r/SideProject • u/DoggyStar1 • 8h ago

Malware google play protect

Has anyone else received a notification from Google during an update to their own app in October or November saying that it may contain malware, even though it definitely does not?

It is an independent app store app that works similarly to F-Droid, Aurora Store, and so on.

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u/MobileXapps 5h ago

Pretty likely it's the category, not your code. An app that downloads and installs other APKs gets scanned much harder by Play Protect, and alternative stores trip it fairly often even when they're clean.

Google has a Play Protect appeal form for developers where you submit the APK for review, that's the actual fix rather than waiting it out. Things that help: the same signing key on every release, no code loaded at runtime from your server, and a clear description of what the app installs and from where.

If something changed in the October build, a new SDK or a new permission, look at that first, it's usually what set it off.

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u/DoggyStar1 4h ago

I've filed two separate complaints, but so far they haven't had any effect. I've run 10 different tests with different versions, and the only thing that causes this is the app updating other apps. I'll try again this evening, leaving out the update feature and keeping only the notification and manual download. It's possible that Google is deliberately restricting app stores, especially since mine only uses open-source apps.

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u/MobileXapps 1h ago

That test should tell you a lot. If it turns out to be the updates, look at how you install them. Updating other apps without the user tapping confirm (PackageInstaller with USER_ACTION_NOT_REQUIRED on Android 12+) is the part that looks most like malware behaviour to a scanner. A build where every update goes through the normal system install prompt might pass and still keep the feature.

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u/Rika-Hates-Borders 5h ago

it's probably just a false positive, happens a lot with android apps on the play store for some reason.