installation app blocked by play protect

Question

When trying to install a signed application (app-release.apk), a "Blocked by Play Protect" alert is shown and the app is not installed. However, an unsigned application (app-debug.apk) can be installed without problems.

The error message:

Play Protect doesn't recognise this app's developer. Apps from unknown developers can sometimes be unsafe.

Why this error happened? What's the solution?

Answer 1

I found the solution: Go to the link below and submit your application.

Play Protect Appeals Submission Form

After a few days, the problem will be fixed

Answer 2

There are three options to get rid of this warning:

1. You need to disable Play Protect in Play Store -> Play Protect -> Settings Icon -> Scan Device for security threats
2. Publish app at Google Play Store
3. Submit an Appeal to the Play Protect.

Answer 3

Try to create a new key store and replace with old one, then rebuild a new signed APK.

Update: Note that if you're using a http connection with server ,you should use SSL.

Take a look at: https://developer.android.com/distribute/best-practices/develop/understand-play-policies

Answer 4

Google play finds you as developer via your keystore.

and maybe your country IP is banned on Google when you generate your new keystore.

change your IP Address and generate new keystore, the problem will be fixed.

if you didn't succeed, use another Gmail in Android Studio and generate new keystore.

Answer 5

I am adding this answer for others who are still seeking a solution to this problem if you don't want to upload your app on playstore then temporarily there is a workaround for this problem.

Google is providing safety device verification api which you need to call only once in your application and after that your application will not be blocked by play protect:

Here are there the links:

https://developer.android.com/training/safetynet/attestation#verify-attestation-response

Link for sample code project:

https://github.com/googlesamples/android-play-safetynet

Answer 6

the only solution worked for me was using java keytool and generating a .keystore file the command line and then use that .keystore file to sign my app

you can find the java keytool at this directory C:\Program Files\Java\jre7\bin

open a command window and switch to that directory and enter a command like this

keytool -genkey -v -keystore my-release-key.keystore -alias alias_name -keyalg RSA -keysize 2048 -validity 10000

Keytool prompts you to provide passwords for the keystore, your name , company etc . note that at the last prompt you need to enter yes.

It then generates the keystore as a file called my-release-key.keystore in the directory you're in. The keystore and key are protected by the passwords you entered. The keystore contains a single key, valid for 10000 days. The alias is a name that you — will use later, to refer to this keystore when signing your application.

For more information about Keytool, see the documentation at: http://docs.oracle.com/javase/6/docs/technotes/tools/windows/keytool.html

and for more information on signing Android apps go here: http://developer.android.com/tools/publishing/app-signing.html

Answer 7

If you are using some trackers like google analytics or amplitude and you are trying to release your app in another platforms other than Google Play, this errors appears for users. So there are two possible solutions:

1. Use special trackers in your app (firebase and appmetrica are tested and are ok)
2. Release your app in Google Play

Answer 8

it is due to expired of debug certificate simply delete the debug.keystore located at

C:\Users\.android\

after that build your project the build tools will regenerate a new key and it will work fine. here is a reference:

https://developer.android.com/studio/publish/app-signing

Answer 9

the solution lies in creating a new key when generating the signed apk. this worked for me without a fuss.

1. click on Build
2. click generate signed Bundle/APK...
3. choose either Bundle / APK (in my case APK) and click Next
4. click on create new (make sure you have a keystore path on the machine)
5. after everything, click finish to generate your signed apk

when you install, the warning will not come.

Answer 10

I solved this problem by changing my application package name according to signature certificate details. At first I created application with com.foo.xyz but my certificate organization was 'bar'. So I change my package name to com.bar.xyz and now there is no google play protect warning!

Answer 11

There is no very precise way to solve this problem, but the following tasks can be effective in solving the problem

• Click Invalid Caches/Restart

• Do the login process of Android Studio

• Click generate signed Bundle / APK

• Fill in all the "generate signed Bundle" information completely.

• Do not use the same password. Make sure your passwords are different in "generate signed Bundle" different. Preferably enter the address of America with the code 01

• It is probably sensitive to Persian, so it is better not to write in Persian in the program. Write the program menu in English and make it Persian in the next updates

• Remove extra permissions

• Finally, go to the site below and request a troubleshooting https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/2992033?hl=en

• Fill in the first and last name correctly

• Upload the installation file, for example, in Dropbox, and copy the link

• If you are using Dropbox, be sure to change the number zero at the end of the link to one, then submit it or use link shortening sites.

• If your request is not approved, shorten the link of the installation file, for example, using the https://bit.ly site

• In the description section, explain the problem. For your convenience, I will leave a sample text for you :

   Greetings to the esteemed Google Team
  
   I am sending this request to fix the "Blocked by Pay Protect" error
  
   ****{Write your app info and your reasons}****
  
   Fast, simple, free and lightweight, no annoying ads ,This app does not collect and store user data! 
   Also, no unnecessary cost is imposed on the user and is completely free , It 
   also certifies that this app does not harm user privacy and is not harmful to users
  
   Thank you
  

• If you did not receive the confirmation email, repeat the request again a few days later

Answer 12

Try the old certificate
I found one of them on github (created before 2017)
https://github.com/patrickfav/uber-apk-signer/blob/main/src/main/resources/debug.keystore
It works for me
In gradle:

signingConfigs {
    certificate {
        storeFile file('debug.keystore')
        storePassword "android"
        keyAlias "androiddebugkey"
        keyPassword "android"
    }
}

...

signingConfig signingConfigs.certificate

Answer 13

If there were hardware changes, try to re-download or re-create jks file.

I also faced such problem, it occured after moving my SSD from one PC to another. This gave a hint that there were no need to send the app to Google for verification: an old apk file was installing with no warning. So I replaced an android.jks on my hard drive with the one from the cloud, created a signed apk and the problem has gone.

Answer 14

This error usually happens if you try to install an app from .apk file. The first thing you can do is to disable Play Protect from the inside of Play Store app in your phone:

Open Google Play Store app --> Play Protect --> Click Settings Icon on the top --> Disable scanning apps for security

Note: It is recommended that you enable it back again after finishing installation for security purposes.

Now after this you should be able to install the app. If you still receive error saying something like Error, app was not installed when you click on the .apk file, it means you have installed version of that app already. Uninstall the app first then you can install the app from .apk file without problem.

Answer 15

Update: The following method doesn't work anymore.

Not the solution, but you can use debug key for signing release builds to avoid blocking the installation from Google Play Protect. It looks like Play Protect doesn't warn for builds signed with automatically generated debug.keystore.

Note that your debug builds are not unsigned, they are just signed with a debug key.

Of course, you cannot use the build for production distribution (Google Play, Amazon, etc.), but it's still worth for pre-production internal testing which requires a high-frequency feedback loop.

You can add a task to build release with debug.keystore by adding the configuration in build.gradle, something like:

android {
  buildTypes {
    // add after the `release` definition
    releaseDebugKey { initWith release }
  }

  signingConfigs {
    // use debug.keystore for releaseDebugKey builds
    releaseDebugKey { initWith debug }
  }
}

then execute ./gradlew assembleReleaseDebugKey to build a release build with debug key.

Answer 16

I kept getting this issue after installing my app on a real device for debug.

And the problem was that I had android:exported="true" attribute present on the main activity in manifest file. I removed it and Play Protect warning disappeared.