As of today, the app camouflage feature is no longer available on our Android application. This surely unexpected modification for some came to be due to restrictions present in Android’s privacy and proper behavior guidelines for developers.

Many will have noticed that the 24th of July Prey was unlisted from the Play Store for a short period of time, during which it was sanctioned due to the following Google Play’s Developer privacy policy.

Apps that monitor or track a user's behavior on a device must comply with these requirements:

• Apps must not present themselves as a spying or secret surveillance solution.
• Apps must not hide or cloak tracking behavior or attempt to mislead users about such functionality.

Prey’s hit the 10-year mark this 2019, and we have come a long way since its early stages. User privacy has always been our priority and, as policies change, we will do so too and evolve to continue providing a transparent solution.

It was never our intention to violate these guidelines. The camouflage feature was intended to hide the application from thieves while users took action in locating and protecting their devices, gaining some extra time and trying to avoid the deletion of the app itself. 

However, as we move towards active tracking, with the Location History, and reactive security, with Control Zones Actions, the loss of the camouflage isn’t much of a loss, but a transition towards a more proactive way for our users to deal with device loss.

We apologize for the inconvenience this might generate and, for the time being, say farewell to one of our fan’s favorites!

iOS users will continue to have access to the alternative camouflage version, which doesn’t hide the app itself from the tray, but turns the app’s home screen and login into a dummy game.