Google Play Protect causing Bluetooth issues in some smartphones

Google Play Protect has recently made its way across several Android smartphones. The feature unites some of the functionalities that are already present on the Android platform under the Google Play Protect branding. It comes with features like Find My Device and in-built virus scanning functionality. While all of these features are immensely helpful, it is causing issues in some particular handsets.

What problems are being caused?

After the feature made its way into several Android handsets, users began reporting facing a particular issue on some phones, namely the Moto G4 and Moto G4 Plus smartphones. This issue results in Google Play Protect flagging an app, named Bluetooth Share 7.0, as unsafe, even though the app itself does not come with any malicious content. Once the app is flagged in such a way, the security suite asks users whether they want to remove the app.

If the users agree to remove the application, the Google Play Protect service not only removes the app, but also disables the Wi-Fi functionality in the handset.

All of the reported instances occurred on Moto G4 and Moto G4 Plus handsets running on Android 7.0 Nougat. However, users have since found a work around for this issue and following certain steps will ensure that the Bluetooth in the handsets remain active.

How to resolve this issue?

There are two kinds of applications present in smartphones. The system apps are those which come with the handset be default. All other apps that the user downloads via the Google Play Store or other third-party sites do not fall in the system apps category. System apps cannot be deleted from a smartphone, as doing so may sometime cause a lot of issues in the handsets. The Bluetooth share 7.0 that the Google security suite flags as a malicious app is actually a system app on the Moto G4 and Moto G4 Plus.

This means that even though the Play Protect asks permission for removing the Bluetooth Share 7.0 app from the handset, it cannot do so, since it is a system application. To restore proper Bluetooth functionality in these two handsets, users need to follow a quick procedure. They have to go the Settings section and from there select Applications. Inside this option, users can choose to Reset Application Settings.

This will reset the Bluetooth Share 7.0 application. However, doing so may also change some of the settings in the other apps installed on the handset. This fix is a temporary one and Google should release an official fix for the problem soon.