Google Play changed their requirements for call and SMS permissions, to limit the apps that are allowed to use these permissions. Google Play notified us that Malwarebytes for Android and ChromeOS version 3 would be one of many affected by these changes.
We had appealed this decision, however, we are required to make these changes because anti-virus / security use cases are no longer permitted to access these permissions. Documentation of this new Google Play policy can be found here:
Use of SMS or Call Log permission groups - Play Console Help
Unfortunately, this means that we were required to remove any features that rely on these permissions. Those features are:
- Call Protection
- Scan links sent via SMS
- SMS Device Control
As of Malwarebytes Mobile Security version 3.6, these features have been removed from the app. We apologize for any inconvenience.