You’ll need Android 12 to even install the app
Play Protect has always been a background service as part of the Play Store that helps to keep your phone safe from nefarious apps. It’s been around for several years and scans billions of apps (even the sideloaded ones) every day without you even noticing it, unless it catches a piece of malware and notifies you about it. Google is now breaking out this safety tool from the Play Store and giving it a dedicated app. However, what new capabilities Play Protect has received as part of this change is still up in the air.
Tech whiz Mishaal Rahman shared a couple of screenshots (via Google News on Telegram), showing off Play Protect’s new app listing on the Play Store. The app was automatically installed for several users, including a few on our team, and is already live on more than 100,000 devices. It seemingly requires Android 12, so not a whole lot of users will be eligible for the app right now.
It isn’t clear why Google decided to unbundle Play Protect from its app store; the reason could be anything from faster updates to something new coming up in the near future. Google already has extensive plans to boost security on Android devices, but none of that directly aligns with Play Protect getting a separate app. Even the new app listing doesn’t give away much regarding this and just states what we already know Play Protect does.
The Play Store page for this new app is accessible only through a direct link right now, and it may lead you to a dead-end on desktop. Those with compatible phones can download the Play Protect app from there, but there’s a good chance it may throw a compatibility error on some (probably non-Pixel) devices. If that’s the case for you, head to APK Mirror and download its apk file. Note that devices running Android 11 and older cannot install this Play Protect version in either case.
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