Vivo Y69 wants to update SMS app from an untrusted source, is this legit?

[wmspillett]

When I open up the SMS app on my Vivo Y69, I get a pop-up message which asks to install a new APK, but when I go forward, it asks me to set permissions to install files from an untrusted source.

I would expect that the update of this nature might come with a standard update of either the device software or the SMS app itself via Google Play or the Vivo Store, so I'm suspicious of this. Any thoughts?

 

[mustang7757]

Hi, welcome!
Do you mean unknown apps ?

 

[Mooncatt]

I'm not familiar with that brand at all, but this caught my eye.

...or the Vivo Store...

It may be possible that the app is trying to pull its own update from the Vivo store, but with poor implementation for the OS. By default, any app installed from outside of Google Play is considered an unknown source and can give you those warnings even if it's legit. For example, installing something from Amazon's app store. Those apps can be trusted, but are installed from an unknown source as far as the OS is concerned.

So my suggestion would be to go direct to the Vivo store and manually look for an app update. If you do find one, initiate the install from there (not the notice you're seeing in the app itself). You'll likely get the unknown sources alert, but this time it's ok. Doing it this way, you know you're getting the apk from the proper source. After that update is finished, turn the option to install from unknown sources off again, then open the app. If the update notifications go away, it's safe to assume those were legit and not a malware attack, and I'd feel comfortable letting it update itself going forward.