Google Play Store to offer incognito mode and better device security

Even though the Google Play Store has had its fair share of malicious apps, its security still makes it the safest way to get new apps on your device. A few upcoming Play Store security features will soon make this even more true.

According to XDA Developers, the Play Store looks like it will be introducing an incognito mode for private downloads, and it will remind users to revoke previously allowed sideloading permissions from other apps. With ever-growing privacy concerns, Google is trying to provide its users with more privacy-focused features.

A Play Store incognito mode should allow users to browse and download applications without their data being collected. We aren’t sure exactly what information will be kept from the Google Play Store, but any new security measure is always a good thing.

But the Google Play Store is not the only way to get new apps onto your Android device. Whether through a third-party app store like F-Droid or the Amazon Appstore or by downloading and installing APKs directly from a mobile browser, Android users have several ways to download new applications.

Also read: Here’s how Google fought sketchy Play Store apps in 2018

In Android 8 and earlier, users had to enable the ability to universally download APKs from outside of the Play Store. In Android 9, Google required the user to enable this for each individual application. Soon, a new Google Play Store security feature will build upon that and remind users to revoke those permissions afterward. This is a big security improvement, as it helps prevent third-party applications from secretly downloading malicious software.

We aren’t sure when these security features will be added to the Play Store, but we expect it will be sooner than later.