In September 2020, Google made an announcement that caused a stir in the smartphone app developer community, which will make it easier for third-party app stores to work on phones. Android, starting from Android version 12.
This is said to be a weighty move in response to fierce criticism from Epic Games for the closed nature of the application ecosystem on both Android and iOS platforms. More specifically, Epic argues that Google and Apple's "exclusive" control over the Play Store and App Store makes it difficult for third-party developers to distribute their software outside of stores. application store owned by the respective platform owner. However, Google did not say at the time how it would make the process easier.
Recently, on the stage of the I/O 2021 annual event, along with the official announcement of Android 12, Google once again reiterated the issue of enabling third-party app stores to work on Android. Android, and things have become clearer.
Accordingly, starting with Android 12, Google will give app developers the ability to access a new parameter called requestUserAction when using the REQUEST_INSTALL_PACKAGES permission - permission that allows apps to be installed right from the start. head. Currently, whenever a user installs an app outside of the Play Store on his Android phone, even if it's an update to an existing app, the user will still have to grant the installer permission. install the application, and then confirm each installation package individually. However, with requestUserAction, when the application is granted the right to install, the user will not need to take any further action to confirm each installation package as before.
However, there will also be some requirements attached. First, the requestUserAction parameter needs to be set to false. Then the app being installed needs to target API version 29, which is Android 10 or later. In addition, the app store also needs to declare the UPDATE_PACKAGES_WITHOUT_USER_ACTION permission.
Once all necessary requirements are met, third-party app stores can easily install updates for existing apps on the device. However, the overall installation process will still be more complicated than installing apps from the Play Store. On the other hand, making the process easier can also pose a potential security risk to users.
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