In 2023, Google blocked 2.28 million privacy-violating apps and 330,000 developer accounts from the app store for working with malware or repeatedly violating Google Play policies, Android Police reports.

Google explains that its SAFE security principles protect users from the dangers associated with insecure app installations. All applications undergo independent security checks before being added to Goole Play as part of the App Security Alliance, created by the largest technology companies – Google, Microsoft, and Meta.

Also, over the past year, Google has increased the privacy level of more than 31 SDKs that help apps interact with the Android OS and device hardware. These changes make 790,000+ apps more secure.

The new expanded Google Play SDK index now contains more than 6 million apps from the Android ecosystem. In addition, to ensure that Android users get the most out of the security patches in the OS updates they receive, Google has removed 1.5 million apps from Google Play simply because they do not support the latest APIs that are compliant with the latest version of Android.

The Play policy also reflects Google’s new requirements for vetting and testing new developers before independent developers can publish apps to the store. If an app allows for the creation of accounts, Google also requires that developers provide users with the ability to delete those accounts both in-app and online.

Google has also enhanced Play Protect with real-time code-level scanning to quickly detect malware. Each app sent to Google for review further trains the company’s algorithms to protect users in the future.