Play Protect could soon let you rescan potentially harmful apps

Google will soon be adding an important feature to the Play Protect app. The Android ecosystem’s safeguard against malicious applications could soon let users rescan an app for any threat without uninstalling it. The upcoming feature for the Play Protect app will be useful in cases when it incorrectly labels an app as malicious.

Play Protect could soon get a new “Rescan” button

The latest Play Protect scan feature has been spotted in version 41.9.17 of the Google Play Store app. The upcoming update to the Play Protect app will add a new “Rescan” button on the app scan page. Currently, the app only offers a single “Uninstall” option. It forces you to uninstall a harmful application as soon as they are detected.

However, soon you will not have the only choice to uninstall the app, which may have been incorrectly labeled as threatening. You will be able to run another scan of that particular application. This feature will be helpful for those who load apps on their devices from third-party sources. These sources are usually mistakenly labeled as harmful by the Play Protect app.

According to the source, the upcoming Play Protect rescan feature is currently in development. It is not directly available in version 41.9.17 of the Play Store app. It was only found in an APK teardown of the Play Store app. As you can see in the photo below, the rescan option will be available in the top-right corner of the scan screen.

The new feature is expected to be available in the next update to the Play Protect application soon. We will inform you as soon as the new functionality goes live.

A more powerful local APK scanning feature is also coming

In related news, Google will also boost Play Protect’s local app scanning capabilities in the coming updates. The Play Protect service will soon be more efficient in scanning local APK files to protect your devices against malware. Google will integrate the new YARA scanning features in the Play Store app.

The YARA tool will provide a rule-based approach when it comes to detecting malware families. The new safety feature will allow Play Protect to detect a wider range of malware more efficiently. This functionality was spotted in the previous version 41.7.16 of the Play Store app. It should roll out to all users in the coming days.