Back at Google I/O this year, Google announced Play Protect — a rebrand of the company’s security offerings to help safeguard Android devices from malware and malicious apps. Starting from today, Google is rolling out its Play Protect home screen to all Android devices running the latest version of Google Play Services.
With Play Protect, Google will periodically scan your device to ensure your device and your data are completely safe. The service will silently work in the background without you knowing about it. It is only when Play Protect finds any kind of security risk, you will receive a prompt from it.
You can find the Google Play Protect home screen on your Android device under Settings -> Google -> Security -> Google Play Protect.
Apps on the Play Store will also soon be getting a “Verified by Google Play Protect” badge. There will also be a Play Protect card available in the Updates section of the Play Store from where one can initiate a manual scan of all the installed apps on their device. This is still rolling out to users though, and it will take a while to be available to the billions of Android devices out there.
Google Play Protect is not a new feature per se from the company. It has long been scanning Android apps on the Play Store and the ones installed on your Android device silently for security risks. Previously, this feature was commonly known as ‘Verify Apps’ and with this rebrand, Google is making users aware of a security feature that it has been offering to them since aeons.
[Via Engadget]