On Saturday morning, you may have noticed an app called “Android Pulse” appear in the list of available updates on Google Play. Instead of an app icon, there’s just a blank square. Opening the Play Store listing reveals that it is Google’s own app intended to “Define anomalies for debugging” rather than something malicious. com.google.android.apps.pulse Google adds: “This application facilitates the distribution of rules for the detection of anomalies in the consumption of critical system resources by the Android operating system and installed applications.” What does Android Pulse do? That’s not a very user-friendly description, but our interpretation is that this service, which has no interface you can access, helps with software diagnostics for the operating system itself and any installed applications. “Critical system resource consumption” could be a reference to battery, CPU, or memory usage. Announcement: Scroll to see more content. This app is already installed on our Pixel devices and is simply known as “Pulse” in the system settings. The app’s information page also displays a green heart rate-inspired icon (as seen in the cover image above). Please let us know if you are viewing this app or updating on non-Pixel devices. According to APKMirror, this app has been around since March, with seven previous versions. Play Store records more than 10 million downloads. However, today is the first time it appears in the Play Store as an update that you can install manually. It’s curious that Google hasn’t used its dedicated System Services approach to updating these types of apps. In short, “Android Pulse” is a Google application that you can have on your phone. FTC: We use automatic affiliate links that generate income. Further.
