After Apple, Samsung became the next company to block sideload applications

Samsung published a post on its user support page earlier this month titled 'Protect your Galaxy device with the Auto Blocker feature'. The company's Android 14-based OneUI 6 platform comes with a security feature called Auto Blocker, located in the Security and Privacy settings area. This feature is designed to provide protection for Galaxy devices by preventing the installation of applications from unauthorized sources. Auto Blocker is enabled by default, however, users can disable it during setup.

Installing an application from a third-party source is also known as sideloading. can sometimes pose a risk to the security of your device. While pre-installed app stores are far from perfect, various safety checks are implemented to prevent the spread of malicious apps - clearly much safer. external application feeds.

Notably, Android has blocked sideloading by default at the operating system level. Permissions used by most third-party app stores: REQUEST_INSTALL_PACKAGES - must be explicitly granted by the user. Samsung's Auto Blocker feature completely blocks application installation from unauthorized sources even if that source is granted REQUEST_INSTALL_PACKAGES permission.

Galaxy device users who received the Auto Blocker feature via the OneUI 6.1.1 update can easily disable the feature by going to Settings > Settings (Security and privacy). > Auto Blocker (Auto Blocker). After this step, the user will have to allow another app to sideload another app, which is Android's default app sideloading behavior.

Jessica Tanner

Update 27 July 2024