Google bans Facebook and other self updating Android apps

Google bans Facebook and other self updating Android apps

Sunday, June 29, 2014 / No Comments

Google just released a new Play Store version 4.0.27 that, contains only very minor tweaks and Google has changed the rules of its Google Play Store to put an end to the practice of developers updating their apps through their own means rather than the official Google Play channel.

Shortly before the Facebook Home launch, some users noticed a new version of Facebook was available on their device, but it wasn't through the Play Store. Instead, the update came directly through the app, bypassing the Store altogether.

Under the "Dangerous Products" section of the Google Play developer policies, Google now states that "an app downloaded from Google Play may not modify, replace or update its own APK binary code using any method other than Google Play's update mechanism."

Essentially this means that once an app is downloaded by an Android user it cannot contact home base and auto-update its own operating code. Instead, it has to use the official Google approved channel.

Google says that its Play store is “trusted source for Android application downloads” and that it is “committed to providing a secure and consistent experience.” Allowing apps to update themselves could possibly lead to some less-than-secure scenarios as the initial download from Google Play would be safe while the in-app updater installs malware.

Google and Apple app Store removing all Games with "Flappy" word in Title

Google and Apple app Store removing all Games with "Flappy" word in Title

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After the developer of Flappy Bird pulled the gaming app from both the Apple and Google app stores, it led to the creation of dozens and dozens of Flappy Bird clones that are trying to cash in on the popularity of the original title.

Also Security researchers from multiple anti-malware firms have recently identified a number of malicious versions of Flappy Bird apps.

In Order to protect Smartphone users from installing malicious applications that pretend to be the one associated with the previous Flappy Bird app, Google and Apple have finally decided to reject all games and application that contain ‘Flappy’ in the title on app Stores.

Ken Carpenter, another app developer with Mind Juice Media, posted on his Twitter account that his newly developed app, which he named Flappy Dragon, got rejected from Apple's app Store because the name "attempts to leverage a popular app"

According to Ken, 'Flappy' in app title are being rejected by Apple under a violation of the app review guidelines, states that "apps that contain false, fraudulent or misleading representations will be rejected."

Whereas, Google Play pulled down Flappy Dragon with a reason - "do not use irrelevant, misleading, or excessive keywords in app descriptions, titles, or metadata."

But the clone apps that were already approved by Apple before adding this restriction, are still in the App Store. Unfortunately, Ken forced to rename his app and resubmitted it to iTunes with a new title "Derpy Dragon."

Google Gives Refund to Thousands of Buyers Who Bought Bogus Android AntiVirus App

Google Gives Refund to Thousands of Buyers Who Bought Bogus Android AntiVirus App

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About a week back we reported about a popular paid Antivirus application on the Google Play Store which was actually a scam, dubbed as ‘Virus Shield’.

This First paid fake app managed to become one of the most popular anti-virus app in less than a week, and apparently more than 10,000 Smartphones users purchased it in $3.99 from Google Play Store and hence scammed more than $40,000.

The Virus Shield Android App claimed to protect users’ personal information from harmful viruses, malware and spyware, but in actual app doesn't scan anything and was removed from the store once the fraud had been uncovered.

If you were one that had downloaded the Virus Shield Antivirus app, then don't worry, just check your email inbox, because Google cares about you and reaching out all those affected android users who purchased the app, in order to refund their money in full.

 REFUND WITH $5 BONUS CREDIT
According to Android Police, Google has decided to refund $3.99 back to users and apart from the full refund, to maintain its reputation among users, Google offering an extra $5 Google Play Store credit to each, which can be used to purchase digital content on Google Play store such as apps, games, books, music and movies.

“Google Play’s policies strictly prohibit false claims like these, and in light of this, we’re refunding you for your “Virus Shield” purchase. You should see funds returned to your account within the next 14 days. Additionally, we'd like to offer you $5 promotional credit1, which can be used to purchase digital content on Google Play such as apps, games, books, music and movies.” Google Play Support said.

The developer of Virus Shield app approached The Guardian newspaper to claims that the app without the virus protection was uploaded to the Play Store by mistake and he removed the app from the Play Store himself before his developer account was suspended.

"One of our developers simply made a foolish mistake. The app version that was decompiled by AndroidPolice was not intended to be released. It was an early placeholder that our ui designer created. There was a mix-up between the version that contained the antivirus code for our app." app developer Jesse Carter of Deviant Solutions said.

GOOGLE APOLOGY LETTER

Hello,

We're reaching out to you because you recently purchased the “Virus Shield” app on Google Play. This app made the false claim that it provided one-click virus protection; in reality, it did not.

Google Play’s policies strictly prohibit false claims like these, and in light of this, we’re refunding you for your “Virus Shield” purchase. You should see funds returned to your account within the next 14 days.

Additionally we'd like to offer you $5 promotional credit1, which can be used to purchase digital content on Google Play such as apps, games, books, music and movies.

Your credit redemption code is XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX. Click or tap here to redeem. For help redeeming, please visit our Help Center.

We're sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused; rest assured that we're always working to make Google Play better for our users.

Thank you,

Google Play Support

Google learned from their mistake and promised that such apps will never get top position, even if allowed to be listed in the Play Store.

If you ever suspect any malicious or Fake application at Google Play Store, then scroll down to bottom of the page, and then flag an app as inappropriate.

First Paid Fake Android Antivirus App Downloaded 10,000 times from Google Play Store

First Paid Fake Android Antivirus App Downloaded 10,000 times from Google Play Store

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Well, we all are very conscious, when it comes to the security of our personal information, security of our financial data and security of everything related to us. In the world of Smart devices where our Smartphones knows more than we know ourselves.

To keep our device protected from harmful viruses, malware or spyware, we totally depend on various security products such as antivirus, firewall and privacy guard apps, that we typically install from some trusted sources, Google Play Store. Most Antivirus apps are available to download for free, but some of them are paid with extra premium features like advance firewall protection, anti theft, App Locker or Cloud Backup etc.

But do you believe that just because you're downloading an application from an official app store and also if its a premium paid version, you're safe from malicious software? Think twice.

PAID, BUT FAKE ANTIVIRUS APP

In Past, Mobile Security Researchers had spotted numerous fake mobile antivirus scanners that were available for free download at Google's Play marketplace, but its the first time when a cyber criminals are offering a fake, but paid Antivirus Solution called ‘Virus Shield’ for your Android device at Google’s play store.

Virus Shield masquerade itself as an antivirus that claims to "protect you and your personal information from harmful viruses, malware, and spyware" and also "Improve the speed of your phone," which it does with just a click. 

Moreover, it claims to have least effect on battery, run in the background, and in addition it also acts as adblock software that will stop those "pesky advertisements," which we deal every day.

MORE THAN $40,000 FRAUD AT GOOGLE PLAY STORE

Virus Shield antivirus app costs $3.99, and has been on the Google Play Store for just over a week and has already been successfully downloaded more than 10,000 times by Smartphones users with a 4.7 star review from 1,700 people, that means total amount received by developer is more than $40,000.

Even 2,607 users had hit the Google "recommend" button, which means that the antivirus app must be doing great to users who look for trusted and efficient antivirus app to secure their devices.

WHAT A SCANNER - VIRUS SHIELD 

Surely it doesn't scan or detect anything. Android Police has discovered that the app only changes a red "X" graphic to a red "check" graphic, that’s it, nothing less or more. 

The virus shield antivirus app is a total scam and it doesn't scan or secure your device, which means thousands of users have been scammed out of their money.

When the creator (email : Jesse_Carter@live.com) tracked down by the investigators, it revealed that the creator was a well known scammer who was also accused and banned from forums for trying to scam people out of various low-valued online game items. 

You can check out the code for yourself from here, as the android police have decompiled the app and mirrored the java code on GitHub.

HOW TO PROTECT YOURSELF

There is no such way to protect you from these kinds of fraudsters. All you can do is report the Virus Shield via the Play Store app by listing the app’s "flag as inappropriate," then tap "other objection" and write about the app’s fraud to users. Alternatively, you can report it on the web. Users are advised to only download applications from known and trusted publishers.

Of Yo, Unbundling And Simplicity : Welcome To the New App World.

Of Yo, Unbundling And Simplicity : Welcome To the New App World.

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Over the past week or so, an app called Yo has been making the news because given its “stupidity”, it has managed to raise $1.2m. All it does is allow you to send a “Yo” to a friend. Its like Facebook Poke, but even dumber.
The app has no icon and only one screen. It was created as a side project by a few folks working on an existing app start up. Noted tech analyst Robert Scoble has described Yo as ”the stupidest, most addictive app I’ve ever seen in my life”. The makers claim the engagement metrics on it are unlike anything they’ve seen before, and they could have raised even more money than what was offered to them. Still sound stupid?

Without going into whether Yo actually offers a legitimate value proposition, it represents a growing trend seen in the past 12 months: a mobile app is meant to do only one thing. Facebook started the process of “unbundling”, splitting up functions of the service into different apps with Messenger and Paper, and then of course they also own WhatsApp and Instagram. Foursquare followed soon launching Swarm to enable discovery, and last week Path split its messenger service into Path Talk. And then just yesterday Marc Andreessen went on one of his Twitter rants talking about the history of unbundling.

Anyway, whichever way you look at it, the way mobile apps are being used has changed, or rather, matured to suit the form factor. Back in 2010, the idea was to put as much functionality in one app with the assumption that the inertia to download multiple apps was too high. It was the desktop web approach.
While the general problem of getting people to download apps has only gotten harder (app discovery challenges and all that), the 4” screen means you can only have limited functionality on it without compromising user experience. Over time, users have gotten used to going back to an app to complete the one key essential task that it merits. Apps are now being used more as “applets”, especially how they are interfacing with the rest of the ecosystem:

With the OS: The iOS 8 notification center and extensions will enable you to complete tasks without even going inside an app. This, of course, already exists on Android, and I’m sure the L release will take it to the next level.

With Other Apps: App to app linking is gradually becoming common practice, especially among services that are unbundled. A classic example is the Facebook app, and how clicking on the messenger icon now takes you to the Messenger app instead of opening the message inbox right there.

With the Web: Google App Indexing is the first step in getting the web and app world to talk to each other. You search for something, and along with web link results, you get shown app link results. Clicking on one of those takes you inside that app to the particular content you were looking for.

What does all this mean for app developers? I think Benedict Evans articulates it well in this post a couple of months back: In mobile, everything is still wide open. There are still so many mobile first problems to solve, more so in emerging markets like India. Idea should be to keep it simple, integrate it deep within the existing ecosystem, and solve one core problem that makes users come back again and again.
[About the author : The article is written by Aakrit Vaish, founder of Haptik app. Reproduced from author's blog.]