Prior to the release of Pixel 5, the Google Camera and Google Recorder applications, among others, could not be loaded due to verification errors. Fortunately, a solution – if perhaps a temporary one – has been discovered.
What is happening
When Pixel 5 and Pixel 4a 5G were launched at the end of last year, Google also started releasing updates for its Camera app, bringing it to version 8.0, as well as a new version of the Recorder app. Unfortunately, these updates could not be transferred to older pixels as previous updates could, with many experiencing one of two errors when trying to install Google Camera 8.0.
The new package could not be installed because the verification was not successful
INSTALL_FAILED_VERIFICATION_FAILURE
In fact, as the Google Camera continued to get improvements, such as the recent update that allows you to disable Automatic Night Vision, even the owners of the Pixel 5 and Pixel 4a 5G were unable to sideload the latest versions to get updates faster . Instead, people are forced to wait until updates arrive at the Play Store. At the time, a “solution” was found that involved redefining the factory phone, but this was obviously not a sustainable solution for most.
What is causing this
Thanks to the efforts of the broadest XDA Developers community, a root cause of failure to install Google Camera and other Google app updates has been discovered. The simple version is that Android 11 added something called “App Integrity”, which allows the device to use a set of “rules” to check whether or not a particular application should be allowed to be installed.
XDA delves into the details, but effectively Google Play Services receives a list of rules and one of the rules states that the Google Camera app and the Google Recorder app cannot be installed by anything other than the Play Store. Any attempt to install the application with adb or something like the APKMirror installer application would go directly against this rule and is therefore blocked.
The current assumption as to why performing a factory reset would allow the sideload to pass is that Google Play Services needs time to download the application’s health rules. During that time, Android has no reason to believe that you shouldn’t be allowed to update the Google Camera app.
Notably, these app integrity rules set a dangerous precedent for Android, as one of the main benefits of the operating system, especially compared to iOS, is the ability to install apps without necessarily depending on the Play Store.
How to skip verification to install Google Camera
As noted by Android Police, there is a simpler solution for now that allows a brief window to sideload updates for Google Camera and Google Recorder. The short version is that you need to restore the Play Services app to the original factory version and update it again.
However, despite being simpler than a complete factory reset, restoring Play Services still has consequences. For one, you will need to set up your credit cards again to use with Google Pay. You will also need to redo your automatic backup settings and you may lose some data related to your COVID-19 contact tracking application, if you use one.
If the benefits of getting the latest camera or recorder app from Google still outweigh these consequences, go to Definitions app. In the search bar at the top, type “Google Play services”And tap the appropriate list.
On this page, you will want to touch the three point menu in the top right corner and touch “Uninstall updates. ”A warning will appear, reminding you that you are about to lose some data, at which point you can tap“It’s ok. ”If that fails, you may need to disable the“ Device Administrator ”privileges for Find My Android Device.
Once it’s reversed correctly, the next step is really reinstall the latest Play Services update. The quickest way to do this is to access the Play Services list on the Play Store, which can only be found via a direct link.
With that completed, you now have a brief window of time during which you can sideload Google Camera and Google Recorder updates without being bothered by App Integrity verification errors.
It is not known how long this solution will work, as it depends on your device reverting to an older version of Play Services that does not have built-in application integrity rules. It is quite possible that a future device, such as the Pixel 5a or Pixel 6, may be unable to use this solution, due to the launch with a much more recent version of Google Play Services.
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