Friday, March 15, 2013

Facebook Pushes App Update to Android Users.... Outside of Google Play

Warning: Shady Facebook Activity AheadOh Facebook, WHAT are you doing?

There are reports that Android users that have the Facebook app installed on their devices are being nagged to download and install an update – OUTSIDE of Google Play.

While at first glance this may appear as if there were a bit of malicious activity going on – as authentic app updates are usually delivered via Google Play – it is actually a legitimate update that Facebook says they’re rolling out to a small number of users.

The reason why they decided to push it outside of the Google Play store is still left unclear, but hey, it’s not like it’s the first shady thing they’ve done with the Facebook App for Android.

Obviously this update cannot be applied unless the device is set to allow applications from “Unknown sources” (aka outside of Google Play) to be installed, but enabling this setting is obviously not recommended for security reasons.

Facebook claims that only users with WiFi enabled will get the update notification; however, complaints within the Help Center conflict with that statement. Judging from the thread, I’d say Facebook users are wondering why the social networking giant thinks they’re above pushing updates via Google Play like everyone else.

What are your thoughts on this? Would you install this update on your Android device?

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