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business android

Google has never used the walled-garden approach to app distribution that Apple uses. If you lot want to make an Android app and hand out APKs on your own website, that's totally fine by Google. At that place'due south a story floating around the spider web today that Google has simply gotten around to adding some sort of heavy-handed DRM to all Android apps, but this is based mainly on speculation and incorrect assumptions.

At the eye of this story is a very developer-oriented piece of news. Google has started including a string of metadata in apps that verifies authenticity. Some take chosen to depict this as DRM that would prevent you from installing unknown APKs (known as sideloading), just that's unproven and bluntly rather dizzy.

The allegation is that a future version of Android volition look for this metadata string to verify that an app has been obtained from the Play Store. If not, the APK would fail to install. That would be a vaguely Apple-y model for app distribution. However, this premise is completely unfounded. Calling this DRM (digital rights direction) is merely wrong because it's non managing anyone'due south rights. Not Google's, not developers', and not yours.

Google made its intentions clear when it announced the new metadata feature. This feature is actually about increasing programmer admission to emerging markets. Many of united states of america don't know what it's like to use a smartphone with extremely limited information admission. In some countries, cellular customers only go pay-as-you-go information plans, and then every byte they download costs money. Naturally, finding ways to lower data usage is important. That's one of the master goals of Google'due south Android Go platform, in fact.

I of the means people continue their data usage low is past sharing APKs direct instead of downloading them from the Play Shop. Adding metadata allows Google to link those APKs with the Play Store so users can get updates and business relationship licensing. Aye, Google already has basic app licensing in the Play Store. Paid apps reach out to Google to verify they're running on an business relationship that has purchased the content. If anything, the metadata makes Google's existing DRM better for users, because information technology'll piece of work offline and gratis apps will automatically be added to your Google library when sideloaded.

The new metadata organization isn't some new way to badger y'all with restrictive DRM or continue you lot from sideloading APKs. Information technology's just a style of making apps more sharable. No need to freak out.

Now read: 25 Android Tips to Make Your Phone More Useful