Google will soon implement stricter policies for the Android app environment. This includes forcing new apps to comply with all the latest restrictions in the operating system.
The company stated that they will be requiring developers to create apps that comply with the features of whatever Android version is the latest. This is a way to improve the Android app ecosystem, and also to ban malicious apps that take advantage of the operating system's lenient development policies.
As it works right now, developers are not required to comply with latest Android features to get their app in the Play Store. For example, Android 6.0 implemented modular permission which allows users to block apps from gathering specific data. This still does not mean that new apps had to adhere to this new restriction. Developers just need to make their apps target a lower "Application Program Interface (API) level," and their app will be exempt from the a la carte permissions.
Each Android version has a designated API level. Android 8.0 Oreo, for example, is API Level 26. Android 6.0 is API level 23.
Meanwhile, each app has two API level values: "minimum" and "target." The minimum API level just tells the device what earliest version of Android the app will run on.
The "target" API level is much more important because it sets the latest Android version the app can recognize. So, say that the developer wanted their app to bypass modular permissions introduced in Android 6.0. They could just encode that app's target API level to 22, which is lower than Android 6.0. This would then tell devices that it does not recognize Android 6.0 and above, and will thus be exempt from modular permissions.
This becomes especially problematic when important features are implemented on newer Android versions. For instance, Android 8.0 implemented a feature that turned off power-hogging apps in the background to improve performance. Developers who want their apps to be resource hogs can simply target an API level lower than 26 to ignore the new resource restrictions.
Google stated that they will be implementing the stricter development policies starting next year.
