GitHub's mobile apps now support viewing and downloading releases

The new feature will come in handy to quickly download the latest app releases, especially for those using open-source software that is not allowed on the Play Store, like John Wu’s Magisk Manager.

Github's app on Android and iOS now supports downloading viewing and downloading releases.   (Pixabay)

Popular code hosting platform for collaboration and development GitHub announced over the weekend that it was adding support for browsing releases on its Android app, along with the ability to download them, both features that have been requested time and again on the platform.

GitHub tweeted that the mobile app for iOS and Android would now support GitHub Releases - the part of each ‘repository' (a section on the site where code is hosted) to be browsed and then downloaded. Users who want to be able to access the update will have to update their app to version 1.4.14 from the Google Play store, as reported by XDA.

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GitHub for mobile now supports GitHub Releases! We've made it easy for you to browse release notes and download release assets on your mobile device no matter where you are! Download for iOS or Android https://t.co/vQBkyZeXrJ pic.twitter.com/LJro8CJHBE

— GitHub (@github) March 19, 2021

Once users have updated their GitHub app, they can visit any project hosted on GitHub, such as the Signal app, or the Bromite browser. On the project's home page, a new Releases tab will be visible, showing the latest release along with older assets uploaded by the project's authors. This can come in handy to quickly download the latest app releases, especially if you use open-source software that is not allowed on the Play Store, like John Wu's Magisk Manager.

However, it remains to be seen how long the app will be allowed to remain on the Play Store, especially considering Google does not allow apps that distribute other apps inside them to exist on its store. 

This is because other app stores like the Epic Games Store and F-Droid can still be sideloaded, but since they “compete” with the Play Store, they aren't allowed on the store itself. Only time will tell whether Google will allow the GitHub app to distribute apps and other releases from within their app, by making an exception.