Updating apps strangeness

[groston]

On my rooted Google Pixel 3XL running Android OS 10, I have installed UpToDown App Store (UAS) so that I could better control the updating of an app or two. Today I noticed that both UAS and Google Play were indicating that some apps needed to be updated. I went through the list of apps in both programs and found differences. The following table shows the differences observed and the text following the app name provides a bit more information:

Listed in Play but not in UAS:

• c:geo
• Firefox
• Google Photos
• LinkedIn
• Out of Milk
• Textra SMS
• Yelp

Listed in UAS but not in Play:

• Android System WebView
• Contacts
• Google Play Services
• Google Play Store
• Nova7
• Settings Services
• Trello
• UpToDown App Store

Listed in both, but the new version listed was different:

• Google Maps (UTD newer) - didn't download on UAS until I rebooted the phone. After the reboot, the app wouldn't work and I had to uninstall it and the new version never worked.
  
• Messages (UTD newer) - didn't download on UAS even after two reboots. However it did work after first updating via Play

Listed in both and the new version was the same:

• Carrier Services
• Classic Words Solo
• DropBox - after update in UTD, still showed in Play as version just updated to
• Google Connectivity Services - after update in UTD, still showed in Play as version just updated to

I was able to get all of the apps updated but I was quite surprised by the differences between the two app management programs. Has anyone else seen differences like this? Is there anything that can be done to minimize the differences?

 

[Dannydet]

UAS and Play will always have differences, since each handle app updates differently. This sounds like a topic that @puppykickr may be able to help with

 

[puppykickr]

Yup!
This is a common thing, because the apps on UpToDown are uploaded to UpToDown by many other people, and not always as quick as Google gets them up.

This can cause quite a delay at times, especially on apps with less popularity.

Also, there can be many versions of every app, and each individual device may be able to run multiple or only one version.
This can cause the difference in the app ID number that you see.

I would not worry about any of these things, as long as the apps continue to function.

One caviot to UpToDown regarding system apps is that on rare occasion I have gotten an update to Google app that is not compatible with other Google apps on the device.
It is simple enough to put the older version back on.

As I donot use Google Play Store anymore, I use UpToDown and two others as well- ApkPure and F-Droid. On the rare occasion that I need to, I also use ApkMirror.

These all may hold interest for you as well.

https://m.apkpure.com/
https://f-droid.org/
https://www.apkmirror.com/

Also, to help with time, I only check for updates once a week.

I do not allow any of these apps to constantly check for updates, automatically download, or notify me.

After I run through all the app stores, I then use a cleaner (the only honest one) from F-Droid to remove files that are downloaded onto my device from each store.

This saves space on my device.