Google will restrict Android apps from being able to see what’s installed on a smartphone
Google today announced a series of policy updates for apps distributed through the Play Store. Most importantly, the company will restrict most developers from seeing what Android apps are installed on a device.
As part of its current security and privacy policy, Google will narrow down the list of apps that can use the QUERY_ALL_PACKAGES permission to see what apps are installed on the device. This applies to those programs targeting API 30+ on devices running Android 11 and above. The requirement was originally supposed to take effect earlier, but it has been postponed due to COVID-19.
“Google Play treats the list of installed applications requested from the user’s device as personal and confidential information, so the request is allowed only if the main functions or purposes of your application that the user encounters require access to the list of installed applications on the user’s device.” , – said the company.
Among such software are antiviruses, file managers, and browsers. At the same time, developers will now be forced to justify why the application needs access to the list of software – this should be directly related to the main purpose or basic capabilities that users get access to in the application. Meanwhile, for specialized banking and digital wallet applications, temporary exceptions will be provided for security purposes so that they can see the installed software.
This policy to restrict access to the complete list of installed Android apps will affect May 5, 2021.
