Latest Version
What to Check Before Installing Any New Version
Run these nine checks before installing any new build. They take about four minutes and catch the failures that otherwise cost you your app data.
The checklist
1.Confirm your Android version
Settings → About phone → Android version. A build targeting a newer minimum SDK will refuse to install rather than warn you first.
2.Check free storage
Android needs room for the APK, the extracted install and the optimised code. Three times the download size is a safe working figure.
3.Note your current version string
Write it down. If the update misbehaves you need to know what you were on.
4.Compare signer fingerprints
A changed fingerprint means the new file cannot install over your existing app and is not from the same signing key.
5.Diff the permission list
New permissions that have no relationship to the app's stated function are the clearest pre-install warning signal available to you.
6.Scan the file
A single scanner result is weak evidence either way; a multi-engine scan with several independent detections is worth acting on.
7.Plan the rollback
There is no downgrade path without uninstalling. Decide in advance whether losing app data is acceptable.
8.Install with the network unchanged
Changing VPN or DNS state mid-install makes it harder to attribute a failure to the file rather than the connection.
9.Verify after install
Reopen the app details screen and confirm the version string and permission list match what you expected.
Worth knowing: Comparing the requested permission list against your installed build is the single most informative pre-install check, and almost nobody does it.