Google announced that its built-in antivirus software for the best Android phones is getting a major upgrade designed to stop malicious apps from evading detection.

Regardless of which Android phone you pick up, Google Play Protect comes preinstalled to keep you safe. Like many good Android antivirus apps, it scans all existing and newly downloaded apps for malware.

In fact, according to a new blog post from Google, Google Play Protect scans 125 billion different apps every day. However, hackers and other cybercriminals are very resourceful and often come up with ways to circumvent this and other mobile antivirus apps.

One of their methods is to deploy polymorphic malware that constantly changes its identifiable features to evade detection. Alongside this modus operandi, hackers also use social engineering and malicious links to trick unsuspecting users into downloading and installing malicious apps on their devices.

To facilitate detection of new malware, Google has added real-time scanning capabilities to Google Play Protect. These additional safeguards are completely free and are currently available in India and some other countries, but will be rolled out globally in the coming months.

To enhance Google Play Protect's ability to detect new malicious apps, Google is introducing code-level real-time scanning to Google Play Protect.

When this upgrade reaches Android phones, the search giant's mobile antivirus will recommend real-time app scanning when installing new apps that have never been scanned before. This will allow Google as well as its partners in the Android ecosystem to detect new threats faster.

During this real-time scan, Google Play Protect extracts important signals from the apps being scanned and sends them back to Google for code-level assessment. Once this is done, Android users will get a report that lets them know if the app in question is safe to install.

From here, Google uses all the information gathered from these scans to make Android safer by preventing other users from installing potentially dangerous new apps. The best iPhones may still be a step behind Android when it comes to security, but with upgrades like these, the search giant is closing the gap between its mobile operating system and Apple's.

Besides enabling Google Play protection on your Android phone, there are a few other things you can do to protect yourself from malicious apps.

First, side-loading apps should be avoided whenever possible, as they are not subject to the same rigorous security checks as other apps in the Google Play store. Therefore, new apps should only be downloaded from official Android app stores such as the Google Play Store, Amazon Appstore, and Samsung Galaxy Store.

At the same time, you want to be wary of attachments and links sent to you by people you don't know or know well. Once a hacker gains control of someone's account, it is very easy to spam all their contacts with messages containing malicious links. For example, they might encourage you to try a new app, but instead of the Play Store listing, they might send you a link to an APK file that you have to download and install manually. Doing so could result in your smartphone being infected with harmful malware.

Google Play Protect is preinstalled and enabled on Android phones, but paid antivirus apps such as Bitdefender Mobile Security or Norton Mobile Security can be run in parallel to provide additional protection. Similarly, the best identity theft protection services can help you recover from scams and get your life back after falling victim to malicious apps that spread dangerous malware.

Another thing I always recommend is to limit the number of apps you have on your phone. Having fewer apps installed not only reduces storage usage and slows down the device, but it also greatly reduces the chances that some of the apps contain malicious material.

We will know more about Google Play Protect's real-time scanning when this new feature becomes generally available.