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Not really, you have to enable some scary settings and they are no update or auto-update mechanism for web downloads on Android yet. It's technically "there" b
by realusername 5y ago
Not really, you have to enable some scary settings and they are no update or auto-update mechanism for web downloads on Android yet.
It's technically "there" but not good enough to be a reliable form of distribution.
- yorwba 5y agoIf the app knows its own download address, it can just periodically check for a new version, download it, and prompt the user to install it. I have multiple apps installed that use this update mechanism, there's nothing unreliable about it. Yes, there are warnings, but what is the alternative? You download an app once, it installs without warning and keeps updating in the background? That'd make it way too easy for malware authors.
- realusername 5y agoMalware is supposed to be stopped by the sandbox & Play protect mechanisms. If the sandbox isn't good enough to be trusted for that, I don't think I have a good answer except maybe just not downloading any app at all including on the Play Store. How I see it personally is you download the apk, tap "install", then the same permission prompt as the Play Store opens. The app is updated later the exact same way as the Play Store update (either automatically by pulling from an url or manually, depending of what the users have set as a rule for the Play Store)