Google frequently updates the sideloading experience on Android, usually citing security reasons, and shows no signs of slowing down. While Android 14 was filled with warnings about the potential danger of sideloading apps, Android 15 may offer a new way to embrace them — with a brand new way to keep these apps updated.
Android Authority uncovered evidence of this in a deep dive of the latest version of the Google Play app. New code suggests that it may become possible to update sideloaded apps from the Play Store, rather than being forced to do it from a third party marketplace or manually installing new APK files.
Another added bonus is that Google Play may be able to scan these updates for malware, which is one of the biggest risks associated with sideloading apps. So regardless of where those apps originally came from, this may mean added protection without actively making it harder to sideload apps.
The feature appears to be called “Update from Play," and it will apparently clearly show which apps originated from Google Play. This last part also means there is an option for downloading an update from the original source, if that’s possible, or whether there’s an update available in Google Play itself.
The ability to differentiate between Play and non-Play apps is pretty important. In my experience I’ve found that Google Play will detect and try to update sideloaded apps I previously downloaded from Google’s Store. But considering I deliberately sideloaded an older version to access now-removed features, you can imagine how frustrating it can be to constantly be asked to update.
Right now, the best I can do is turn off auto-updates. But if some future version of Google Play will flag that this is a sideloaded app, and stop asking me if I want to update, then I’ll be much happier.
Since this is just code in the app, we don't know when this may roll out to the public. In fact there’s no telling whether this is just placeholder text, or if the feature is actually close to actually working. So we’ll just have to be patient and see what Google has planned for us going forward.
