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Google confirms 'high-friction' sideloading flow is coming to Android
(www.androidauthority.com)
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this post was submitted on 25 Jan 2026
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On the one hand. I don’t like this, since I install apps off of Google Play all the time. This is beyond stupid and I hope OEMs doesn’t include it.
On the other hand I just helped a colleague try to get a cheap fitness tracker to work on her phone and the manual took her to a random website for the required app. Thankfully the link was dead but even after I said “I don’t trust this link” she proceeded to try and download it twice.
For her I hope this is enabled by default and scares her from disabling it since I feel she will have her banking details stolen if she is left to her own devices.
If you buy sleazy-ass hardware just because it’s cheap you already made a grave mistake. I would not trust their app/drivers even if they were listed on a legit app store.
That was my thought too. But when you can't stop another inertia the best you can do is make sure they do it as safely as possible.