To improve user safety and prevent possible accidents, the upcoming Android 14 operating system will have a warning system for users who attempt to download updates for core Google apps via APKs.
While the Google Play Store remains the primary source for installing apps on Android, alternative platforms like APKMirror have grown in popularity in recent years. Nevertheless, sideloading apps from sources other than Google Play has potential riskssuch as installing incompatible versions or updates that may remove essential functionality.
To prevent you from making a mistake in choosing APKs, Google has decided to send warnings to users when they try to download updates for the main Google applications, starting from Android 14.
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Android 14 wants to prioritize updates on the Play Store
One of the notable additions of Android 14 will be the introduction of the “ownership of updates” API for app stores. This API allows app stores to claim ownership of the apps they install and regulate subsequent updates.
So when another app store tries to update an app claimed by another app store, Android will send you a warning asking if you want to continue installing the update or cancel it.
The Google Play Store should only claim ownership of updates to core apps, such as Play Services. So, if you want to download the latest Spotify app APK, you should not get this new warning.
This feature is primarily designed to avoid potential complications with sideloading updates. In the past, Sometimes updates installed outside the Google Play Store inadvertently removed some featuresespecially when these were exclusive to particular versions of an application.
This new warning should therefore reduce the number of users who install Google app updates outside the Play Store, and therefore improve the general security of Android. As a reminder, Android 14 is currently in its third beta, and the stable version should arrive at the end of the summer.