The ability to sideload apps on Android smartphones comes with its own challenges. At times, this openness doubles as a vulnerability, where a sideloaded app can go rogue and end up stealing your personal data, potentially leading to financial losses. Google blocked over 2.36 million malicious apps from the Store in 2024 alone. While the majority of apps listed on the Play Store are safe, certain apps can still pose a threat to users.
Google has integrated a built-in protection feature called Play Protect on the Play Store, which can not only identify bad actors but also remove them from your device. Google Play Protect, an integrated security feature on Android devices, including phones and tablets, is capable of detecting apps with harmful behavior. Depending on the severity, it will either notify you about those apps or remove them instantly if needed.
If you frequently sideload apps, manually running Play Protect ensures that none of the installed apps are misbehaving. Additionally, it sends data from unknown apps to Google to verify their authenticity.
While Play Protect features can be disabled, it is recommended to keep them active—especially the improved harmful app detection option—to ensure that apps installed from outside the Play Store are safe.
How to scan for malware using Google Play Protect:
Steps to use Google Play Protect. (Express Photo)Open the Google Play Store.
Click on your profile picture in the top-right corner.
Select Play Protect.
Click on Scan.
This will scan all the apps and games installed on your phone and notify you if any malware is detected. If no malware is found, Play Protect will display “No harmful apps found,” indicating that all apps installed on your device are safe and secure.