bug: A "Disable auto updates" warning is unnecessary for non-root devices

[kitadai31]

Bug description

When I tap the "Install" button after patching is completed, a warning will appear.

Warning
Disable auto updates for the patched app to avoid unexpected issues.

This dialog only appears on non-root devices.
On rooted devices, "Select install type" dialog appears instead.

However, this warning is unnecessary for non-root users.
Because patched apps have a different signature than original apps and will not be updated automatically.
Of course, manual updating is also impossible.

Therefore, this dialog should be removed.
Providing users an unnecessary instruction will confuse them.

Removing this dialog might be related to resolving #2012

Version of ReVanced Manager and version & name of app you are patching

ReVanced Manager v1.20.1 (stable)

Installation method

None

ReVanced Manager logs

no logs

Patch logs

No response

Acknowledgements

• This issue is not a duplicate of an existing bug report.
• I have chosen an appropriate title.
• All requested information has been provided properly.
• The bug is only related to ReVanced Manager

[Ushie]

I remember seeing a lot of people asking for Change package name option because of playstore updater

[ILoveOpenSourceApplications]

#1628

[oSumAtrIX]

An app store could uninstall and install the update. The warning is necessary for non root users

[kitadai31]

Sorry, I missed the existing issue.
But rather than adding a checkbox to disable this warning, I believe it have to be removed completely for non-root.

@Ushie
Ah, so that's the reason for the warning?
Certainly, prompting such people to disable auto-update would satisfy them.
(They would be "Yay, I disabled the auto update, so I don't have to care that the app is being shown in the update list anymore!")

But it doesn't solve the problem of patched apps showing up in the Play Store update list, so I doubt it makes sense.

@oSumAtrIX
That's true indeed.
It is technically possible for an app store to uninstall an app with different signature and install the update.

But Play Store will never do that.
Uninstalling the app means that the appdata will be lost.
I’m confident that they would never delete user data without the user's consent.
(At least as part of updating an app. I don't know about other featurea such as Google Play Protect.)

In fact, the app store has never behaved like that.
Then this warning concerns about a problem that doesn't exist in reality.
I don't think this is worth sacrificing simplicity.

[oSumAtrIX]

But Play Store will never do that

Play store is not the only app store.

[kitadai31]

Does other stores have a privilege to uninstall the app automatically?

[oSumAtrIX]

I believe as long as they are the system app store, yes

[kitadai31]

Oh, I forgot there are devices that has another app store in the rom.

But I still doubt that there is an app store that will uninstall an app automatically just because it fails to update.
Have you ever heard of such an app store actually? Or, is it a supposition?

[oSumAtrIX]

We are working agnostic to any app and in terms of Android an auto updating app store could update the app even if the signature miss matches. Even Play Store can uninstall and install if you manually force it afaik

[kitadai31]

an auto updating app store could update the app even if the signature miss matches

As far as I know, Android won't allow it, even if it's a system app.

Using the CorePatch source code as a reference, I looked at the source code of Android that compares signatures when updating an app, and I didn't find any flags or other stuff to avoid comparing signatures.

InstallPackageHelper.preparePackageLI() -> SIgningDetails.checkCapability() -> hasCertificateInternal()

Also, the Android docs article on third-party app stores states that apps with different signatures are incompatible and must be uninstalled in order to update:

Regardless of which approach you choose, Android treats apps without a matching application ID and signing key as incompatible. A user wishing to switch from one store to another will need to delete the installed app—which will delete all data associated with that app—and reinstall from the other store.
https://developer.android.com/google/play/app-updates

---

Even Play Store can uninstall and install if you manually force it afaik

No, if I attempt to manually update a re-signed app in the Play Store, Play Store will just show me a generic, unhelpful error message.
They don't even show an uninstall button there.

Additionally, and importantly, the Play Store does not attempt to auto update re-signed apps.
Over the last few days, I've installed re-signed apps, left auto-update on, and tested to see if they were auto updated.
The result was that the Play Store never attempted to auto-update those apps. (Meanwhile, normal apps have been updated.)

[oSumAtrIX]

Other app stores could still auto update by reinstalling the app. The same can occur with PlayStore as stated in their ToS section "Updates"

[kitadai31]

If the basis for the warning is that section of the ToS, then disabling auto update will have no effect.

Update may be completed irrespective of your Update settings in Google Play or your Device.

[oSumAtrIX]

Like I said multiple times already, Play Store is not the basis, thus neither it's ToS