The Android Operating System has been available for 10 years and lots have gone down the lane in ensuring the security of the kernel and that of apps published on the Google Play Store.

In earlier Android releases, developers have faced challenges peculiar to ensuring security for their API keys, databases, sensitive constants and most importantly the source codes.

Users’ alike experienced lots of trouble with Adware and other malwares that exploited the Operating system by running battery draining mining processes, data theft and these jeopardized their experience and invaded their privacy for years.

Since, the release of Kitkat, Google has implemented some security tools and rules that protect Android and also the Apps that run on it. However, millions of devices still run on older versions of Android and utilizes previous API levels. This creates a tough choice for developers because of the need to support lower OS versions to accommodate more devices while targeting newer versions.

Furthermore, implementing some security features comes at the expense of an increased app size. The size of an app is a great deal to most users. While there are tools to expressly shrink app sizes before submission, there are some best-practices that can ensure an optimized process.

This paper/Session discusses the various tools and implementations that Google and partners have made and how OEMs and Developers can leverage on these to ensure a safe and better User Experience for Android and Chrome OS users.