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I recently installed a third party application and never looked at its name or icon it came up with in the screen. But, after installation, I saw a notification from an app, that says Google Play Services had been updated.

This made me nervous that, the third party app I use was actually got updated through google play services. I have checked in Settings -> Apps -> Google play services, and at the bottom it says where it was installed and it says google play store.

Does this bit of information only mean when it was originally installed or does it also account for updates. For example, if I originally installed an app from the play store but then side loaded an update would it say installed through the play store or via a third party.

I also use solid explorer and checked the SHA1 hash of the app which matched with the hash I found online for that specific version of google play services.

Am I safe? And if so, does Google play services usually update in the background due to being prompted to check when you are updating other apps or is it just a coincidence.

Thanks. Sorry for the wall of text but I want to be sure i'm safe.

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[If] I originally installed an app from the play store but then side loaded an update would it say installed through the play store or via a third party

It would say sideloaded. You can check the status through the command (requires ):

adb shell pm list packages -i PKG   # replace PKG with package name of the app

In output: in case of sideloading, the installer would show null value. If the app is updated/installed through Play Store, the value would be com.android.vending.

I tested this on Android 6.0.1 though.

[Does] google play services usually update in the background due to being prompted to check when you are updating other apps or is it just a coincidence

Yes, it does so on its own. I have setup a toast to inform me which app is updated in the system, and I noticed that the Play Services often updates in the background when Play Store app is active on the screen.

No third-party app can automatically force any other app in Play Store to get updated or be sideloaded automatically. It could be just a coincidence that the both happened at the same time.

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  • +1. Is it possible that sideload app gets updated by play store ? It's been a long while since I side loaded so don't recall
    – beeshyams
    Aug 2, 2017 at 8:55
  • This question says not possible but there seem to be apps that do that - apkupdater that checks from apkmirror only - so my previous question is not valid but leaving this as a comment on case anybody wonders
    – beeshyams
    Aug 2, 2017 at 9:00
  • @beeshyams if the signature of the sideloaded one is the same as that of in Play Store than Play Store can update it. However, I have a doubt Play Store would do so automatically. Whenever I sideloaded an app, I had to find it in Play Store first and then tap Update button to start update process. Afterwards, it's treated as normal.
    – Firelord ♦
    Aug 2, 2017 at 11:26
  • Thanks. Afterwards, it's treated as normal - do you mean subsequent updates happen automatically or the process is BAU
    – beeshyams
    Aug 2, 2017 at 11:48
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    yeah, they happen automatically.
    – Firelord ♦
    Aug 2, 2017 at 11:56

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