Google has been cracking down on the abuse of Android apps, and now it really seems to have played a big role. Google Blog explains how to continue the fight against "bad apps," which revealed that the number of play store apps with access to calls and text messages fell 98% in 2019.
In October 2018, Google launched a new policy to prohibit unnecessary file access by applications, which now has the expected effect. Google said the rest of the apps do need call and SMS rights to perform their core tasks.
Google also pointed out that "the censorship mechanism has been improved", preventing 790000 apps that violate the policy from entering the play store, and released a policy in May 2019 requiring developers to say whether the app is aimed at children. Malware has also been hit hard, with Google play protect blocking more than 1.9 billion non play store malware instances.
As in the past, Google is still a little optimistic. Malware remains a big problem for Android in 2019, including the malicious code provided through infected play store apps. Even if Android 10 provides more control, it may be difficult to completely prevent abuse. Even so, it shows that developers are doing better in respecting users' privacy and reducing the amount of data collected.
