- Google Play could soon let users install updates for sideloaded apps.
- The change will show users available updates for sideloaded apps on the Play Store and give them the option to “Update from Play.”
- Update: The feature has been spotted rolling out to users.
The feature works as we predicted, allowing the Play Store to reclaim update ownership over sideloaded apps with user consent. However, as Artem Russakovskii points out, the Play Store previously did hijack update ownership over sideloaded apps anyway. The change only makes it clearer that the update is for an app that was installed from an external source.
Original article, July 30, 2024 (11:47 AM ET): The Google Play Store could soon let you install updates for apps that have either been sideloaded or installed from a third-party store. Evidence spotted in Play Store version 42.0.18 suggests that users may see a new “Update from Play” option on Play Store listings for apps installed from third-party sources, giving them the option to download and install updates from the Play Store instead of the original source.
An APK teardown helps predict features that may arrive on a service in the future based on work-in-progress code. However, it is possible that such predicted features may not make it to a public release.
While this feature doesn’t prevent you from installing updates from a different app store, it currently doesn’t give you the option to give the Play Store update ownership for apps that were sideloaded or installed from a third-party app store. That may change soon.
A new flag spotted in the latest Google Play Store release suggests that users may see the option to install updates for apps downloaded from a different source. As you can see in the attached screenshots, the Play Store will show available updates for apps downloaded from different sources. On the app listing, you’ll also see a new “Update from Play” button that will switch the update ownership from the original source to the Play Store.
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