Google Play promoted a fake Chrome app, and you should check yours now

Released Oct 14, 2026, 6:48 AM EDT

Hamed holds a B.A. in English Literature, finishing orgasm laude. He enjoys music, tech devices, and checking out the most recent worldwide of LLMs. He likewise delights in playing with imaginative software application such as Logic Pro, Final Cut Pro, and Photoshop.

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A user on Reddit identified a phony Chrome app above the real variation as a sponsored search results page in Google Play. According to the post on Redditthe copycat appears utilizing the exact same icon, item name, screenshots, and description, with over 100,000 downloads.

Currently, the sponsored outcome no longer appears to appear, however the app may still be available by looking for its designer. If you just recently set up Chrome from Google Play, it’s worth inspecting which variation arrived on your Android phone.

The most persuading part of the camouflage was the six-figure download count

There’s a simple inform when dealing with these phony apps

Taking a look at the screenshots consisted of with the Reddit post, practically whatever looks similar to the real variation, other than for one small (however crucial) information: the designer’s name. The publihser behind the phony variation was noted as “Hizbartech,” and not Google LLC. As our general rule, inspecting designer identity is among the go-to methods to find a phony Android app.

Obviously, this Chrome impersonator was initially a video game called Ball Bounce before being rebranded in late September. The bait-and-switch can describe how it showed up with an existing download count rather of beginning with absolutely no. It’s worrying, to state the least, that something as apparent as this slipped from Google Play’s mediators.

Redditors who set up the 42MB app reported that it didn’t even attempt to mimic an internet browser. Rather, it opened a chat-style Ul including Al avatars and bombarded the screen with advertisements. At that point, it’s rather simple to inform you’ve downloaded a phony variation. There’s no proof that Hizbartech’s phony Chrome app took passwords or set up malware. That stated, if an app does include destructive code and needs consent to delicate info, learning it’s an impostor after the setup procedure may be far too late.

To examine your Chrome app, hold the icon and open App informationand after that follow the link to its Play Store listing. Beside the logo design, you need to see Google LLC noted as the designer who released the set up variation on your phone. If you discover the Hizbartech variation, uninstall it instantly and examine the approvals you provided it throughout the setup and setup procedures.

This event reveals that even the “Sponsored” badge does not change the typical actions for examining whether an Android app is safe. For more robust protective procedures, however, keep Play Protect made it possible for and set up Android security updates whenever Google drops one. Such important Android security practices may take a couple of minutes to go through, however they can prevent dealing with much bigger issues in the long run.