers developers retain after 12 paid months,¹²⁰ establishing that, unlike what sources were reporting, Google is using the same model as Apple with in-app subscriptions on the App Store.

Google has deals with some companies to pay less fees than the rest of Android app developers.¹²¹

Google Play Store on Android

Google Play Store, shortened to Play Store on the Home screen and App screen, is Google's official pre-installed app store on Android-certified devices. It provides access to content on Google Play, including apps, books, magazines, music, movies, and television programs.¹²² Devices do not ship with the Google Play Store in China, with manufacturers offering their own alternative.¹²³

Google Play Store filters the list of apps to those compatible with the user's device. Developers can target specific hardware components (such as compass), software components (such as widget), and Android versions (such as 7.0 Nougat).¹²⁴ Carriers can also ban certain apps from being installed on users' devices, for example tethering applications.¹²⁵

There is no requirement that Android applications be acquired using the Google Play Store. Users may download Android applications from a developer's website or through a third-party app store alternative.¹²⁶ Google Play Store applications are self-contained Android Package files (APK), similar to .exe files used to install programs on Microsoft Windows computers.¹²⁷ On Android devices, an "Unknown sources" feature in Settings allows users to bypass the Google Play Store and install APKs from other sources.¹²⁸ Depending on developer preferences, some apps can be installed to a phone's external storage card.¹²⁹

In 2020, Google decided to rewrite the Play Store app's UI code using Jetpack Compose, which was in pre-alpha at the time. It stated that the "existing code was 10+ years old and had incurred tremendous tech debt over countless Android platform releases and feature updates."¹³⁰

Installation history

The Google Play Store app features a history of all installed apps. Users can remove apps from the list, with the changes also synchronizing to the Google Play website interface, where the option to remove apps from the history does not exist.¹³¹

Compatibility

Google publishes the source code for Android through its "Android Open Source Project", allowing enthusiasts and developers to program and distribute their own modified versions of the operating system. However, not all these modified versions are compatible with apps developed for Google's official Android versions. The "Android Compatibility Program" serves to "define a baseline implementation of Android that is compatible with third-party apps written by developers". Only Android devices that comply with Google's compatibility requirements may install and access the Google Play Store application. As stated in a help page for the Android Open Source Project, "Devices that are "Android compatible" may participate in the Android ecosystem, including Android Market; devices that don't meet the compatibility requirements exist outside that ecosystem. In other words, the Android Compatibility Program is how we separate "Android compatible devices" from devices that merely run derivatives of the source code. We welcome all uses of the Android source code, but only Android compatible devices—as defined and tested by the Android Compatibility Program—may participate in the Android ecosystem."¹³²

Since August 2019, all new and updated Google Play apps must have 64-bit binaries, with some exceptions. Since August 2021, Google Play will not serve apps that only have 32-bit binaries to devices compatible with 64-bit apps. This requirement does not apply to Android TV or Wear OS apps.¹³³¹³⁴

Google Play Services

Main article: Google Play Services

In 2012, Google began decoupling certain aspects of its Android operating system (particularly its core applications) so they could be updated through the Google Play store independently of the OS. One of those components, Google Play Services, is a closed-source system-level process providing APIs for Google services, installed automatically on nearly all devices running Android 2.2 "Froyo" and higher. With these changes, Google can add new system functionality through Play Services and update apps without having to distribute an upgrade to the operating system itself.¹³⁵ As a result, Android 4.2 and 4.3 "Jelly Bean" contained relatively fewer user-facing changes, focusing more on minor changes and platform improvements.¹³⁶

History of app growth

Google Play Awards and yearly lists

In April 2016, Google announced the Google Play Awards, described as "a way to recognize our incredible developer community and highlight some of the best apps and games". The awards showcase 5 nominees across ten award categories, and the apps are featured in a dedicated section of Google Play. Google stated that "Nominees were selected by a panel of experts on the Google Play team based on criteria emphasizing app quality, innovation, and having a launch or major update in the last 12 months", with the winners announced in May.¹⁶³¹⁶⁴

Google has also previously released yearly lists of apps it deemed the "best" on Google Play.¹⁶⁵¹⁶⁶

On March 6, 2017, five years after Google Play's launch, Google released lists of the best-selling apps, games, movies, music, and books over the past five years.¹⁶⁷¹⁶⁸

In June 2017, Google introduced "Android Excellence", a new editorial program to highlight the apps deemed the highest quality by the Google Play editors.¹⁶⁹¹⁷⁰

In 2020, Google Play awarded Disney+ as the top app of the year for users in the US, and SpongeBob: Krusty Cook-Off taking the honors in the gaming category.¹⁷¹

Application approval

Google places some restrictions on the types of apps that can be published, in particular not allowing sexually explicit content, child endangerment, violence, bullying & harassment, hate speech, gambling, illegal activities, and requiring precautions for user-generated content.¹⁷²

In March 2015, Google disclosed that over the past few months, it had begun using a combination of automated tools and human reviewers to check apps for malware and terms of service violations before they are published in the Google Play Store. At the same time, it began rolling out a new age-based ratings system for apps and games, based on a given region's official ratings authority (for example, ESRB in most of the Americas and PEGI in Europe).^173174175

In October 2016, Google announced a new detection and filtering system designed to provide "additional enhancements to protect the integrity of the store". The new system is aimed to detect and filter cases where developers have been attempting to "manipulate the placement of their apps through illegitimate means like fraudulent installs, fake reviews, and incentivized ratings".^176177178

In April 2019, Google announced changes to the store's app review process, stating that it would take several days to review app submissions from new and less-established developers.¹⁷⁹ The company later clarified that, in exceptional cases, certain apps may be subject to an expanded review process, delaying the publication by seven days or longer.¹⁸⁰¹⁸¹

In 2023, Google imposes strict guidelines for personal loan apps on Play Store from 31 May that make the customer's data vulnerable.¹⁸²¹⁸³

Application bans

Some mobile carriers can block users from installing certain apps. In March 2009, reports surfaced that several tethering apps were banned from the store.¹⁸⁴ However, the apps were later restored, with a new ban preventing only T-Mobile subscribers from downloading the apps. Google released a statement:¹⁸⁵

On Monday, several applications that enable tethering were removed from the Android Market catalog because they were in violation of T-Mobile's terms of service in the US. Based on Android's Developer Distribution Agreement (section 7.2), we remove applications from the Android Market catalog that violate the terms of service of a carrier or manufacturer. We inadvertently unpublished the applications for all carriers, and today we have corrected the problem so that all Android Market users outside the T-Mobile US network will now have access to the applications. We have notified the affected developers.

In April 2011, Google removed the Grooveshark app from the store due to unspecified policy violations. CNET noted that the removal came "after some of the top music labels have accused the service of violating copyright law".¹⁸⁶ TechCrunch wrote approximately two weeks later that Grooveshark had returned to Android, "albeit not through the official App Market", but rather "Playing on Android's ability to install third-party applications through the browser, Grooveshark has taken on the responsibility of distributing the application themselves".¹⁸⁷

In May 2011, Google banned the account of the developer of several video game emulators. Neither Google nor the developer publicly revealed the reason for the ban.¹⁸⁸

In March 2013, Google began to pull ad blocking apps from the Google Play Store, per section 4.4 of the developers' agreement, which prohibits apps that interfere with servers and services.¹⁸⁹

Apps that exempt themselves from power management policies introduced on Android Marshmallow without being "adversely affected" by them are banned.¹⁹⁰¹⁹¹

In July 2018, Google banned additional categories of apps, including those that perform cryptocurrency mining on-device, apps that "facilitate the sale of explosives, firearms, ammunition, or certain firearms accessories", are only used to present ads, contain adult content but are aimed towards children, "multiple apps with highly similar content and user experience," and "apps that are created by an automated tool, wizard service, or based on templates and submitted to Google Play by the operator of that service on behalf of other persons."¹⁹²

In 2022, two Iranian state-supported ridesharing apps and three messenger apps were deleted through Play Protect for being malware and spyware.¹⁹³¹⁹⁴

Application security

In February 2012, Google introduced a new automated antivirus system, called Google Bouncer, to scan both new and existing apps for malware (e. g. spyware or trojan horses).¹⁹⁵¹⁹⁶ In 2017, the Bouncer feature and other safety measures within the Android platform were rebranded under the umbrella name Google Play Protect, a system that regularly scans apps for threats.¹⁹⁷¹⁹⁸

Android apps can ask for or require certain permissions on the device, including access to body sensors, calendar, camera, contacts, location, microphone, phone, SMS, storage, Wi-Fi, and access to Google accounts.¹⁹⁹

In July 2017, Google described a new security effort called "peer grouping", in which apps performing similar functionalities, such as calculator apps, are grouped together and attributes compared. If one app stands out, such as requesting more device permissions than others in the same group, Google's systems automatically flag the app and security engineers take a closer inspection. Peer grouping is based on app descriptions, metadata, and statistics such as download count.²⁰⁰²⁰¹

Security issues

In early March 2011, DroidDream, a trojan rootkit exploit, was released to the then-named Android Market in the form of several free applications that were, in many cases, pirated versions of existing priced apps. This exploit allowed hackers to steal information such as IMEI and IMSI numbers, phone model, user ID, and service provider. The exploit also installed a backdoor that allowed the hackers to download more code to the infected device.²⁰² The exploit only affected devices running Android versions earlier than 2.3 "Gingerbread".²⁰³ Google removed the apps from the Market immediately after being alerted,²⁰⁴ but the apps had already been downloaded more than 50,000 times, according to Android Police's estimate.²⁰⁵ Android Police wrote that the only method of removing the exploit from an infected device was to reset it to a factory state, although community-developed solutions for blocking some aspects of the exploit were created.²⁰⁶ A few days later, Google confirmed that 58 malicious apps had been uploaded to Android Market, and had been downloaded to 260,000 devices before being removed from the store.²⁰⁷ Google emailed affected users with information that "As far as we can determine, the only information obtained was device-specific (IMEI/IMSI, unique codes which are used to identify mobile devices, and the version of Android running on your device)" as opposed to personal data and account information.²⁰⁸ It also announced the then-new "remote kill" functionality, alongside a security update, that lets Google remotely remove malicious apps from users' devices.²⁰⁹ However, days later, a malicious version of the security update was found on the Internet, though it did not contain the specific DroidDream malware.²¹⁰ New apps featuring the malware, renamed DroidDream Light, surfaced the following June, and were also removed from the store.²¹¹

At the Black Hat security conference in 2012, security firm Trustwave demonstrated their ability to upload an app that would circumvent the Bouncer blocker system. The application used a JavaScript exploit to steal contacts, SMS messages, and photos, and was also capable of making the phone open arbitrary web pages or launch denial-of-service attacks. Nicholas Percoco, senior vice president of Trustwave's SpiderLabs advanced security team, stated that "We wanted to test the bounds of what it's capable of". The app stayed on Google Play for more than two weeks, being repeatedly scanned by the Bouncer system without detection, with Percoco further saying that "As an attack, all a malware attacker has to do to get into Google Play is to bypass Bouncer". Trustwave reached out to Google to share their findings, but noted that more manual testing of apps might be necessary to detect apps using malware-masking techniques.²¹²²¹³

According to a 2014 research study released by RiskIQ, a security services company, malicious apps introduced through Google Play increased 388% between 2011 and 2013, while the number of apps removed by Google dropped from 60% in 2011 to 23% in 2013. The study further revealed that "Apps for personalizing Android phones led all categories as most likely to be malicious".²¹⁴²¹⁵ According to PC World, "Google said it would need more information about RiskIQ's analysis to comment on the findings."²¹⁶

In October 2016, Engadget reported about a blog post named "Password Storage in Sensitive Apps" from freelance Android hacker Jon Sawyer, who decided to test the top privacy apps on Google Play.²¹⁷ Testing two applications, one named "Hide Pictures Keep Safe Vault" and the other named "Private Photo Vault", Sawyer found significant errors in password handling in both, and commented, "These companies are selling products that claim to securely store your most intimate pieces of data, yet are at most snake oil. You would have near equal protection just by changing the file extension and renaming the photos."²¹⁸²¹⁹

In April 2017, security firm Check Point announced that a malware named "FalseGuide" had been hidden inside approximately 40 "game guide" apps in Google Play.²²⁰ The malware is capable of gaining administrator access to infected devices, where it then receives additional modules that let it show popup ads. The malware, a type of botnet, is also capable of launching DDoS attacks.²²¹²²² After being alerted to the malware, Google removed all instances of it in the store,²²³ but by that time, approximately two million Android users had already downloaded the apps, the oldest of which had been around since November 2016.²²⁴

In June 2017, researchers from the Sophos security company announced their finding of 47 apps using a third-party development library that shows intrusive advertisements on users' phones. Even after such apps are force-closed by the user, advertisements remain. Google removed some of the apps after receiving reports from Sophos, but some apps remained. When asked for comment, Google didn't respond.²²⁵ In August 2017, 500 apps were removed from Google Play after security firm Lookout discovered that the apps contained a software development kit that allowed for malicious advertising. The apps had been collectively downloaded over 100 million times, and consisted of a wide variety of use cases, including health, weather, photo-editing, Internet radio and emoji.²²⁶²²⁷

In all of 2017, over 700,000 apps were banned from Google Play due to abusive contents; this is a 70% increase over the number of apps banned in 2016.²²⁸

In March 2020, Check Point discovered 56 apps containing a malware program that had infected a total of 1 million devices. The program, called Tekya, was designed to evade detection by Google Play Protect and VirusTotal and then fraudulently click on ads. Around the same time, Dr. Web discovered at least six apps with 700,000 total downloads containing at least 18 modifications program called Android.Circle.1. In addition to performing click fraud, Android.Circle.1 can also operate as adware and perform phishing attacks.²²⁹

On July 1, 2021, Dr. Web discovered malicious apps on Google Play that steal Facebook users' logins and passwords. Their specialists uncovered 9 trojans that were available on Google Play Store with over 5.8 million installs among them. The apps tricked victims into logging into their Facebook accounts and hijacked the credentials via JavaScript code.²³⁰ Google removed these apps later on.²³¹

On September 29, 2021, Zimperium zLabs recently discovered a large-scale malware campaign has infected more than 10 million Android devices from over 70 countries and likely stole hundreds of millions from its victims by subscribing to paid services without their knowledge. GriftHorse, the trojan used in these attacks, was discovered by researchers who first spotted this illicit global premium services campaign. This campaign has been active for roughly five months, between November 2020 and April 2021, when their malicious apps were last updated. The malware was delivered using over 200 trojanized Android applications delivered through Google's official Play Store and third-party app stores. Google has removed the apps after being notified of their malicious nature but this malware are still available for download on third-party repositories.²³²

On November 30, 2021, ThreatFabric, researchers explain how they discovered four different malware dropper campaigns distributing banking trojans on the Google Play Store. This evolution includes creating small realistic-looking apps that focus on common themes such as fitness, cryptocurrency, QR codes, and PDF scanning to trick users into installing the app. Once these "dropper" apps are installed, they will silently communicate with the threat actor's server to receive commands. When ready to distribute the banking trojan, the threat actor's server will tell the installed app to perform a fake "update" that "drops" and launches the malware on the Android device.²³³

Patent issues

Some developers publishing on Google Play have been sued for patent infringement by "patent trolls", people who own broad or vaguely worded patents that they use to target small developers. If the developer manages to successfully challenge the initial assertion, the "patent troll" changes the claim of the violation in order to accuse the developer of having violated a different assertion in the patent. This situation continues until the case goes into the legal system, which can have substantial economic costs, prompting some developers to settle.²³⁴ In February 2013, Austin Meyer, a flight simulator game developer, was sued for having used a copy-protection system in his app, a system that he said "Google gave us! And, of course, this is what Google provides to everyone else that is making a game for Android!" Meyer claimed that Google would not assist in the lawsuit, and he stated that he would not settle the case.²³⁵ His battle with the troll continued for several years, uploading a video in June 2016 discussing that he was then being sued for uploading his app to Google Play, because "the patent troll apparently owns the idea [sic] of the Google Play Store itself".²³⁶ Android Authority wrote that "This scenario has played out against many other app developers for many years", and have prompted discussions over "a larger issue at stake", in which developers stop making apps out of fear of patent problems.²³⁷

Availability

Users outside the countries/regions listed below only have access to free apps and games through Google Play.

See also

• Business portal

• List of mobile app distribution platforms
• List of most-downloaded Google Play applications

Notes

External links

• Official website

References

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