"Update this app" prompt. When exactly does it appear?

[finng99hh]

When I opened Obtainium, a prompt appeared which said "update this app", looking similar to the install prompt when installing a new app. I confirmed this, and the app was updated.

Can someone please tell me, when exactly this prompt appears? I have never seen this prompt before although I have updated apps from inside Obtainium before. Is this expexted behaviour?

[vshalpnjabi]

Edit: in this case the cause turned out to be something else. Two installs of the same update started within a second of each other, and Android only allows one silent update per app every 30 seconds, so the second one showed the prompt. Details in the replies below.

That's Android's own installer confirmation, not something new in Obtainium. Obtainium only skips it when it can do a silent update, and with the stock installer that needs all of these (see canInstallSilently() in lib/installers/stock_installer.dart):

• Obtainium is the app's installer of record (if the app was first installed from Play, F-Droid, or a sideloaded APK, you always get the prompt)
• Android 12 (API 31) or newer
• the installed version targets a recent enough API level for your Android version (e.g. on Android 15 / API 35 the app must target API 33+). The minimum per Android version is in the table at https://developer.android.com/reference/android/content/pm/PackageInstaller.SessionParams#setRequireUserAction(int)
• it isn't Obtainium updating itself

When one of those checks fails, you get the prompt. The most common reason is the target SDK one: an app that hasn't bumped targetSdkVersion in a while, or an OS update on your phone, raises the bar. Obtainium's logs show the exact reason as "App will not be installed silently: ...".

[finng99hh]

Thanks again for your detailed response. This is so interesting!

did you tap Update on Immich (or update all) right after opening?

You don't mean on the prompt, but on an update arrow? Honestly I am not sure what I did exactly before the prompt showed. On the prompt I tapped "Confirm" or "Update" or whatever was in the blue box, but I don't think this is what you are asking. Maybe I swiped up to refresh before the prompt was shown?

So if I am understanding this correctly, a background update was already running and in that time period I opened the app and somehow manually started a second update. And since a silent (automatic) update was already running a second silent update wasn't possible so I got the prompt.

[vshalpnjabi]

Yes, I meant the update button on Immich in the app list (or Update on its app page), not the system prompt. Tapping Update on the prompt was fine.

Pull-to-refresh can't have caused it. It only checks for updates (refresh() in lib/pages/apps.dart calls checkUpdates()), and opening the app doesn't start or resume installs. The things that do start one are the update button, swiping the app's row to the right, Update on the app page, and updating selected apps. So a stray swipe on the Immich row would also do it.

Your summary is right, with one detail. Both installs asked Android to update silently, but Android allows only one silent update of the same app by the same installer every 30 seconds. The background one went through silently, and the second one got the confirmation prompt instead.

This is a race between the background installer and the UI. The UI can't see that a background install is running, so the button stays enabled. I couldn't find an existing issue for it.

[finng99hh]

Okay, got it :) I was just confused why suddenly it asked me to confirm the update when it never had before for Immich, but I think this is clear now. Unfortunately I don't think we will ever know how I manually started the second update.
If you would like to create an issue, please feel free! I think you are able to phrase it much better than I could.

[vshalpnjabi]

Glad it's clear now. I posted a summary as a separate answer. If it answers your question, could you mark it as the answer? It'll help the next person who sees that prompt.

[vshalpnjabi]

Opened #3495 for this.

[vshalpnjabi]

The prompt came from two installs of the same update starting about 0.6s apart. Obtainium's background task was already installing Immich 3.3.6 silently when the app was opened and a second install was started from the UI (the update button, swiping the row, Update on the app page, or updating selected apps).

Both installs asked Android to update silently, but Android allows only one silent update of the same app by the same installer every 30 seconds (SilentUpdatePolicy in AOSP). The background install went through silently, and the second one got the "Update this app?" prompt instead. The UI can't see that a background install is running, so the update button stays enabled. That race is tracked in #3495.

If you get the prompt without a second install in your logs, the usual cause is that the app doesn't qualify for a silent update. The requirements are in canInstallSilently() in lib/installers/stock_installer.dart and the setRequireUserAction docs.