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Side loading on android is laughably easy, probably easier than installing a program on a Windows device. If we can consider the installers that Windows users need to use to get something as simple as Chrome installed easy to use, downloading an .apk file and opening it and pressing install should seem trivial by comparison.


Even Fortnite gave up on the standalone install, we don't need to speculate, we know this method doesn't scale from past experience.

The only apps I know which are exclusively distributed this way are stuff banned from the store or developer tools.


F-Droid and all the apps there.


As much as I love F-Droid, I'll put it firmly into the developer community as well.


We all know that sideloading is a well-established method used by millions of people to gain access to software that is not available on the dominant stores.

I didn't think branding them as developers would change anything.


Do we? Which common app is exclusively distributed though a standalone install and used by millions? I can't think of a single example which would validate that.


Porn apps, gambling apps.


Isn't that part of the "stuff banned from the store or developer tools" which I said before though? Specifically the banned stuff.

Nobody which has a real choice seems to distribute this way despite lots of potential gains avoiding the Google tax.




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