A new system change will restrict sideloading of old apps; The procedure prioritizes increasing the privacy of users

Technique

the android 14, the next version of Google’s smartphone operating system, will come with a surprise that may not satisfy all users. It turns out that in order to reduce the possibility of malware on devices, the system will prevent even very old apps from being installed outside the Google Play Store. No doubt this is a great idea from Google, but it probably won’t please everyone. users.

The official Android app store is the Play Store, however, it is not the only way for users to install apps on their smartphones. It is also possible to install them from the outside, through browsers, what we call sideloading, where we find the APKS files of the applications. This option allows applications that are not available in the official store, or that are not available in the store in a specific country, to be installed on devices.

According to a 9to5Google post, there is a code change that indicates that Android 14 will come with a stricter API that will prevent users from installing outdated third-party apps. For example, users can no longer install APK files for applications that do not meet specific API requirements. For now, they will only be apps that are compatible with very old versions of Android, but the idea is that Google will block the installation of any app that is not compatible with Android 6.0 Marshmallow, starting in 2015.

The action prioritizes increasing user privacy and security, as these outdated apps may contain flaws that hackers and malicious people can exploit. However, for apps that don’t already have updates, it will still be possible to install them, but from the command shell using the new flag. However, this process will not be as simple as downloading apps. In the coming weeks, Google will release the first developer preview of Android 14, and that’s when we’ll learn more about this new feature.