If You Can't Stop Users from Sideloading, Help Them Update: Google Play Can Now Update Sideloaded Apps

From the perspective of developers, Google does not favor users sideloading apps on Android, as apps from third-party sources could potentially be harmful. However, given the open nature of the Android system, Google can't completely prohibit users from sideloading.

As a solution, Google has made a small improvement to enhance the security of sideloaded apps: Google Play can now update apps that have been installed via sideloading. This means users will no longer need to download APKs from third-party websites or seek other sources for updates.

In Android 14, Google added application update ownership for security reasons. For example, Google Maps installed via Google Play can only be updated by Google Play. Updates from third-party sources or app stores are not permitted, ensuring that apps are updated through trusted sources only.

The support for updating sideloaded apps through Google Play is likely to change update ownership as well. For instance, if Google Maps is sideloaded and later updated by Google Play, future updates will probably also be restricted to Google Play, enhancing security by preventing users from downloading apps with malicious code from unknown websites or stores.

This improvement was discovered in an APK Teardown of Google Play Store version 42.0.18. Google is currently testing this feature, and once testing is complete, it can directly push this feature to users through the server. Users will then notice an "Update from Play" option for apps that were installed via sideloading.