How To Know A Fake Android App Even On Play Store
Fake Android apps in the Play Store are a problem. People create listings designed to look exactly like popular apps, often using the same icon and name, to trick you into downloading it, then bombarding you with ads or malware.
According to How to Geek, this issue has been prominent lately. A fake version of WhatsApp was downloaded by more than one million people last year, and just this month, Reddit android community found a fake version of the popular SwiftKey keyboard and an ad-riddled version of VLC on the Play Store.
The first two were removed after making headlines, and while Google finally took down the VLC after being at the top of the Android sub-reddit all day.
These types of apps are not something to take lightly. Behind the scenes, they’re often doing something dangerous, like stealing all of your personal info, tracking every move you make, or even worse.
•What Google is doing to combat this issue?
This isn’t a new problem; it’s been happening for years and the fake apps are getting better and getting more downloads.
Fortunately, Google is starting to address the issue with Google Play Protect—a security system to verify apps in the Play Store.
It scans apps upon entry into Google Play. Google also says it removed over 700,000 malicious apps last year. But, as we’ve already noted, there are still some big ones getting through.
Play Protect was announced less than a year ago, so it’s still a relatively new system. As with most, there will be bumps along the way—we’re just hoping Google uses this system to figure out a better way to control malicious content in its official app store.
•How to spot these fake apps
Regardless of how good Play Protect actually gets, there’s always going to be a certain percentage of malicious apps that find their way into the Store.
That’s why it’s pertinent to pay attention. The best thing you can do to make sure you’re not installing a bunch of crap is to take a couple of minutes to look over the app listing before you install it. A little due diligence goes a long way.
•Take a close look at the search results
If you search the Play Store for the app you want to install, take a few seconds to glance at all the entries—especially if you see the same icon more than once.
Fake apps will almost always use the icon from the app they’re trying to mimic, so it should immediately cause suspicion if you see the same icon more than once. This is the first way fake apps trick people into installing them. If the icons are the same, turn to the names.
•Check the app name and developer
Take a close look at the app name and the developer. In the case of the fake WhatsApp, the developer name was visually identical, but the name of the app should’ve raised a red flag because of the word “update” added to its name.
The fake SwiftKey app that recently landed was called “Swift Keyboard”—something that users unfamiliar with SwiftKey could easily mistake for the real application. But the developer name was “Designer Superman”—a clear indicator that something isn’t right since SwiftKey is developed by a company of the same name and owned by Microsoft.
If the developer name isn’t an immediate indicator, you should also check their other apps. You can do this on the web by clicking on the developer name on the Play Store listing; on your phone, just scroll down close to the bottom of the app listing to see more apps from that developer.
According to How to Geek, this issue has been prominent lately. A fake version of WhatsApp was downloaded by more than one million people last year, and just this month, Reddit android community found a fake version of the popular SwiftKey keyboard and an ad-riddled version of VLC on the Play Store.
The first two were removed after making headlines, and while Google finally took down the VLC after being at the top of the Android sub-reddit all day.
These types of apps are not something to take lightly. Behind the scenes, they’re often doing something dangerous, like stealing all of your personal info, tracking every move you make, or even worse.
•What Google is doing to combat this issue?
This isn’t a new problem; it’s been happening for years and the fake apps are getting better and getting more downloads.
Fortunately, Google is starting to address the issue with Google Play Protect—a security system to verify apps in the Play Store.
It scans apps upon entry into Google Play. Google also says it removed over 700,000 malicious apps last year. But, as we’ve already noted, there are still some big ones getting through.
Play Protect was announced less than a year ago, so it’s still a relatively new system. As with most, there will be bumps along the way—we’re just hoping Google uses this system to figure out a better way to control malicious content in its official app store.
•How to spot these fake apps
Regardless of how good Play Protect actually gets, there’s always going to be a certain percentage of malicious apps that find their way into the Store.
That’s why it’s pertinent to pay attention. The best thing you can do to make sure you’re not installing a bunch of crap is to take a couple of minutes to look over the app listing before you install it. A little due diligence goes a long way.
•Take a close look at the search results
If you search the Play Store for the app you want to install, take a few seconds to glance at all the entries—especially if you see the same icon more than once.
Fake apps will almost always use the icon from the app they’re trying to mimic, so it should immediately cause suspicion if you see the same icon more than once. This is the first way fake apps trick people into installing them. If the icons are the same, turn to the names.
•Check the app name and developer
Take a close look at the app name and the developer. In the case of the fake WhatsApp, the developer name was visually identical, but the name of the app should’ve raised a red flag because of the word “update” added to its name.
The fake SwiftKey app that recently landed was called “Swift Keyboard”—something that users unfamiliar with SwiftKey could easily mistake for the real application. But the developer name was “Designer Superman”—a clear indicator that something isn’t right since SwiftKey is developed by a company of the same name and owned by Microsoft.
If the developer name isn’t an immediate indicator, you should also check their other apps. You can do this on the web by clicking on the developer name on the Play Store listing; on your phone, just scroll down close to the bottom of the app listing to see more apps from that developer.
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