TheRegister reports DJI App sideloading dodge... Strange behaviour.

Ozz · Nov 7, 2018

The news site "the Register" is reporting on something noticed by a DJI user

FYI: Drone maker DJI's 'Get it on Google Play' website button definitely does not get the app from Google Play...

Summary: If you press the "Download from Play Store" on DJI's website - it doesn't actually - it downloads a from a server in their control -
Now thats not so bad maybe - fornite do this to avoid paying google - except this version - although the same version number - is actually DIFFERENT to the one you get from the playstore.

A more full analysis is done here:
DJI Misdirects Users Clicking "Get It On Google Play" To Sideload a Different Android App - Google Knows & Does Nothing

Where he unpacks and compares the contents of the downloads.

Why have a different variant masquerading as the playstore version - is it they want do something google would disapprove of maybe?

What you think?

zocalo · Nov 7, 2018

It's definitely a shady making people think they're getting it from Google's official and "vetted" store then sideloading it. Note that in an update in the Register DJI claims this linking aspect was a mistake and will be corrected, but does not address the binary differences.

The app differences and availability of sideloading *could* be innocent though. Some Android phones - especially in China - do not bundle the official Google Play store, so maybe this is merely DJI trying to make the download and upload process easier for those users who do not have Google Play? That could be a valid reason for a variable where one version has "googlePlay" and the other "thirdParty", plus explain the presence of "DownloadsDB.java", and why some images might be different, for instance. Seeing what those images actually are might be enlightening too.

Perhaps someone familiar with writing Android apps could explain if there's any specific considerations that may be applied for distribution via non-Google App Stores? Until then, "watch this space", I guess...