Google removes 43 Android apps that load ads when phone screen is off

Android apps on Google Play Store were found to be displaying ads when the phone screen was turned off, draining the device’s battery

Google removed 43 Android apps with 2.5 million collective downloads from the app store. | Photo Credit: Reuters

Google removed 43 Android apps with 2.5 million collective downloads from the app store. The apps were found to be violating Google Play Developer policy, loading ads while the device’s screen is off.

While loading ads when a device’s screen is turned off may seem convenient, the applications could affect not just a device’s battery but also increase data consumption and pose potential risks such as information leaks and disruption of user profiling, McAfee said in a blog post.

Among the removed apps were TV/DMB Player, Music Downloader, and News and Calendar applications. The applications were mainly media streaming apps, and their target audience was predominantly Korean, however, the same deceptive tactics could be used by other app categories to target users in other parts of the world.

The apps were found to deliberately delay the initiation of their fraudulent activities, creating a latent period from the time of installation to avoid detections and inspection. They were also found to have intricate configurations which could be remotely modified and pushed using Firebase Storage or Messaging service, making it difficult to detect their fraudulent behaviour, the post said.

(For top technology news of the day, subscribe to our tech newsletter Today’s Cache)

The apps were also found to request permission to draw over other apps which would allow them to overlay pages on other apps. These tactics are generally used by threat actors to perform phishing attacks on e-banking apps.

While most users would be unable to detect such activities, one of the most obvious signs of apps using deceitful means to show ads would be an inexplicably high battery consumption when the device is not being used.

How to protect against apps showing ads when the screen is off?

Users can check for such fraudulent apps by going to settings on their device, checking Battery, and then Battery Usage and background usage of apps. Users can disable the background use of apps as well to increase protection.

Additionally, users are also advised to read app reviews on the Plat Store before installing and read the requested permissions carefully when installing apps on their devices.