Android - Check whether an app was sideloaded or installed via play store I recently installed a third party application and never looked at its name or icon it came up with in the screen. But, after installation, I saw a notification from an app, that says Google Play Services had been updated.

This made me nervous that, the third party app I use was actually got updated through google play services. I have checked in Settings -> Apps -> Google play services, and at the bottom it says where it was installed and it says google play store.

Does this bit of information only mean when it was originally installed or does it also account for updates. For example, if I originally installed an app from the play store but then side loaded an update would it say installed through the play store or via a third party.

I also use solid explorer and checked the SHA1 hash of the app which matched with the hash I found online for that specific version of google play services. 

Am I safe? And if so, does Google play services usually update in the background due to being prompted to check when you are updating other apps or is it just a coincidence.

Thanks. Sorry for the wall of text but I want to be sure i'm safe.
[If] I originally installed an app from the play store but then side loaded an update would it say installed through the play store or via a third party


It would say sideloaded. You can check the status through the command (requires adb):

adb shell pm list packages -i PKG   # replace PKG with package name of the app


In output: in case of sideloading, the installer would show null value. If the app is updated/installed through Play Store, the value would be com.android.vending.

I tested this on Android 6.0.1 though.


  [Does] google play services usually update in the background due to being prompted to check when you are updating other apps or is it just a coincidence


Yes, it does so on its own. I have setup a toast to inform me which app is updated in the system, and I noticed that the Play Services often updates in the background when Play Store app is  active on the screen. 

No third-party app can automatically force any other app in Play Store to get updated or be sideloaded automatically. It could be just a coincidence  that the both happened at the same time.