How to Turn On Play Protect and Advanced Protection on Android

For many Nigerian small businesses, the phone is the office. It holds the banking app, the WhatsApp Business account, the POS companion app and the email that receives invoices. That makes Android phones a prime target for harmful apps, especially ones installed from links sent in chats rather than from Google Play. This guide walks business owners, staff and everyday users through two free, built-in protections: Google Play Protect and Android’s Advanced Protection mode.

What these protections do

Google Play Protect

Play Protect is Google’s built-in app safety scanner. According to Google, it checks apps when you install them and periodically scans your device. If it finds a harmful app it may notify you, disable the app until you remove it, remove it automatically or block it from installing at all. For apps from outside Google Play, it may ask to send the app to Google for checking, and it may stop you installing an unverified app that asks for sensitive permissions commonly abused in financial fraud.

Advanced Protection

Advanced Protection switches on Android’s strongest security and privacy settings in one go and stops them being turned off by accident or by malware. It locks Play Protect on, blocks app installs from unknown sources, adds theft protections, turns on scam and unsafe-link warnings in Google Messages and blocks connections to 2G networks on supported phones. It suits business owners, finance staff and anyone who handles money or sensitive data on their phone.

Before you start

• Have the phone’s PIN, pattern or password ready. Advanced Protection requires a screen lock.
• Make sure the phone is signed in to Google Play and connected to the internet.
• Install pending system and app updates first, so you are working with current menus.
• Menu names can differ slightly between phone brands. If you cannot find an option, use the search bar at the top of the Settings app.

Step 1: Check your phone is Play Protect certified

1. Open the Google Play Store app.
2. Tap your profile icon at the top right.
3. Tap Settings, then tap About.
4. Look for the Play Protect certification line. It shows whether the device is Play Protect certified.

If a phone is not certified, be cautious about using it for banking or business accounts. Uncertified devices may not receive Google’s protections properly.

Step 2: Make sure Play Protect scanning is on

1. In the Play Store, tap your profile icon.
2. Tap Play Protect, then tap Settings (the gear icon).
3. Make sure Scan apps with Play Protect is switched on.

Google says this is on by default and recommends keeping it on. Malware and some “helpers” offering to speed up your phone may try to persuade you to switch it off. Never do so because an app or a stranger asks.

Step 3: Turn on improved harmful app detection

1. On the same Play Protect settings screen, find Improve harmful app detection.
2. Switch it on.

With this on, unknown apps can be sent to Google automatically for analysis, which helps catch new threats faster. When Play Protect recommends scanning an app from outside Google Play, accept the scan. You will receive a result saying whether the app looks safe.

Step 4: Act on Play Protect warnings

• If you get a Play Protect notification about a harmful app, tap the notification and then tap Uninstall.
• If an app has been disabled, do not try to re-enable it. Remove it.
• If an install is blocked, treat that as a strong sign the file is dangerous. Delete the downloaded file as well.
• After removing a suspicious app, change the passwords of any banking or email accounts you used on the phone while it was installed, using a different, trusted device if possible.

Step 5: Turn on Advanced Protection (recommended for high-risk users)

1. Open the phone’s Settings app.
2. Go to Security & Privacy and then Advanced Protection. On some phones, the path is Google, then All services, then Advanced Protection.
3. Turn on Device protection.
4. When prompted, you can turn on Intrusion Logging, which keeps encrypted security logs backed up to a Google Account you choose, or skip it.
5. Tap Turn on and restart the phone if asked.
6. To protect the Google Account as well, open Advanced Protection again and tap Account protection.

If you do not see Advanced Protection, your phone or Android version may not support it yet. Keep Play Protect on and check again after the next system update.

What changes after you turn it on

• You can no longer install or update apps from unknown sources, which blocks the “download this APK” trick used in many banking scams.
• Play Protect cannot be switched off.
• Theft Detection Lock, Offline Device Lock and an automatic restart after 72 hours locked help protect a lost or stolen phone.
• Google Messages and Chrome add scam detection, unsafe link warnings and enforced secure (HTTPS) connections.

To turn it off later, follow the same path, switch off Device protection and confirm with your PIN or fingerprint.

Troubleshooting

• A business app will not install: If your POS provider or bank supplies an app outside Google Play, ask them for the Google Play version. Advanced Protection blocks other sources by design.
• Play Protect settings are greyed out: A work profile or device management tool may control them. Ask whoever manages company phones.
• Constant warnings about one app: Uninstall it. Repeated warnings are not a glitch to dismiss.

Quick checklist for every staff phone

• Play Protect certified: checked.
• Scan apps with Play Protect: on.
• Improve harmful app detection: on.
• No apps flagged or disabled by Play Protect.
• Advanced Protection on for owners, finance and admin staff.
• Screen lock set, and system updates installed.

These settings take about ten minutes per phone and cost nothing. Make them part of setting up every new staff device, and recheck them whenever someone reports a strange app or a suspicious link.

Sources

• Google Android Help: Use Google Play Protect to help keep your apps safe and your data private
• Google Android Help: Advanced Protection

Featured image: Photo: “Rooting my HTC Hero Android Phone” by Andrew Mason, CC BY 2.0, via Openverse — source