GoKawiilEven though there’s not a lot of love for them, Android’s new sideloading rules are perhaps not as controversial as they first seem. Still, Google’s changes to app installs from outside its Play Store ecosystem mark a fundamental shift in how Android handles user software. If you’re not trusted by Google, you’re going to have a trickier time getting your app in front of potential users.
While plenty of Android users are happily immersed in Google’s protective shell and might never notice the changes, the repercussions will certainly be felt more heavily in some quarters — especially in communities and software tools that deliberately try to avoid Google’s ecosystem.
What do you think about Android's new sideloading flow for unverified apps? 7771 votes It's a good move. Better security is worth the extra steps. 18 % I get why Google is doing it, but it feels like overkill. 31 % This makes Android less open and hurts power users. 48 % Doesn't affect me, I don't sideload apps. 3 %
Third-party app stores
Robert Triggs / Android Authority
Popular alternative app store F-Droid has been one of the fiercest critics of Google’s changes to app installations, and with very good reason. Even if external stores want to comply with Google’s app verification program to keep installing their tools just as simple as they currently are, there’s no guarantee that developers who host their apps on these stores will want to jump through the same hoops. The issue is further complicated by store key signing, which means that the same app from different stores isn’t always identified as the same.
That undoubtedly adds a lot of friction. Do other stores require all their developers to also be verified via Google’s system, essentially making them little more than an extension of the Play Store? Do they choose to suffer users questioning why some apps will install easily, and others can only be installed via the new “advanced flow”? There’s no easy answer for these platforms.
Developer verification doesn’t just affect stores, it cascades down to every app.
This issue isn’t limited to F-Droid. Other stores such as Aptoide, Huawei AppGallery, Xiaomi Mi Store, and Samsung Galaxy Store could see friction for apps submitted by developers who aren’t part of Google’s new verification system. APK repositories like APKMirror and APKPure, which distribute raw APKs, will similarly be impacted, especially for developers unwilling to reveal personal verification information.
In practice, this means a user trying to install a smaller, independent app may need to follow a multi-step “advanced flow” or resort to ADB. As designed, this extra friction could dissuade users from installing apps outside Play Store-approved channels.
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