Some Android users sideloading app updates are seeing warnings like this from Google
And we haven’t even touched upon the worries about malware. We get it. Some iPhone and Android users feel that since they paid for their phones, it should be up to them to take the risk that the app they installed from a third-party store contains some sort of dangerous malware. Sure, Google Play Protect does perform real-time APK scanning for sideloaded apps, but we’ve seen how some apps slip under the screen in the Play Store.
Google’s warnings might be a pain in the butt to those who take a laissez-faire approach to sideloading apps. But you know what could be a bigger pain in the butt? Seeing all those complaints from those who sideloaded a malicious app, had their bank accounts and credit cards drained, and complain that they had no idea that something like this could happen.
The Play Store has the right to send out these warnings because, starting with Android 14, the app store you initially installed an app from is considered to be the owner of that app. As such, it can send a warning if an update is requested from another source.
