The Google Play Store could soon offer to update your sideloaded apps

Google’s always making changes to Android, and its accompanying apps and services. And while it might not be the most exciting aspect of Android, this also applies to the Google Play Store as well. Of course, the Play Store is going to be one of the more necessary and important parts of the Android experience, considering that this is where a majority of users will often find and download the apps they use most. The Google Play Store not only provides an app hub for smartphone and tablet users, but it’s also important for Wear OS devices and Android TVs as well. Now, what makes Android great is the sheer freedom that you have when it comes to choosing the way you use it. And this freedom also applies to how you find and install apps as well.

While Google does prefer you to use its own Play Store, it does offer users the ability to install apps from third-party locations without much hassle. Naturally, there are some risks involved here if you’re not careful, but for the most part, it’s just an alternative way to get apps onto your devices. For the most part, this is nothing new, with Google being highly aware of this kind of behavior, even adding in warnings with Android 14 that were meant to educate, but were mostly just annoying for some seasoned users. But now, Google could actually embrace the behavior of sideloading apps, and may even introduce an alternative way to keep these types of apps updated.

A new way to update could be on the horizon

The new feature was discovered by the folks over at Android Authority, after doing a complete break-down of the latest Google Play Store app. The latest version comes in at 42.0.18 and the code suggests that a new update option may be made available for sideloaded apps. This new option could give users the ability to update sideloaded apps using the Play Store.

As far as what it’s called in its current form, in the code, it’s being referred to as the “Update from Play” feature. And as far as what you’ll see, well, the Play Store will give you a clear indication of apps that are not downloaded directly from the Play Store. But it will also give an option to either download an update from the original source or to try and get an update from the Play Store directly.

As you can imagine, there are going to be benefits when it comes to these types of updates, but it will ultimately rely on the user being aware of what’s being updated, and how. Naturally, this is all just in code as of now, so it’s unclear when and if this feature will ever be made available to the public. However, if this feature is introduced, it would not only provide a bit more clarity about apps and where they are installed from, but would also give users a more seamless way to update apps found on their devices.

And if you’ve never tried grabbing apps from third-party sources, you’re welcome to give it a try. And while the Google Play Store is pretty much the default experience here, there are still some solid third-party options that are available and worth exploring.