From Newsgroup: comp.mobile.android
Arno Welzel wrote:
But I don't like bullshit either.
Hi Arno,
Notice I've listed all the known apps that can do both split apk
installation and spoofing of the package installer in the metadata
in this single post on XDA, to a group of admitted experts on Android.
<
https://xdaforums.com/t/ongoing-january-2027-googles-plan-to-end-sideloading-on-android.4756353/post-90757160>
That post has been liked by experts, and it has not been disputed by any.
And that thread is EXACTLY the subject we're speaking about, which is the
newly added (existing and future) friction Google is adding to sideloading.
*[ONGOING -> January 2027] Google's plan to end sideloading on Android*
Why is it that there are zero experts on XDA Developers that call my
statements bullshit, but you, for some reason, feel that it's bullshit?
On XDA Developers, we counted over a dozen *new* points of friction Google >> has recently *added* to the task of normal loading (aka sideloading).
<https://xdaforums.com/t/ongoing-january-2027-googles-plan-to-end-sideloading-on-android.4756353/page-16>
No, this is not "makeing sideloading harder" but "making faking Google
Play harder".
We covered the definition of "sideloading" & Aurora Store fits it, Arno.
Especially Aurora is *not* just simple "sideloading2. Aurora tries to
act as Google Play replacement. This is something completely different
than just "sideloading".
Ummm... er... ah, what do you think will happen if you download an app
using Google Play Store, & then you copy that app to another device Arno?
[...]> Oh, I see where your confusion lies. You need more data. Current
data.
Just so you know, if you sideload using any of these, you have the same problem, so it's not just sideloading from the Aurora Store that matters.
1. adb install-multiple -i (split + spoof)
2. Aurora installer (split + spoof)
3. SAI (split but not spoof)
4. InstallWithOptions (split + spoof)
5. InstallerX-Revived (split + spoof) [fork of #InstallWithOptions]
6. Universal Installer (split + spoof)
7. Muntashirakon App Manager (split but not spoof)
8. AppManagerNG (split + spoof) [fork of Muntashirakon AM]
Any others?
You are unaware of the sideloading friction employed at this very moment.
You've never run into "this", but I have, and so have many other people:
<https://i.postimg.cc/MpKvmcgG/aurora-actual-installer.jpg>
Yes, because I don't use Aurora, since it is a real bad idea in most
cases. If you want to use an alternative to paid apps on Google Play,
use F-Droid. But of course than you can not get all the fancy apps which
are supposed to be downloaded from Google Play.
Sigh. You frustrate me Arno. You say things like my grandchildren do, that
you "think" are correct but, like with VanguardLH, you don't know what you don't know, and yet you think you know, what you clearly do not know yet.
It's clear you have absolutely no idea whatsoever what Aurora Store is.
First off, it's for free apps (at least w/o the Google Account it is).
So your statement about "an alternative to paid apps" makes no sense.
Secondly, F-Droid is absoltely nothing like what Aurora Store is, Arno.
There is nothing (to my knowledge, other than perhaps Yalp Store) that is anything like what Aurora Store is. Not F-Droid. Not Github. Nothing.
What's on F-Droid is NOT what's on Google Play (not necessarily anyway).
And vice versa. What's on Google Play is not necessarily on F-Droid.
But what's on Google Play is exactly what's on Aurora Store.
And vice versa, since they're EXACTLY THE SAME REPOSITORY IN ALL CASES!
If you don't know that, then you really can't be making those statements.
[...]>> There is no need to use split APKs at all. If a software
developers or
Sigh. You frustrate me Arno. You say things like my grandchildren do, that
you "think" are correct but, like with VanguardLH, you don't know what you don't know, and yet you think you know, what you clearly do not know yet.
It's clear you have absolutely no idea whatsoever where split APKs reside.
If you're going to install an app from the Google Play Repository, almost always nowadays, it will be a split APK, and if you're going to archive
that app, you must archive it as a split apk, and if you want to re-install that app on another device, it's going to be installed as a split apk.
vendors want to distribute apps, they can just provide APKs as usual.
Google did not remove the option for that.
Google did effectively remove the option to upload traditional all-in-one
APKs for new apps (mandating the Android App Bundle / AAB format since
August 2021). <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android_App_Bundle>
Yes, for Google Play(!). I can still provide APKs for my users: <http://arnowelzel.de/download/Periodical.apk> <https://f-droid.org/repository/browse/?fdid=de.arnowelzel.android.periodical>
<https://f-droid.org/repo/de.arnowelzel.android.periodical_110.apk> <https://f-droid.org/repo/de.arnowelzel.android.periodical_109.apk> <https://f-droid.org/repo/de.arnowelzel.android.periodical_108.apk>
That's why I suggested - just don't use Google Play! Android still
supports APK.
[...]> Google's server-side system generates split APKs automatically
from the developer's submitted AAB. Therefore, a developer can't just choose to hand
out a monolithic APK if they rely on the Play Store's delivery mechanism.
This is the one statement you've made (out of about a dozen) that is
correct, so I won't dispute that Google Play consists of mostly split APKs.
But we're stuck with the fact that most people don't write their own code.
You do.
But most people get most of their apps from the Google Play repository.
As do I.
Don't use Google Play and also no other app stores who try to "emulate" it.
Most people, including me, get most of their apps from the Google Play repository, so, saying "don't use it" works for almost nobody, Arno.
Just don't use Google Play - problem solved.
That's kind of like saying you can avoid being seen by Flock cameras.
Just don't go anywhere.
No, that's not the same.
Yes it is. See above. It's like the people who say if someone complains
about racism, they should go back to (wherever their ancestors came from).
It's not a solution to never use anything from the Google Play repository.
Your behaviour reminds me on people who complain about Microsoft Windows
all the time and find dozens of ways to "hack" and "optimize" it and get
rid of annoyances like circumvent OOBE during installation etc. instead
of just switching to Linux.
WTF?
1. I asked what works for sideloading.
2. I gave the answer to what works for sideloading.
3. Now you tell me that my behavior is wrong?
WTF?
a. Almost everything I said, you disputed.
b. And yet, nobody on XDA Developers disputed a word I posted.
c. Why only you?
Oh - and yes, I don't use Windows either. At the moment I have Linux
with KDE 6.6 and don't miss anything and most of the apps I use in
Android come from F-Droid.
Most of my apps come from wherever they need to come from.
Most are from the Google Play Store repository.
But many are from GitHub and from F-Droid, and from developer sites.
The whole point of normal loading (aka sideloading) is to allow that.
Yes, this will be harder in the future, but not impossible.
Actually, these tactics are making it impossible to use NewPipe, which I
use every day, so they are making it impossible to sideload, in effect.
<https://newpipe.net>
No issues here. I just downloaed the APK and it works as usual on my
Google Pixel 6a with Android 16 without any "hacks".
Yes, Google will fuck up Android at some point, but these measures seem
to be not in place on my device yet.
I need you to think about what will happen when you back up an APK (perhaps it's a Split APK if it came from the Google Play Store app) and then,
later, you want to re-install that APK on another device (or the same
device), especially if that particular version is no longer on the Google
Play Store repository (e.g., the last known good version of something)?
--
Most people believe that whatever it is that they know, must be everything.
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