On Android, it’s common for our list of apps to grow, and not just because of the apps we install from the Play Store: Google, in order to add features and improve the performance of the smartphone, installs critical components such as Android System Intelligence or Android System WebView . Now a new guest arrives on the phone that you may have already seen.This is Android System SafetyCore , an application that has suddenly appeared on many users’ phones. Don’t worry, it’s not a virus or any kind of malware. In fact, as you can imagine, it’s from Google itself and provides certain utilities to the operating system and therefore to our mobile.
What is Android System SafetyCore and why is it installed?
For a few months now, some users have noticed a change on their Android phone: a new app called Android System SafetyCore has suddenly appeared. If you are keeping up with Google Play system updates and the other apps we mentioned above, you will know that the new one presented to us is from Google .
Well, as has happened in the past with other apps, Android System SafetyCore installs itself without asking for permission , and you may even have it installed without even realizing it. First of all, we recommend not getting alarmed by its arrival, since it is not a malicious app; secondly, it is important for you to know that it can be uninstalled.
But what is it really for? Google introduced this app to detect confidential and sensitive content in its in-house service, Google Messages. Its job is to scan messages for private information or content in order to censor it.
Plus, you might not only see it on your phone, but also on your Android TV or Google TV devices : the changelog of one of the latest Google Play system updates reveals that it’s coming to smartphones and the Android TV branch (basically, Android TV).
This app is also accompanied by another Google app, which we care less about: Android System Key Verifier is aimed at developers. By the way, it is also uninstallable. However, they will not take up too much space in the internal memory, so you may not even notice that you have them: SafetyCore takes up 44.07 MB and Key Verifier about 10.72 MB (tested on a Pixel) although it may vary depending on the device.
Although we have mentioned its direct application in Google Messages, this system service could be integrated in other apps such as WhatsApp or Telegram in the future. At the moment, the only official information says very little about SafetyCore.
Android System SafetyCore (com.google.android.safetycore) is an Android system component that provides apps with an on-device user protection infrastructure that preserves privacy.
