This month, Spotify surprised everyone with the greatest blow against the piracy of music streaming that is remembered: the end of Spotify APKS. These modified versions of the official SPOTIFY app allowed access to exclusive Premium users, such as removing ads, without having to pay anything.
Although Spotify can already be used for free, and it is not mandatory to pay for a premium subscription, some users pirate it to remove the ads and be able to reproduce the songs they want, when they want. How many users are pirates? Because the blocks of the apks revealed that many; In fact, the first reactions in social networks pointed out that the Spotify service had fallen, and pages like Downdector so initially reported. It wasn’t until those affected spoke between them, who really realized that The ‘fall’ only affected pirate users.
Pirates’ reaction was swift; But unlike on other occasions, it has not turned out to be very effective. In the fight against piracy, traditionally every blow of the authorities or the owners of the rights is responded with a new tactic of the pirates. If a download page is closed, shortly after another similar one opens; If an IPTV service for free football closes, it is only necessary to change to another address that is already broadcasting.
In contrast, Spotify piracy really seems to have suffered a rough; But not because it has disappeared, much less. In fact, and how they report TorrentfreakSpotify’s new APK appeared between one and two days after blocking; Therefore, we might think that nothing has changed, and that Spotify still has a piracy problem in the hands. But reality can be very different; There are not only serious doubts that the new APK work, but they can be much more dangerous than the ancients.
According to tests performed by Hybrid Analysis, one of the most downloaded spotify APK has received the “malicious” qualificationwith risks such as “has the ability to record audio” and “has the ability to execute code after the restart.” Although virus scanners have not found anything, those are indicators that the creators of the APK may have included malicious code.
Another thing that Spotify APK has in common is that they require many permits. Among the new requirements is the need to read the SMS messages, calendar inputs, the phone contact list, the details of the SIM card, and even access to the camera. Although it is true that the official Spotify app includes some similar permits, in most cases it is optional for certain functions.
