Bad news if you install APKs The new Google Play makes it more difficult
If you are a fan of downloading APK files, be prepared that it will be more difficult thanks to a new Google Play feature that app developers can use to force users to download their apps from Google Play only, if the current installation comes from another source.
Android knows where every app came from, whether it was installed from Google Play, another approved app store, or via APK, and this data is available to developers to take action through the new Play Integrity API, which replaced SafetyNet.
You can install the same app from Google Play or from its APK file, and in practice everything will be the same, but internally, Android saves the origin of each app to avoid overwriting it with a different version. This is important because there are apps that offer different versions inside and outside Google Play, where the publishing policies of each store may not necessarily be the same. This is the case, for example, with call recording apps like ACR.
That's why we can find the "Update from Google Play" button instead of simply update. Pressing it means that Google Play will update an app that wasn't installed from Google Play with the latest version of Google Play. By the way, Google Play will be marked as a source for updates from then on.
However, Android app developers can now use this information to block apps installed outside of Google Play from being used unless they were installed from Google Play. It’s a security measure that’s part of the Play Integrity API. And according to GappsLeaks , apps like ChatGPT are already taking advantage of it.
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Basically, the app can check to see if it was installed from Google Play, and if not, it displays a window that says “Get this app from Google Play.” If you didn’t install the app from Google Play, you won’t be able to continue using it.
Until now, developers have had to use other methods to find out if their apps were installed from an APK file, but the new Play Integrity API makes the process much easier. In practice, if it becomes widespread, it could significantly limit one of the best things we usually do on Android: the ability to install apps from their APK file.