Essentially the apps have same package name but different signatures and the app store that installed it should be the only one to recognize and update it.

But Google is likely trying this dark pattern to sway people away from F-Droid or alt stores by making users uninstall these apps and install it from the Google Play Store.

It’s been going on for a while and is annoying af.

https://android.stackexchange.com/questions/253727/why-is-googles-play-store-suddenly-trying-to-update-apps-installed-via-f-droid

  • Norgur@fedia.io
    1·
    6 months ago

    Even if it’s new behavior, there is really no reason to assume that this was done to evoke some dark pattern or other. It just shows that Google will not think about 3rd party stores when they do anything with their services and that is hardly news, is it? Besides: I kinda get it honestly. If they’d take all the stuff out there for android into account before they did anything, nothing would be done at all.

    So the question becomes less why that’s there, but more what stores like Samsung do to prevent this issue and if F-Droid can adapt the same behavior.