Kagi News android app UI unavailable around prompt for Google Play installation

oddfitz

I saw the new Kagi Translate app in a recent changelog, and decided to give it a go. I've been trying to reduce my exposure to Google, so I downloaded it via the Aurora Store.

While installing Kagi Translate, I also saw Kagi News and decided to get that as well. The Kagi Translate app works fine, but when I launched the Kagi News app, it opened and then immediately opened Google Play and instructed that I had to install the app from there. See attached screenshot.

Environment:

Google Pixel 10 Pro
Stock Android OS
Installation from Aurora Store using anonymous option
Kagi apps installed: Kagi Translate (works fine), Kagi News (issue as noted)

I have not yet been able to get the Kagi News app to display despite trying over about 2 months and several reboots. I contacted Kagi support and they said to report the bug here.

The app should launch normally.

This issue is similar to others which have reported a dependency on Google Play Services, but in this case the app won't even get to an interactive state. Sometimes I can see the app UI loading briefly before it redirects to the Google Play Store, but that's as far as it ever gets.

mb

In case you're wondering, all Kagi apps work just fine with microG and Aurora on /e/OS. It seems to be isolated to people using Aurora on stock OS. 🤷

oddfitz

Sorry it took me this long to reply; I must have misconfigured something about my profile and didn't get an email about it.

Your conclusion agrees with what I have found so far:

The problem is caused by PairIP license verification service. Droidwin article. Detailed breakdown of PairIP that's over my head.
It appears to be possible to disable the PairIP service (one method noted in the Droidwin article), but it's obscure enough to be unreasonable for non-nerds.
Given that non-stock OS have an interest in using non-Play applications, I am guessing that /e/OS and other non-stock OS options have disabled the PairIP service. This would make it a stock-only problem, which covers the vast majority of normal android users.

I saw one claim on a comment in the Magisk subreddit that PairIP verification is tied to a "Safe install option" in integrity when publishing the app. Not being any kind of developer I can't verify it, but putting the claim here in case it helps someone else.