Google’s report card for last year shows it has taken significant steps to lock down Android. The company claims to have removed over 2 million “policy-violating apps” from the Play Store and banned more than 158,000 bad developer accounts. Additionally, it prevented 1.3 million apps from accessing sensitive user data unnecessarily.
However, despite these efforts, many apps continue to abuse permissions. Google’s new Play Integrity API is a major step forward in addressing this issue. The API allows developers to check if their apps have been tampered with or are running in potentially compromised environments, helping to prevent abuse like fraud, bots, and data theft.
The updated API uses hardware-backed security signals to make it significantly harder for attackers to bypass. This means that app performance will be based on the recency of security updates and the OS installed. If you’re using an older Android device, such as Android 12 or older, you may need a new phone in 12 weeks.
According to Google, around one-third of Android devices are running outdated versions of the OS. This means that banking and other apps will stop working on these devices when the updated API is fully rolled out. Users who rely on these apps may need to upgrade their device or operating system. The Play Integrity API was made available to developers in December and becomes mandatory for all users in May.
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/zakdoffman/2025/01/31/googles-android-lockdown-why-you-need-a-new-phone-in-12-weeks