Forum Discussion
Play Protect is blocking our DPC app — appeal already submitted, looking for guidance
Hello everyone,
We are currently facing an issue where Google Play Protect is blocking our Android application during device provisioning.
Context:
- It is not distributed via Google Play (but is already published); it is hosted externally and installed during provisioning via QR code.
- The app is properly signed, and provisioning works at the system level, but Play Protect blocks the app with the message “App blocked to protect your device.”
- This started happening recently on new devices / factory reset devices.
We have already submitted the official Play Protect appeal form as recommended in the documentation:
The form was completed with all required information (APK, package name, signing certificate, use case, etc.).
At this point, we are looking for guidance from the community:
- How long does it usually take for the Play Protect appeal form to receive a response or decision?
- Is there any additional step or channel recommended for Android Enterprise DPC apps in this situation?
Any insights or shared experiences would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you in advance for your time and support.
Best regards
Hello rPoyo, gekatz-mce, Craig, ankitsupare, Vitalii, savya and guaregua
I've heard back from the team! Apologies for the delayed answer.
The team explains that the correct procedure for this situation can be seen under the article (https://support.google.com/work/android/answer/16694822).
For DPC apps that are blocked, developers should indeed use the Play Protect Appeals Form to request allowlisting. (more info)
Please note that for the appeal to be successful, the review team must verify that:
- The application is being used strictly for enterprise purposes.
- The app does not violate Mobile Unwanted Software principles. (https://developers.google.com/android/play-protect/mobile-unwanted-software) and
(https://www.google.com/about/unwanted-software-policy.html)
- The app is not classified as a Potentially Harmful Application (PHA) under Google Play Protect definitions.
Once the appeal is reviewed and the app is confirmed to meet these safety standards, the block on the DPC will be lifted.I hope this info will be helpful to all of you!
Please let us know how you get on; in the meantime, I will mark this as the solution so other members can easily find this procedure.
Thanks and chat soon,
Emilie
20 Replies
We're experiencing an issue with Google Play Protect. The Android app is blocked when activating the device using a QR code.
- We reset our device to factory settings and scanned the QR code. And we received a message from Google Play Protect with text "App blocked to protect your device".
- We don’t use third-party mobile device management (MDM) solutions.
- App is hosted externally and installed during provisioning via QR code.
- This worked well until Android 15.
We submitted an appeal on this Form but still have not received a response.
How long does it usually take to receive a response or decision on an appeal from Play Protect?
What additional steps are recommended for Android Enterprise DPC apps in this situation?
Thanks.
Hello rPoyo and Vitalii - welcome to the Customer Community 👋
I've passed your query to our internal team to see if there's anything they can advise; please be aware that this might take a few days.
In the meantime, can I check neither of you is working with an EMM? Have you tried contacting your device manufacturer at all?
It would be really useful to know which steps you've taken so far, if any!
Thank you,
Emilie
Thank you very much for the warm welcome and for escalating this to the internal team — we really appreciate your help.
To answer your questions:
- We are not working with a third-party EMM.
- This is a custom in-house DPC used for corporate-owned devices.
- The app is provisioned via QR code using Android Enterprise fully managed device provisioning.
- The APK is externally hosted (not distributed via Managed Google Play)
This situation has a significant operational impact, as we currently have more than 200,000 corporate-owned devices already enrolled using this DPC. Because of this scale, it is very important for us to clearly understand what has changed and what the correct path forward is, to avoid further disruptions.
We are fully open to adjusting our implementation if needed. In particular, after reviewing the documentation below, we would appreciate guidance on whether we are now required to follow the Android Enterprise DPC approval / registration process in order to prevent Play Protect blocking:
https://support.google.com/work/android/answer/16694822Our goal is to fully comply with Google’s current requirements and ensure continuity for our managed devices.
Please let us know if there is any additional information we can provide to assist the investigation.
Thank you again for your support.
Best regards
Hello everyone,
We are facing an issue where Google Play Protect is blocking our Device Admin Android application during setup. During QR based provisioning after a factory reset Play Protect shows the message App is blocked to protect your device. This issue mainly occurs on Samsung and Lava devices. We have tried creating a very minimal Device Admin implementation removed all unnecessary code built fresh APKs performed a factory reset before each setup and used only QR based provisioning.Has anyone faced a similar issue with Play Protect blocking Device Owner or Device Admin apps?
Thanks in advance.I have the same problem. Did you manage to solve it?
We are facing the same issue here. Since the December 1 Android update release, this issue has become very frequent
Any update?
Hi Emilie_B,
Is there any update from team
Hi, Emilie_B
I am also now getting reports of this happening for our customers.
We are not using an EMM and the devices are sourced by our customer.These devices are used as a point of sale and are owned by our customer not the users.
It is a requirement for our customers to have the DPC app installed so we can restrict access for security compliance to what the users of the device can do.
We have submitted our DPC app for approval, but as this impacting our customers ability to roll out new devices we are at a loss for how to proceed.
Please let me know what can be done to see the status of the process or get approval done sooner.
Regards
Craig
Hello Craig and welcome to the Customer Community!
I'm sorry to hear you're experiencing this issue as well - unfortunately, I am still awaiting some news from our team. I know that this is in progress and being looked at so, please be assured that I will get back to you with an update as soon as possible.
Adding ankitsupare as you were asking about an update as well.
Thank you again for your patience!
Emilie
Hello Emilie_B
Our organization has started experiencing the same issue on Android 14 and Android 15 devices.
Our DPC application is hosted on an internal server and is not distributed via Google Play. The solution is used in warehouse environments for device intake and diagnostics testing, not by end users.
Since upgrading to Android 14+, Play Protect blocks the installation during QR provisioning, even though the same APK and flow worked on Android 13 and below.
Is there any supported way to whitelist or allow-list a privately hosted DPC for provisioning without publishing it to Google Play?
Thanks in advance!
Hello rPoyo, gekatz-mce, Craig, ankitsupare, Vitalii, savya and guaregua
I've heard back from the team! Apologies for the delayed answer.
The team explains that the correct procedure for this situation can be seen under the article (https://support.google.com/work/android/answer/16694822).
For DPC apps that are blocked, developers should indeed use the Play Protect Appeals Form to request allowlisting. (more info)
Please note that for the appeal to be successful, the review team must verify that:
- The application is being used strictly for enterprise purposes.
- The app does not violate Mobile Unwanted Software principles. (https://developers.google.com/android/play-protect/mobile-unwanted-software) and
(https://www.google.com/about/unwanted-software-policy.html)
- The app is not classified as a Potentially Harmful Application (PHA) under Google Play Protect definitions.
Once the appeal is reviewed and the app is confirmed to meet these safety standards, the block on the DPC will be lifted.I hope this info will be helpful to all of you!
Please let us know how you get on; in the meantime, I will mark this as the solution so other members can easily find this procedure.
Thanks and chat soon,
Emilie
Hi Emilie_B
Thanks for the update.
We have submitted for approval before the new year.
As of 6th of Jan this year the app was still not white listed.
Do you know if there is any feedback if your app is not white listed?
How long should we expect this process to take?
My customers that need to provision new devices are chasing us for timelines as the environment they use the devices in means they get damaged and need replacing frequently so they provision new devices weekly.
Regards
Craig
Hi Emilie_B
Is there any indication of how long the process should take?
Reading the documentation around the approval process indicates that you may not get a response if it has been approved or not?
This is making it difficult to communicate timelines to our customer who are blocked from provisioning new devices.
Regards Craig.
