To improve the security of our mobile devices recently Google has completely restricted the use of accessibility services by applications that were not created for this, in order to offer accessibility tools for people with disabilities. And that meant apps for recording calls were set to leave the Play Store this May.
We now know that Google won’t just control in the Play Store which apps access the tricky Accessibility permission that gives full control to the device. As well they will limit access to accessibility services to unknown applications
Malware will have a harder time with Android 13
Accessibility services are currently one of Android’s major security issues and the permission given to most malicious apps such as the Flubot virus, which via SMS pretended to be our bank or a transportation agency to invite us to download an APK which would then take full control of our device and steal our data.
The user is always who you must agree to allow an app to access accessibility services, but many users believe the APK to be trustworthy and accept all permissions the app downloaded from an SMS request, ignoring warnings from the operating system. Well, in Android 13 unknown apps they will not be able to ask for such permission
It seems like Google this will limit access to accessibility services, and therefore sensitive permission that gives full control, to apps downloaded from Google Play and trusted stores. Apps downloaded from unknown sources like untrustworthy websites will not be able to access the accessibility permission by default.
When an unknown app tries to trick the user into enabling accessibility permissions, Android 13 shows with a warning that it is a restrained fit
In the current Android 13 beta, there is a way around this limitation. In the “Application Information” section user will be able to allow restricted settings to be able to activate accessibility services for any application, with which the user would continue to be completely free to install and use applications downloaded from any source, although it is not known not whether this option will reach the final version of Android 13.
Through | Wait
In Engadget Android | Google blocked over a million malicious apps from being released on the Play Store in 2021
