Google’s Advanced Protection Program will block all third-party Android apps

This logic of limiting third-party apps is understandable from Google’s perspective since these often present greater risks.

Google has updated its Advanced Protection Program for third-party apps on Play Store. (Bloomberg)

The latest changes in Google's Advanced Protection Program is going to come down hard on all Android users who have been downloading apps outside the Play Store. Except for a few exceptions, program participants will no longer be able to install third-party apps on their Android devices.

This logic of limiting third-party apps is understandable from Google's perspective since these often present greater risks and are not scanned for malware before being approved, something Play Store does for its apps. However, restricting what users can do with their devices is a problem.

According to reports, users will be able to install apps from third-party stores that come pre-installed in the device and some apps which are available through the developer tool Android Debug Bridge.

Third-party apps that are already on your device will not be removed and will continue to get updates.

Google is reportedly going to enable Google Play Protect automatically for anyone who is enrolled in the Advanced Protection Program. The Advanced Protection Program automatically scans your device to make sure your mobile security is up-to-date. This also scans all the apps on the Play Store daily.

The catch, however, is that Advanced Protection Program users will not be able to turn Google Play Protect off any more.

These changes are expected to roll out gradually across Android devices and the new malware protections for Chrome will arrive later this year.