Google says AI helps cut malicious apps on Play Store

Google reports a drop in malicious apps targeting the Play Store in 2025, citing increased use of AI and security measures.

The company prevented 1.8 million policy-violating apps from being published, down from over 2.3 million in 2024 and 2023.

Google also banned over 80,000 developer accounts in 2025, fewer than previous years.

The tech giant emphasized its investments in AI-driven defenses, including over 10,000 safety checks on each app and the integration of generative AI models into review processes.

Additionally, Google stopped more than 255,000 apps from accessing sensitive user data, a big drop from 1.3 million in 2024.

Google Play Protect identified over 27 million new malicious apps in 2025, up from 13 million in 2024 and 5 million in 2023, suggesting more malicious actors are avoiding the Play Store.

🔗 Source: TechCrunch

🧠 Food for thought

Implications, context, and why it matters.

Google’s Play Store success masks a broader Android security problem

Google says it blocked 1.8 million rule-breaking apps from reaching the Play Store in 2025, down from more than 2.3 million in both 2024 and 2023. Even so, attacks on Android users keep climbing.
In the first half of 2025, attacks rose 29% versus the same period in 2024 1.
Google Play Protect flagged more than 27 million new malicious apps in 2025, up from 13 million in 2024 and 5 million in 2023. That rise lines up with more malware spreading outside the Play Store, and Google’s report also backs this up.
Detected mobile banking trojans were nearly four times higher in the first half of 2025 than in the first half of 2024. Some threats also arrive as pre-installed malware embedded in device firmware during manufacturing 1.

Tighter platform security may create a paradox of user complacency

As Google and Apple tighten their mobile platforms, security outcomes rely more on user choices 2.
Stronger built-in protections can nudge people toward riskier habits.
A survey found iPhone users who see their platform as safer fall for scams more often than Android users, at 53% versus 48% 2.
Those iPhone users also install security software less often, at 21% versus 29% 2.
As mobile systems get safer, more of the security work shifts to building cautious habits across the industry.