Updates are usually something to look forward to since they bring about improvements, bug fixes, and new features to an app. However sometimes there is a chance that an update could actually end up breaking an app, or changing it in such a way that you don’t find particularly useful.
Unless you’re willing to delete the app and flash an older APK of the app, there’s really not much one can do about it. However with Android Q, it seems that Google could be giving users the option to reverse an app’s update. This is according to a report from XDA Developers who are exploring more features inside a recently leaked Android Q build.
Based on their discovery, there are references made that suggests that Android Q could allow users to rollback to an older version of an app. These come in the form of permissions that are named “PACKAGE_ROLLBACK_AGENT” and “MANAGE_ROLLBACKS”, as well as broadcast events “PACKAGE_ENABLE_ROLLBACK” and “PACKAGE_ROLLBACK EXECUTED”.
It is unclear if these really do what we think they do, but if it is, then this is actually a rather awesome feature. Take for example Snapchat in which the new update and design was met with massive backlash. Had this feature been available, users in theory could have easily just rolled it back to the previous build. Android Q’s developer preview has yet to be released but hopefully it won’t be too long until it does and we can find out more.
Filed in . Read more about Android, Android Q, Apps and Google.