Due to a temporary server failure, Google Play Protect erroneously flagged two Samsung apps, Messages and Wallet, as potentially harmful, leading to warnings for certain Samsung Galaxy smartphone users about potential data privacy concerns
Google Play Protect, an Android security feature, recently issued erroneous warnings for two Samsung apps, Messages and Wallet, alerting certain Galaxy smartphone users. Google Play Protect is a security system that alerts users to potentially intrusive apps and games capable of accessing personal data, such as call logs, messages, and images. In a recent malfunction, it incorrectly flagged Messages and Wallet as harmful, despite their legitimacy.
A report from 9to5Google revealed that Samsung Galaxy smartphone users received warnings from Google Play Protect, Google’s security service, concerning the potential risks posed by the Samsung Messages and Wallet apps. These warnings indicated that the apps were attempting to access personal data, including SMS messages, photos, audio recordings, and call history.
The issues with the Samsung Messages and Wallet apps were subsequently attributed to a temporary server failure. Google has since resolved the problem, and Samsung has confirmed that users can now use the apps without concerns.
A message on the Samsung Community forum confirmed, “The issue of devices being marked as potentially harmful due to a temporary Google server failure, causing a pop-up notification of a device security problem while using the Samsung Messages app, has been resolved. Users can now use it normally.”
Users of Samsung Messages and Wallet can safely dismiss the Google Play Protect warning. If the problem persists, users can ignore the warning, attempt a phone restart, clear the cache and data of the Google Play Store app, force the app to stop, or uninstall and reinstall it. Additionally, users can reset the apps by following these steps:
- Navigate to Settings.
- Select Apps.
- Click on the More options icon.
- Choose “Reset app settings.”
- Confirm the reset and then restart the device.
Resetting app preferences restores default settings for all apps, including disabled apps, notifications, background data usage, and permissions, without affecting existing app data. Samsung assures users that resetting the app will enable them to use the Messages app again.
It is important to note that users should not disable Google Play Protect. Google Play Protect scans apps and devices for potentially harmful behavior, checking apps from the Google Play Store for safety before download and scanning devices for potentially harmful apps from other sources, including malware. It warns users about any potentially harmful apps it detects.
To enable Google Play Protect:
- Open the Google Play Store app.
- Tap the profile icon in the top right corner.
- Tap “Play Protect Settings.”
- Turn “Scan apps with Play Protect” on or off.
