Re: Paid apps

On 2024-10-02 14:19, Andy Burns wrote:

Carlos E.R. wrote:
 

some of these apps have a free version in the Play Store, and some times another one in F-Droid; but they are not the exact same one.

 I gather google is moving to enforce install of apps from the play store if you try to sideload them, or load them from alternate stores?

Not exactly. What I read is that you can not install one way and update the other. And developers can choose to block different install methods.
<https://www.xataka.com/aplicaciones/nuevo-android-duro-golpe-a-apks-instalas-app-google-play-store-no-usas>
It is in Spanish, so you need a translator tool.
*The new thing about Android is a hard blow to APKs: either you install the app from the Google Play Store or you don't use it*
     Play Integrity will allow the developer to verify whether or not the app has been installed from the Google Play Store
     The system allows you to block the use of the app until it has been updated from the official Android store
One of the things that has characterized, and characterizes, Android has been the possibility of installing applications from third-party sources . Simply install the APK file to have an application like WhatsApp working normally. But like everything in this life, there are sources and sources. Some are legitimate, others are not so much. An APK of uncertain origins can work against both the user and the developer, so Google Play has launched a function to put a stop to it.
The problem . There are several reasons why a user may prefer to install an app via APK instead of through the Google Play Store. There are as many reasons as there are reasons a developer can have for not doing so. Let's think, for example, that an installation made via APK does not count for the metrics in Google Play. Perhaps the user is installing an outdated version, not optimized for their device or, why not, a modified version to offer functions that, in another context, would be paid for. This can harm both parties involved, user and developer.
... continues on link.

 Not seen it in practice, because pixels haven't been given Android 15 upgrades yet :-(
 

--
Cheers, Carlos.