Google Bans Cryptocurrency Mining Apps From the Play Store

guest · Jul 26, 2018

Google Bans Cryptocurrency Mining Apps From the Play Store
July 26, 2018
https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/ne...yptocurrency-mining-apps-from-the-play-store/

Google has updated the Play Store policy page this week to ban apps that mine cryptocurrencies on users' devices.

"We don't allow apps that mine cryptocurrency on devices," the newly added policy entry reads.
Google will still allow mining apps on the Play Store, but only those that are used to control cryptocurrency mining operations on remote devices —such as servers or desktops.
Untethered cryptocurrency mining can destroy devices
Preventing cryptocurrency mining on Android is crucial because untethered mining operations can easily overheat or destroy batteries —or even devices if the battery case deforms, leaks, or catches fire.
Apple banned mining apps last month
The company's decision to ban cryptocurrency mining apps on the Play Store comes after Apple banned mining apps from the App Store at the start of June.
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__Nikopol · Jul 26, 2018

I can confirm that it does damage your device
You would think it would throttle not to overheat, but meh...

guest · Aug 17, 2018

Google Play promised to ban cryptocurrency mining apps, but we found tons
August 17, 2018
https://thenextweb.com/hardfork/2018/08/17/google-cryptocurrency-mining-apps/

“We don’t allow apps that mine cryptocurrency on devices,” the Big G wrote in its updated developer policies last month. “We permit apps that remotely manage the mining of cryptocurrency.”
But this isn’t stopping developers from pushing smartphone mining software to the Play Store anyway.

One app we found, called MinerGate, has been live for over a year and has over 1,000,000 downloads. [...] In short, this shows that the app is communicating with a mining pool to confirm and add blocks to a blockchain – it’s mining.
Along with MinerGate, there are still plenty of other apps that claim to be able to mine cryptocurrency, generating profit directly from your smartphone.

It’s clear that Google need to sharpen up when it comes to enforcing their policy updates. But even if these mining apps do get removed, it doesn’t mean that the world will be entirely safe from crypto-jacking or cryptocurrency mining malware.
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Update August 17, 15:10 PM UTC: Google has since contacted Hard Fork to clarify developers have 30 days to ensure their apps adhere to its revised policies. This would explain why certain mining apps (listed before last month’s ban) continue to appear on the Play Store.
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guest · Sep 4, 2018

Google erroneously banned a cryptocurrency mining app with 1M+ downloads
Maybe we should now refer to the whole debacle as MinerGate(gate)
September 4, 2018
https://thenextweb.com/hardfork/2018/09/04/google-minergate-cryptocurrency-apps/

The removed app – MinerGate – originally offered both on-device mining and a remote cloud mining management functionality. To comply with the updated terms of service from the Big G, MinerGate removed the on-device mining feature from its app.

“Mining on your phone directly was among the core features of the MinerGate app before the last changes in Google Play Development policies,” a MinerGate spokesperson told Hard Fork. “With the last update, we are removing this functionality to meet the updated requirements.” Despite that, Google proceeded to purge the app from the Play Store.

MinerGate was part of the minority to actually update its app to comply with the new terms. Understandably MinerGate is bemused to say the least at the news of the apps removal.
[...] It would seem that while Google has intentions to protect both developers and users of the Play Store, it is inconsistent with the enforcement of its terms of service.
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guest · Sep 25, 2018

Cryptojacking apps return to Google Play Market
At least 25 Android apps on the official Google Play store contain code that mines cryptocurrencies in the background
September 24, 2018
https://news.sophos.com/en-us/2018/09/24/cryptojacking-apps-return-to-google-play-market/

SophosLabs recently discovered 25 apps on Google Play that disguise themselves as games, utilities and educational apps, but under the hood they turn victim’s mobile device into cryptocurrency churning rigs. These apps had been downloaded and installed more than 120,000 times.

Most of the apps were found to have embedded code from Coinhive, a JavaScript implementation to mine Monero. Coinhive is specifically written to crunch numbers using CPUs (as opposed to graphics processors), which makes it a perfect candidate for covert mining on mobile devices.

These apps use CPU throttling to limit CPU usage by mining, and thus avoid the usual pitfalls: Device overheating, high battery drain, and overall device sluggishness – a mistake made by the mobile mining malware Loapi last year.
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