This morning I noticed that an app was silently installed on my device. Android System Safetycore.
So what is this app for? Supposedly it is designed to blur any images that are sent to or from you the user.
Android Authority Article Snippet
Sensitive Content Warnings is another new Google Messages feature that Google is announcing today. It’s a feature that gives you more control over seeing and sending images that may contain nudity. Sensitive Content Warning blurs images that may contain nudity before viewing them, and it then prompts you with a “speed bump” that contains “help-finding resources and options, including to view the content.” When it’s enabled and you try to send or forward an image that may contain nudity, Google Messages will also show a “speed bump” that reminds you of the risks of sending nude imagery. - Android Authority
The feature seems to be geared towards google messages.
However why this needed to be a seperate app isn’t really known. Why not just a feature within the google messages app? Google gives no explanation.
Another Android Authority Snippet
Warnings check runs entirely on-device, it didn’t mention that it will actually be powered by an entirely separate app and not Google Messages itself. - Android Authority
Google claims it runs entirely on your phone. Whether that’s true? ¯_(ツ)_/¯
According to my device, the app can have internet access restricted to it (via phone settings) implying that the app does have internet access. Any apps that dont have internet access wouldn’t be in my settings list for restricting network access.
Here’s the developer page. Not much in terms of detail going on there.
Here is the app on Play store with its further lacking detail and currently plunging reviews. Interestingly it seems the app has many good odd sounding reviews. Furthermore, all the new reviews are very negative. The app was 3.8 this morning. Plunging.
The whole concept of the feature isn’t a bad one. However, I certainly dont wish for it to be automatically installed on my device as a seperate app. A feature that is supposedly for a messaging platform that I don’t even have activated on my device.
I removed it myself as it can be uninstalled. It doesn’t show up on play store by search, however you can look up the app link online and get a direct link to it. Which I put here.
Spyware? A helpful feature? I don’t want it on my phone anyways.
(Yes this is a repost, I hope it isn’t considered spam. Yes I did also delete the original one :/ . Goodnight 🥱!)
If I had a nickel for every time I reported a pervy corporation to the ACCC, I’d have two nickels– which isn’t a lot, but it’s weird that it happened twice.
Good ole Phineas and Ferb
Why was this post removed from “youshouldknow” community?
That’s a mistake on my end. I have it cross posted again.
Thanks, uninstalled
I don’t understand why they’d make this a separate app and not a configurable setting in Messages.
Honestly, if the app was open-source so we can check it does not leak data, I would probably have no issue with it.
Making it a separate app makes sense if google wants to allow other apps to re-use the code. No reason to have the same functionality bundled into each app separately.
And the feature, as long as it is configurable, seems useful.
The auto-install is bad but understandable. As far as I am aware, there is no easy way to mark an app as a dependency of another app so it gets automatically installed only when needed. This should be fixed, but auto-install for all is not terrible temporary solution. This does not apply when the app is closed source and may steal your data.
Doesn’t appear to be on my phone or in the Google play store
Have to be honest first Android lost my support when they did their best to kill Micro SD cards then they decided to make connecting mtp only which absolutely ruined using a cable to transfer anything then came the head phone jack being removed.
The final nail on the coffin was scoped storage which made things so much slower it seemed absolutely ridiculous and also stopped you from being able to use files with the app you might have wanted.
At this point I’m kind of hoping something like Tizen or even Harmony Os takes over.
Why you blaming the OS for manufacturers issues. There are still phones out there with microSD and 3.5mm. Probably also some with decent transfer stuff. Funnily enough, even if another OS took over, it won’t necessarily bring back all the features you want, since they are hardware based. And OS is software.
Because these features where all there and worked perfectly before Google decided to kill them. Are you really arguing every manufacturer in the world added scoped storage on their own.
I’ll also add scoped storage is about 20 times slower and broke many legacy apps as well.
Google doesn’t tell the manufacturers what hardware to include/remove stop yelling at clouds
Google absolutely did gimp Micro SD cards even the phones that have them still you can’t hot swap them because it gets merged with the primary storage instead.
Pretty obvious Google did this to sell their cloud storage when before you could switch cards at will easily.
Wait how do I restrict apps’ access to the inthernet what phone lets me do that
You can do that with GrapheneOS.
What about LineageOS?
If you root it, sure. Unfortunately lots of misguided fools on the internet, including Lineage’s authors will try to convince it’s not a good idea.
And what if I want to see and send nudes? Google, mind your business.
It’s into the 2s now. Not ok to push something like this automatically. Should be opt-in.
Thanks for the post. I had it on my phone as well. A couple days ago the messenger app forced me to update, I wonder if they are related.
I first heard about this 2 days ago and it want installed on my phone at that time. Just checked again on a whim and sure enough it was installed!
Google, nobody asked for your safety center bullshit app.
Hmm, don’t seem to have it on my GrapheneOS phone. :)
Ditto
Checked my second GOS user profile with google services, just to make sure – nothing to be seen.
Wow, thanks for this. I do have it sneakily installed by Google to my phone, without my knowledge or consent. If that ain’t malware behavior, idk what that is.
As long as it just concern Google Messages I’m fine since I don’t ever use that
