Google has an app to prevent you from accessing your funded phone if you stop paying for it

Google recently released a new list of apps on the Play Store, called Device Lock Controller, which “enables device management for credit providers.” In other words, it can be used to lock you out of your phone if you’re not keeping up with a creditor’s payments. However, Google claims that the list of Play Store apps is an error that will be removed soon. The app was launched earlier this year in collaboration with Kenyan operator Safaricom to fund Android Go devices.

According to the XDA developers, the app connects to the DeviceAdminService API for its system-level locking functionality – the same API used by corporate management to control work devices – and it can’t be disabled. “Basic features” like emergency calls and access to settings remain available according to the application list when the phone has been “restricted”, a euphemism for being locked.

The new app list was not indexed for search on the Play Store and does not appear in Google’s published apps list. The oldest recording we can find dates on sale on the Play Store to the original cover of XDA on November 6th. Google has since said the app was launched in collaboration with Kenyan operator Safaricom for a new financing plan for Android Go devices. The carrier’s current policy locks the device after four days of non-payment. As far as we can tell, there is no evidence that it is used by other companies at this time.

Google claims that the Play Store listing’s publication was a mistake and will be removed soon, although it is still ongoing at the time of writing (and being held for posterity just above and in Internet archives). It remains to be seen whether Google will expand this app and fund its app partnership to other operators, although XDA Mishaal rahman claims there are plans to expand it.

While most of us accept financing as a necessary evil or a way to get a good deal on a phone, this type of aggressive app probably wouldn’t be welcomed in other markets. Most payment plan users probably don’t consider the phone in their pocket to be the property of their carrier, although this is technically true, and there is a question of legality in some countries when it comes to secure credit. compared to unsecured credit and that forms a funded phone. take.