Re: Does Android scan every app you install or only apps installed from the Google Play Store?

Wolf Greenblatt, 2024-06-02 23:13:

By default, does Android scan every app you install for malware,
or does Android only scan apps installed from the Google Play Store?

That also depends on the device as well since some manufactures modify
the official version of Android to their needs and some provide their
own security solutions like Xiaomi.

However, by default Android will scan every app regardless where it came
from.

Also see: Settings -> Security & privacy -> App security -> Play protect
and the the "Play Protect settings" you can open with the settings icon
on the top right. In these settings there is also the following option,
which is enabled by default:

Improve harmful app detection
Send unknown apps to Google for better detection

And "unknown apps" means apps which you did not install using Google
Play but by using an APK file or alternative sources like F-Droid.

--
Arno Welzel
https://arnowelzel.de