Google Inc. Monday announced that all of its “certified Android devices” will now include Play Protect branding on the devices’ packaging.

 Google’s certification acts as a seal of approval that ensures users have a secure and stable experience. There are some 2 billion active Android devices around the world.

Google has discovered Android spyware on two separate occasions in the last few months. Known as Lipizzan and Chrysaor, the spyware could allow hackers to spy on personal information such as text messages, emails and voice calls. No apps with Chrysaor were discovered on the Play Store, but Lipizzan was found to be bundled with 20 apps.

At the time of the detection, the Google Android team said in a blog post that the spyware and apps were “distributed in a targeted fashion to fewer than 100 devices in total.” Google Play Protect was able to notify all affected devices and the Lipizzan apps were removed. Google’s certified Android devices include Google Play Protect, verified preinstalled Google apps and access to the Play Store.

Certified Android devices

Google has also released a list of certified partners. In addition to the usual suspects, such as Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. and LG Corp., it also includes a variety of Chinese brands, including Oppo Electronics Corp. and Vivo Communication Technology Co. Ltd.

All certified Android devices will have a Google Protect logo on the box to indicate they are an approved device and have the following features:

Google Play Protect

Certified Android devices are required to ship without any pre-installed malware and will also include Google Play Protect.

Google launched Play Protect last month to help protect Android users from malicious apps. Google Play Protect combines various Android security tools, like app scanning, previously known as Verify Apps, browser protection and an anti-theft feature in the form of Google’s Find My Device app.

Using machine learning, Google scans 50 billion apps daily across a billion devices to identify any suspicious or malicious malware. Play Protect will automatically scan your Android phone, tablet or watch to ensure the device, data and apps are safe.

In addition to detecting malicious Play Store apps and apps from third-party sources, Google Play Protect also includes Safe Browsing protection in Chrome, which will alert users if a site is suspected of possible malware or suspicious behavior.

While the Find My Device feature, a refreshed version of Android Device Manager, allows users to locate a lost or stolen device, as well as remotely lock or erase the device.     

Preinstalled with Google apps

Certified Android devices include a verification from the company that the Google apps preinstalled on the device, including YouTube, Maps, Gmail, Chrome and Google Search, are authentic and will work as intended.  

Play Store

Certified Android devices obviously also get access to the millions of apps available on the Play Store, which have gone through 100,000-plus compatibility tests.

Image: Google