The freedom to get software from third-party sources on smartphones has become an issue that has gained enough buzz that governments and regulators are getting involved as if it were a right. Although Apple is usually the main one pointed out in these issues and everything indicates that it could give in in the near future, Google is also making similar moves to improve the experience with third-party stores in Android 14.
That iOS has been more criticized than Android at the level of freedoms makes all the logic in the world if we see that the second has always allowed the installation of third-party stores, even if it was in exchange for disabling certain barriers and leaving them with certain limitations compared to the Play Store. Added to this is the Open Source nature of Android, which allows you to create forks of the system by removing all Google technology.
In addition to what we all already know, Google added an API in Android 12 that allows third-party stores to update apps without the need for user interaction, which has resulted in less friction with the Play Store. However, this was not a complete match as it still left third-party stores at a disadvantage, as there was no mechanism to easily check if updates could proceed safely. Luckily, it seems that Google has fixed that by implementation of a new API in Android 14 that would allow third-party stores to safely update.
The new API that Google has added in Android 14 will allow third-party stores to verify if certain conditions are met before proceeding with the automatic update of applications. The API, whose name is PackageInstaller.InstallConstraintsexplains through its documentation that “it can be used by app stores to deliver automatic updates without interrupting the user experience (what is known as a soft update); For example, an app store may delay updates when it discovers that the app to update is interacting with the user.
Among the things the API can check are whether an app has a foreground service active when it tries to update, is interacting with the user in any way, or is currently being projected across the screen. It will also allow you to check if the device is inactive or making a phone call and specify the conditions of the verification, all with the intention of making the experience with the updates as smooth as possible.
In addition to smooth updates, another feature introduced in the API is the owner of the updates, which will allow third-party stores to be the exclusive source of an app. This would prevent, for example, the Play Store from updating an app from F-Droid because it is in both stores. With this mechanism, if an application comes from F-Droid, that store will be responsible for the updates, although for this the new permission will have to be granted to third-party stores ENFORCE_UPDATE_OWNERSHIP.
As the last outstanding feature of PackageInstaller.InstallConstraints is that third-party stores require user approval before performing an installation sessionwhich could be useful, possibly to prompt the user before refreshing an app in the background.
One likely situation is a security-focused app store that wants the user to know when an update is going to add new permissions instead of automatically and unattended updating. In case the user is not present when the update starts automatically, the third-party app store would have to track the installation session and notify them later.
As we can see, Android 14 aims to incorporate important and useful changes for third-party stores, which will be able to operate on the system in a more orderly and functional way. However, that does not remove the user’s responsibility to ensure that the third-party store is trustworthy.
