Hikconnect app upgrade offered by the app itself outside the playstore on android??

[Jeroen68]

Hi Guys, please help, my app does not start without a message that I can upgrade to a better version but only available in the HIKVISION store?? The playstore version is still the same and mine but I am asked to download an APK from the HIKVISION APP STORE

My chromebook that runs android apps cannot install apps outside the playstore unless I put it in developermode which I do not want to do because there are more people using my machine and in developer mode it starts up with nagging warnings...

And also, I do not like the idea of running APKs not distributed via the playstore. Is Hikvision really trying to bypass google and its playstore now? Will new versions not longer be available on the playstore?

 

[John Williamson]

That's correct. The app can no longer be updated using the play store. Hikvision aren't trying to bypass Google. I believe Google have blocked Hikvision. See this excerpt from a post on another forum in the UK (www.use-ip.co.uk)

Why has the update method for the Hik-Connect App changed for Android users?

From the information we have and after asking Hikvision directly to comment on the changes, we understand that these changes are a result of the United States’ Entity List, which is ever-growing under the Trump Administration. Along with other major organisations, most notably Huawei, Hikvision have been added to this blacklist which prevents them from using Google Mobile Services (GMS) on Android phones and tablets. Hikvision itself explained in an email to the Android users of its app that “the relocation of the Android app comes as a result of the U.S. Entity List restrictions.” They also reassure us that we can trust the Hikvision App Store as a method for downloading and further updates “safely and quickly” and that everything on their own app store is “fully compliant with the design and development guidelines applied to Android/iOS operating systems.”

The following passage has been sourced from the Financial Times and outlines the Trump Administration’s motivations behind adding Hikvision to the list:

As the US administration ratcheted up pressure on China over the past year in the midst of a trade war … it also imposed export controls on dealings with other companies including surveillance technology group Hikvision, on the grounds that their products are used by Beijing to perpetrate human rights abuses.

The vice-president of the US, Mike Pence, justified this imposing of export controls during a speech in October last year. He stated that:

In recent years, China has taken a sharp U-turn toward control and oppression of its own people ... China has built an unparalleled surveillance state, and it’s growing more expansive and intrusive – often with the help of U.S. technology. What they call the “Great Firewall of China” likewise grows higher, drastically restricting the free flow of information to the Chinese people.

Our advice? Don’t panic and update to V4 of the app, if you wish, with peace of mind. We see no reason for concern as it’s just not credence to Hikvision exposing any back door vulnerabilities to their software, regardless of what might have been said by those in the U.S.

 

[Jeroen68]

Thanks John, I was not yet aware of this news. Much obliged for the update!

Does anybody know, once I used ''developer mode'' on my chromebook and update/install the APK from hikvision can I then exit the mode and have the use of the updated app?

 

[Jeroen68]

Hi Guys, answering my own questions above, yes it is possible to install the hik apk on a chromebook without first reverting into developermode and powerwashing your machine.

Its not simple, but I got mine to work with these instructions: [How-to] Sideload Android apps without Developer Mode on Chrome OS