In this guide, we will show you the steps to quarantine apps on your Android device. The fourteenth iteration of the OS has just been released in a stable state for the users. Likewise, the Silicon Valley giant is also concurrently running its beta builds for those users who have voluntarily signed in as beta testers. These set of users will be blessed with Quarterly Platform Release or QPR Beta updates as well.
Apart from bringing in bug fixes and performance improvements, these update also comes with a few interesting features. At the time of writing, Google has just rolled out the QPR 2 Beta update, which brings in some intriguing features along with itself. Some of the noteworthy ones include the likes of partial screen recording, faster updates installation, new privacy indicators, and the ability to remove At a Glance [finally].
Adding to that list is the ability to quarantine apps on your Android device. But what exactly is this feature and how you could put it to the test? Let’s find out.
Table of Contents
What are Quarantine Apps on Android 14
Once you quarantine an app on Android 14, it will no longer be accessible from the app drawer [or any location for that matter]. That app’s icon will be greyed out [but still visible on the home screen] and if you tap on it, you’ll be greeted with the following message: “App isn’t available right now. This is managed by Settings”. Right below that will be the option to Unquarantine that app as well.
However, as far as the usability of this feature is concerned, it currently begs quite a few questions. First and foremost, going by the textbook definition of Quarantine, it should have hidden the app or at least placed it in a separate section, rather than still letting it be visible in the app drawer. That way it would have also checkmarked the ability to hide an app, which is a basic feature on many devices but has never made its way over to the Pixel devices.
Moreover, this feature does nothing from a privacy or security point of view, because apart from the fact that the app is visible to everyone [albeit in a greyed-out state], they could easily unquarantine the app as well. Still, the major saving grace in all of this is the fact that the feature is currently in the beta testing stage and we might witness some more polishing before it ultimately reaches the stable build of the OS.
How to Quarantine Apps on Android 14
- Head over to Settings > About Phone > Tap on Build Number 7 times.
- This will enable Developer Options. So go to System > Developer Options.
- Then go to Quarantine Apps and enable the toggle next to the desired app.
How to Remove Apps from Quarantine on Android 14
There are two different ways to “unquarantine” an app. Let’s check out both of them:
- METHOD 1: Long press on an app in the app drawer and select Unquarantine.
- METHOD 2: Go to Settings > System > Developer Options > Quarantine Apps > disable the toggle next to the desired app.
That’s it. This was all from this guide on how you could quarantine apps on your Android device. If you have any queries concerning the aforementioned steps, do let us know in the comments. We will get back to you with a solution at the earliest. Likewise, we will update this section if there are any changes to this feature once it reaches the stable stage.
