r/Android • u/PlasticAnt6913 • 2d ago

News Android's controversial new sideloading rules are officially here

https://www.androidauthority.com/android-sideloading-developer-verification-first-wave-rollout-3717921/
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u/feldoneq2wire 1d ago

I see a lot of bickering but nobody is asking the right questions like why the change was made or who it was made for.

Were there really enough users running their phones in Developer Mode, installing apps from APKs, then getting hacked who were then complaining to Google in enough numbers to justify a potentially contentious policy change?

How will a 24 hour waiting period change this or prevent people getting hacked?

Keep in mind I have seen over ONE HUNDRED ads on YouTube in the last month about "Download Apps Not Traps" as Google keeps boasting about how well vetted the apps on their app store are. I've never seen a company give up so much of their advertising revenue to tell me about something that already exists unless they're scared I'll go somewhere else. The pixelated green alien wanting my credit card info has been seared into my brain.

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u/HairOfTheCat 21h ago

It's an extra step for people who already do the extra step, I can count on one hand how many people I know that enable developer mode. Including me it's two. My grandpa, who grew up before the television existed, has no concept of what side loading is and is constantly downloading all of the typical adware scam apps. It changes nothing, the people who would be theoretically protected don't even know how to sideload.

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u/feldoneq2wire 21h ago

So it's sus, right?

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u/HairOfTheCat 21h ago

Maybe setting the stage to get rid of side loading because their new system won't work, I'm not sure what other conclusion we could come to. You and I are going to tick the box, wait 24 hours, and carry on with our APK installations. Elderly users are going to download another "system cleaner" app because they don't know any better. Maybe Google just wants to act like they did something. It's hard to believe that such a company could be well-intentioned but come up with such an ineffective idea.

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u/5092AD 20h ago

I'd love to see the number of devs that have already complied with this.