The ability to install apps via APK files on Android is a great feature for developers and users who can experience new app updates easily and quickly. It is possible to extract the APK file of an application and install it on another smartphone. However, Chinese manufacturer Xiaomi recently opposed this measure.
Indeed, Guowei Du, an employee of Xiaomi, suggested modifying the Android source code and commented: ” .apk files may contain confidential data, so we should not allow others to recover them “. Fortunately, Google disagrees.
Google wants to continue letting users extract APK files from apps
Google quickly rejected Xiaomi’s offer. In fact, Google developers claim that the contents of an .apk should not remain private, and that those who really want to extract an .apk file can always use the debug version of Android to get it. There are also many sites where .apk files can be downloaded. Even if Xiaomi’s amendment is accepted, users would have no problem getting around the new limitations.
Even though Xiaomi wants to stop APK copying, that doesn’t mean they will stop. Android smartphone users will still be able to copy and redistribute APK files until Google says otherwise.. However, you need to be careful and always download APKs from trustworthy sites as they may contain malware. This is why Google has made APK installation more complicated with the new Android 13 version of the operating system.
Apple refuses to allow iPhone users to install apps outside of the App Store because it sees sideloading as a danger. This is why Apple explains in a document why iOS is more secure than Android.
Source : 9to5Google
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