AppXpose AppXpose
Research

May 2026

What 3,745 App Scans Reveal About Android Privacy.

Real data from the AppXpose corpus. Every chart is generated from actual scans. No estimates, no marketing numbers.

How we detect trackers and score risk · Browse individual app scan results

3,745
Apps Analyzed
190
Tracker Signatures
61.4%
MEDIUM+ Risk
4,798
Tracker Occurrences
Tracker SDKs

Where Trackers Hide.

190 verified tracker signatures across 17 categories

Analytics dominates. Nearly half of all tracker signatures serve analytics or advertising purposes. 41 false-positive infrastructure libraries (Guava, Protobuf, RxJava, etc.) were removed after manual review.

By Category

Which App Categories Track You Most?

Average tracker count per app by Play Store category

Your banking app has more trackers than your social media app. Finance apps average 13.5 trackers per app. The industry handling your most sensitive data is also the most aggressive tracker. Weather apps hit a maximum of 20 trackers. They sell your location to advertisers.

Based on AppXpose corpus. Categories from Google Play Store. Sample sizes vary by category.

Risk Distribution

How Risky Are Your Apps?

Risk score distribution across 3,745 scanned apps

LOW (0–29) 1,440 38.5%
MEDIUM (30–59) 1,756 46.9%
HIGH (60–79) 543 14.5%
CRITICAL (80–100) 6 0.2%

1 in 7 apps we've scanned scores HIGH or CRITICAL risk. That's 549 apps actively putting user data at risk.

Top Offenders

The Most Tracker-Loaded Apps We've Found.

Highest tracker count per app in our corpus

An app called "AI Browser: Safe & Fast" contains 30 trackers and scores HIGH risk. Names mean nothing. Code doesn't lie.

Permissions

Permissions Most Requested by Risky Apps.

Found in HIGH and CRITICAL risk apps only

300 HIGH-risk apps request ad tracking attribution. 156 request microphone access. These aren't features. They're surveillance infrastructure.

Heatmap

Permission Risk Heatmap.

% of apps per category requesting each permission

What Permissions Are Android Apps Actually Requesting?
% of apps per category requesting each permission · based on real device scans
Finance apps demand 100% GPS, Camera & Phone Identity. Shopping apps access Camera at 94%. Social apps read Contacts on 57% of installs.
Notable finding
data by AppXpose · appxpose.app

Scan Your Own Apps.

See what's really running on your phone. Takes 30 seconds. No sign-up needed.

GET IT ON JETZT BEI Google Play