Mishaal Rahman / Android Authority
TL;DR
- Play Integrity is getting some upgrades that promise quicker, safer gadget attestation.
- The brand new verdicts are opt-in for devs proper now, however can be broadly deployed in 2025.
- Whereas that is excellent news for common customers, customized ROM and sideloading fanatics might run into hassle.
With as complicated as fashionable software program is, getting safety proper could be a particularly delicate balancing act. Clearly, no safety in any respect leads to a Wild West scenario the place it’s all too straightforward for malware to spoil your day. However on the flip facet, overly cumbersome safety can lead down a highway the place app performance is negatively impacted. On Android, Google presents builders using its Play Integrity API to securely confirm the surroundings apps run in. Google’s now acquired some new Play Integrity upgrades incoming, and whereas that is typically excellent news for many of us, it’s prone to trigger some complications for others.
Play Integrity provides Android apps highly effective instruments to solely function beneath their very own phrases. That implies that apps can make sure that your telephone’s not rooted, as an illustration, or that you simply’re not working a custom ROM. For years now, there’s been a back-and-forth between devs and customers who’re concerned about pushing these boundaries, because the customers discover new methods to spoof attestation checks and persuade apps to run the place devs don’t need them to. However with the modifications Google’s making to the Play Integrity API, the corporate says that spoofing will now be more durable than ever.
There are additionally penalties for customers who wish to sideload apps, even when working on in any other case unmodified Android handsets. Play Integrity has launched a test to be sure that apps have been installed through the Play Store, and Google expects to see extra apps fail this test with Play Integrity’s upgrades.
All that mentioned, in the event you’re not on a customized ROM, don’t care about root, don’t sideload apps, and simply wish to proceed having fun with Android like a “regular” consumer, that is solely going to be excellent news for you. The overwhelming majority of those modifications received’t be seen to you in any respect, and actually all you possibly can count on is that apps can be ever so barely quicker, as Google reduces API latency. You may end up working into extra conditions the place an app protests as a result of your telephone hasn’t gotten a safety replace in over a yr — however perhaps that’s your cue to maneuver to a better-supported handset, anyway.
Builders are capable of begin utilizing the brand new system proper now by opting in. New integrations will use them by default, and in Might 2025 Google will push everybody over to the brand new verdicts.
