TECH

Android 14 will ensure updates to Google apps

Between the end of August and the beginning of September The arrival of Android 14, the long-awaited new version of Google’s operating system, will almost certainly occur. Thanks to its beta version policy, we have already been able to get to know a good part of its novelties, but despite this there is still some margin for us to find surprises, since on many occasions the already existing code refers to them, although these have not yet been officially communicated and documented.

This is the case, precisely, that we find the discovery Posted by Android Police which tells us that Android 14 will alert when we try to update a Google app from a repository other than Google Play, as long as it has been initially installed, of course, from the Google store itself. And yes, I am aware that this can raise a lot of suspicions, so I think it is important to explain it in more detail.

One of the novelties that will come from the hand of Android 14 is called update ownership and, as you can deduce from its name, when installing a new app on the device, it will refer to the store from which it was installed, which will be identified as the “owner” of its updates. In this way, if we later try to update it from a different repository, the operating system will alert us to it, although at this point it is essential to clarify that it will be an informative action, in which the user can choose if they want to maintain the link with the store “owner” or if, on the contrary, you want to continue with the update process.

In that case, yes if we continue with the update process from another store, the property update ownership will be deleted and, from that moment on, we will not receive notifications of this type with future updates and, if we want to restore it, the only way to do it will be to uninstall it from the device and then reinstall it from Google Play, since it is a property that cannot be you can remap during upgrades, only on install.

Since different versions of Android apps can add up, but also subtract functions, this seems to be a measure taken to prevent the choice of a different app store, in which it is the user who chooses which specific version they want to use, resulting in the loss of functions. However, since Android 14 will only inform, but allow users the final decision, I personally think it’s a good idea.

David Salces (https://twitter.com/DavidSalcesG)