Prevent unauthorized redistribution with automatic protection and prompt users to get your app on Google Play

Google Play’s automatic protection is a service that helps you protect your apps and games against unauthorized redistribution and piracy. When users get your protected app from an unknown distribution channel, they’ll be prompted to get your official app from Google Play. Automatic protection works in your app without a data connection. It can be turned on with one click in the Play Console, and requires no developer work before testing and no backend server integration.

How it works

Automatic protection can add the following features to your app:

Installer checks

Anti-tamper protection

Set up

The steps below describe what you need to do to start using automatic protections.

Prerequisites

Step 1: Turn on protection

Step 2: Test your protected app

Step 3: Promote your app to the production track

Customize your store listing when users visit from automatic protection prompts

Automatic protection can prompt users who obtain your app unofficially to get it on Google Play. When users tap on the prompt, they will be redirected to your store listing, where they can tap on the install (or buy or update) button to get your app from Play so that the app is added to the user’s Play library.

You can customize your store listing assets for any visitors who tap on the prompt, including your app’s name, icon, descriptions, and graphic assets. To do so:

Open Play Console and go to the App integrity page (Test and release > App integrity).
Scroll to the "Automatic protection" section.
Click Settings.
Scroll to the "Customize store listing" section.
Click Create listing.
Follow the instructions on the Create custom store listing page and click Save.

Alternatively, you can create the custom store listings for automatic protection prompts directly from Custom store listings page:

Open Play Console and go to the Custom store listings page (Grow users > Custom Store Listings).
Click Create listing, choose whether to create a new listing or duplicate an existing one, and click Next.
In the "Listing details" section, scroll to Target audience.
Select By URL and enter ‘playintegrity’ in the text box.
Fill in all other details and click Save.

Tip: The URL parameter ‘playintegrity’ is a special keyword that’s reserved for integrity deeplinks, so it must be entered exactly and unaltered when setting up the custom store listing.