Phone question

[Mups]

A quickie question if I may please?

My phone's WhatsApp  is telling me it needs updating,  but then it goes on to ask whether I want to use APKPure,   Store,  (or is Playstore),  or something else which I can't remember!

How do I know what to choose?!   

Any ideas please?
Ta muchly. 

[klondike]

If it's an android phone you should really only be using playstore.

Apk is the type name of android executables and you normally have to fiddle with permissions to allow an app to be installed from anywhere other than the playstore. There's a reason for that.

It could be that it isn't WhatsApp suggesting you install from elsewhere but a scammer. Are there any contacts showing that aren't friends and family or groups you've joined?

This sounds sus to me

[Dextrous63]

Hmm.  That sounds dodgy to me.

I've not received any such message on my iPhone for WhatsApp or indeed any app suggesting I use a different App Store to update or install anything.

Just checked....

[Ashy]

Something very similar poopped up on my Whatsit feed too. I may be wrong but I think this is a protected mode which does not allow copying or forwarding of messages and attachments, so I would not use this personally. If you use it to transmit document etc then you can only read them on the handset. 

[Mups]

If it's an android phone you should really only be using playstore.

Apk is the type name of android executables and you normally have to fiddle with permissions to allow an app to be installed from anywhere other than the playstore. There's a reason for that.

It could be that it isn't WhatsApp suggesting you install from elsewhere but a scammer. Are there any contacts showing that aren't friends and family or groups you've joined?

This sounds sus to me

Oh dear,  I'm a bit worried now.      Yes, it is Android  (Samsung).   
Do others ever update their WhatsApp?
I will go and have another look at the phone and let you know later.


November 04, 2025, 12:05:55 PM

Hmm.  That sounds dodgy to me.

I've not received any such message on my iPhone for WhatsApp or indeed any app suggesting I use a different App Store to update or install anything.

Just checked....

Thanks Dex,  but mine isn't an iphone.   Should that make a difference?


November 04, 2025, 12:08:39 PM

Something very similar poopped up on my Whatsit feed too. I may be wrong but I think this is a protected mode which does not allow copying or forwarding of messages and attachments, so I would not use this personally. If you use it to transmit document etc then you can only read them on the handset.

Whatsit?   

Sorry Ashy,  but I don't know anything about 'protected modes' either. 
I am pretty useless with technology.

[klondike]

They key thing is is this a popup message from the app or a WhatsApp message that appeared like messages from friends in a feed.

Sometimes apps will tell you they need updating. Normally you would go to the play store search the app and it will say there if it needs manually updating.

WhatsApp can be banned by repressive regimes although I don't think Starmer has got round to that here yet. Under those circumstances it would be downloaded from a covert source and would need to be updated from there too but that isn't the case here so far.

By all means check the Google play app to see if it needs updating. Don't go anywhere else to update it. The odds are you wouldn't know how to anyway because I doubt that your phone has any alternate update sources authorised.

[Alex]

I've just been on fACEBOOK and clicked on the Market Place where everything was in dollars  I then clicked on Places to Rent and they were in San Francisco !  I logged off straight away as I thought that was a bit odd.

Sorry to hijack your thread Mups, but something strange is going on here too.

[Mups]

I've just been on fACEBOOK and clicked on the Market Place where everything was in dollars  I then clicked on Places to Rent and they were in San Francisco !  I logged off straight away as I thought that was a bit odd.

Sorry to hijack your thread Mups, but something strange is going on here too.

Ooer   . . . .  perhaps  we've got the Gremlins!  

[Scrumpy]

I don't press any keys on my phone that I am not too sure of.... I too am rubbish at technology and gadgets..
I never answer 'yes' to anything...
Sometimes it's easier to play the 'ignorant' card..
Even people who knock at the door trying to sell (something) walk away very confused..  😜

[klondike]

I've just been on fACEBOOK and clicked on the Market Place where everything was in dollars  I then clicked on Places to Rent and they were in San Francisco !  I logged off straight away as I thought that was a bit odd.

Sorry to hijack your thread Mups, but something strange is going on here too.

I'll check your IP. The Geolocation could be wrong.

Nope you are showing up as TalkTalk and coming through Crewe which is sort of your way.

[Mups]

They key thing is is this a popup message from the app or a WhatsApp message that appeared like messages from friends in a feed.

Sometimes apps will tell you they need updating. Normally you would go to the play store search the app and it will say there if it needs manually updating.

WhatsApp can be banned by repressive regimes although I don't think Starmer has got round to that here yet. Under those circumstances it would be downloaded from a covert source and would need to be updated from there too but that isn't the case here so far.

By all means check the Google play app to see if it needs updating. Don't go anywhere else to update it. The odds are you wouldn't know how to anyway because I doubt that your phone has any alternate update sources authorised.

Klondie,  I am looking at my phone,  and in the apps, among others,   I have Google, Play Store,  APK pure,  and something just called 'Store which has a picture of a shopping bag on the app.    So which is the Google play app you meant? 

November 04, 2025, 07:29:43 PM

I don't press any keys on my phone that I am not too sure of.... I too am rubbish at technology and gadgets..
I never answer 'yes' to anything...
Sometimes it's easier to play the 'ignorant' card..
Even people who knock at the door trying to sell (something) walk away very confused..  😜

I aint half glad it isn't just me,  Scrumps.  

[klondike]

Google Play is the genine play store. Who installed WhatsApp on your phone? Considering the message you got and the fact that you have APK pure on your phone I'm guessing it wasn't you and for some reason was installed from the unofficial location. I have no idea why that would have been done.

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=is+apkpure+safe&newwindow=1

[Mups]

Google Play is the genine play store. Who installed WhatsApp on your phone? Considering the message you got and the fact that you have APK pure on your phone I'm guessing it wasn't you and for some reason was installed from the unofficial location. I have no idea why that would have been done.

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=is+apkpure+safe&newwindow=1

My daughter-in-law installed it for me a few months ago.   Perhaps I had better ask her about it? 

As for APK, Store and Playstore,  I have never even used them.   They are all for playing games, aren't they?

Going back to the beginning,  I think it was when I tapped on  the WhatsApp icon,  that message about updating just appeared.    I haven't seen it again since,  so perhaps I will just wait and see if it comes back again.

Thanks for trying to help though.  

[klondike]

The stores are where the apps are that you can install. There is probably a reason why she installed WhatsApp from APKpure rather than the play store which I'm assuming she did as APKpure isn't on phones by default.

Is your phone a Huawei or maybe quite old? Does it have Play/Google Play on it?

[Mups]

The stores are where the apps are that you can install. There is probably a reason why she installed WhatsApp from APKpure rather than the play store which I'm assuming she did as APKpure isn't on phones by default.

Is your phone a Huawei or maybe quite old? Does it have Play/Google Play on it?

I did say earlier, but perhaps you missed it -  it is a Samsung A13,  and it has Play Store and APK Pure,  but nothing that says Google Play,  just plain Google.
I never use Play Store, nor APK pure,  as I am not interested in playing games on my phone.