Android users may see fewer “File might be harmful” warnings in Chrome in the near future

Chrome is constantly testing new features and evolving. A new feature in the works now indicates that Android users will be getting fewer APK download warnings in Chrome.

There’s a lot of risk when you’re downloading APK files from places other than Google Play Store. In fact, if it ends up being malicious, it could create loads of problems on your Android phone and cause you headache after headache. Of course, Google wants to warn you about these risks, and Chrome on Android displays a warning prompt when you try to download APK files from another website.

This feature is undoubtedly useful, but the warnings can be overwhelming and unnecessary sometimes. You see warnings “File might be harmful” even if you’ve enabled Google Play Protect (GPP). GPP basically scans your apps and files to determine if they are malicious.

Google is reportedly working on eliminating unnecessary APK download warnings, specifically when you have Play Protect enabled on your device.

This won’t get rid of all download warnings though. The “File might be harmful” warning will still be visible to users when downloading a file if you have disabled Google Play Protect.

This feature is currently being tested, so it’s unclear when it will make it an official release.

In my opinion, warnings are always important but too many warnings can create the opposite effect and people might start ignoring them. If we have fewer warnings, then those will be more attention-worthy. However, I don’t consider getting rid of all warnings if you have GPP activated to be the best solution. It’s always good to have some sort of indication to users that they may be doing something bad for their phone.