NSA Planned to Hijack Google App Store to Hack Smartphones

Wouldn't it be much easier to buy some of the leaky/crapy but popular apps, and then infect the target phones? Or, perhaps develop few apps providing free backup/storage/VPN/proxy services? There are so many small companies provide phone backup services who technically ask for all critical permissions in the phones. There are many flash light apps who ask for so many unnecessary permissions, yet their downloads are in millions.

Certainly, Apple app screening would be pain in the a$$, but Google play store is still very flexible.

I wonder how many other apps are leaking like sieves?

   According to the top-secret document, the agencies
   discovered that the UC Browser app was leaking a gold mine
   of identifying information about its users’ phones. 

Does anyone know how it was leaking? Was it just neglecting to use SSL?