To TL;DR the discussion: Some Android manufacturers/carriers include a software package by a company called Digital Turbine, which allows automatic installation of apps through a single click on an ad. It’s not a feature of Android itself (I initially thought it was an add-on to instant apps).<p>It‘s not like I needed another reason to hate the common Android ecosystem, but here we go. I maintain that there’s no way you can legitimately trust your phone manufacturer’s software. The incentives are just too misaligned. You have to use a third-party ROM like LineageOS (which has its own issues).<p>Most hardware manufacturers can not be trusted with software at fucking all. Apple seems to be the only exception.<p>Hardware and software need to be distributed separately (see personal computers), which could also solve some issues with updates. Treble is a good but under-utilized step in between.
I am curious if never logging in to Google while using an Android precludes one from being susceptible to this. Generally you are unable to reach or interact with the app store without first registering a Google account on the device, and accepting various EULAs.<p>EDIT: Thanks to the commenters below, it appears not participating in the app store ecosystem does not safeguard someone from this. Quite concerning.