We made one small but right decision, which in turn will take another small step towards increasing the compatibility of our releases. Now in new releases, next to the name of the file and its size, you can see a new explanation: Signature type.
In our cases (so far) these same signatures will be 3:
- Original
- Protected
- Debug
Original - the original signature of the developer, which is not affected by us in any way.
Protected - a signature modified by us, with protection from our side.
Debug - a test, publicly available signature, which can sometimes replace the original signature
What is it for?
First of all, you need to pay attention to the signature type when updating the application.
For example, you downloaded the Clash of Clans game with the original developer's signature, but you already downloaded the Protected mod from our site. In this case, when you try to update the application (i.e. install a new version over the old one), you will see the message "The application is not installed", because. Application signatures are different.
Another example: You downloaded the Last Day on Earth mod from our site with the signature Protected, but it is quite possible that with a change in the code of the game itself or the introduction of (any) protection mechanism, the next mod will only work with the signature Debug. So by installing the Debug signed version on top of the signed versionProtected, you will see the error message again.
But if you clearly remember that the previous version of the game was signed Protected and the new version of the game also contains the Protected signature - feel free to put it on top.
Isn't it easier without signatures?
Easier and more convenient. But we will give up all this when all the sites that pull our releases die out. Up to this point, we will invent more and more new tools to protect our APK files.