The Google Play Store nudges users to delete unused apps

Some users seem to be getting an alert from the Play Store to start cleaning out their phones—one app at a time. In a move reminiscent of the app manager it released back in 2016, a notification is popping up to remind Android users to delete unused apps. If you get the notification and tap on it, you’ll end up in the Notification section of the Play Store. From there, you can tap again to get the list of apps you haven’t used in a while. It also shows how much space you can save if you take out these apps. As mentioned, this doesn’t seem to be showing up to all users. But if you tend to not fill your phone with apps you don’t use, you might not even get the alert at all.

Source: Android Police

Google bans app developer with over 600 million downloads over ad fraud

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This isn’t the first time Google has banned an app developer from its marketplace, but it’s probably one of its biggest yet. The tech giant banned Android developer DO Global after it discovered that it was committing ad fraud. A Buzzfeed report found at least six of the company’s apps have a code that made it seem like a user was clicking on an advertisement even if they weren’t using the apps. These even had generic names like Selfie Camera and Total Cleaner, which obscured the fact that they were owned by DO Global. And that violated Play Store policy.

Almost half of its over 100 apps have been removed from the Play Store. DO Global, which is partly owned by Chinese tech firm Baidu, has already racked up over 600 million downloads in the Play Store. The developer has also been taken out of Google’s AdMob network, which cuts off their access to Google’s mobile advertising service.

Source: Engadget

Google pulls 13 malware apps from the Play Store that have been installed over 500,000 times

Google was quick to pull 13 malware-ridden apps from the Play Store. But not before these apps have been downloaded by at least 500,000 users, at least according to a researcher who reported how these malicious apps got into the store. The 13 Android apps included car and truck driving simulations with a couple getting into the store’s trending section even. The apps don’t have really work and crash every time they were launched but these hid in the phones to make it easier to install malware. According to ESET security researcher Lukas Stefanko, these apps have been downloaded over 560,000 times with a single developer named Luiz Pinto being credited for making them. Stefanko details in a series of tweets how these apps operate and that these would ask to install an additional APK, which you can see in action in this link.

However, as NDTV Gadgets points out, this isn’t the first time malicious apps have showed up in the Play Store. There was an auto-clicking adware last year called Judy found in 41 apps and affected between 8.5 and 36.5 million Android devices. There was also a botnet malware called FalseGuide that infected millions of Android devices via Google Play.

Google Play Store on Android informs users that ‘Fortnite’ won’t be downloadable there

It’s been all over the news how Epic Games will be skipping the Google Play Store when it launches Fortnite: Battle Royale on Android. Now, Google is making sure its users on the platform know they can’t find the game in the Play Store. This is ultimately helpful for users who might accidentally download fraudulent or malicious apps posing as the game. The message “Fortnite Battle Royal [sic] by Epic Games, Inc is not available on Google Play” appears when you search for the words “Fortnite” or “Fortnite Mobile.” Unfortunately, the message only appears when you search for the game on mobile and not when you’re browsing on the web version of the Play Store. We don’t know if Google plans to do this for the other apps as well. But it could be useful to avoid users from getting scammed by fake apps.

Source: NDTV