Google confirms 'high-friction' sideloading flow is coming to Android

Post by conradev » Sun, Jan 25, 2026, 6:42 PM UTC

miki123211 wrote: post #470

AlotOfReading wrote: post #12

Google's long term strategy with Android is baffling to me. Apple has had better mobile hardware for years. Apple has higher consumer trust. Apple has better app selection (for most people). Apple has been increasingly implementing the core features that differentiate Android devices, like USB-C and RCS. Every Android user lost to the increasing iOS market share is another customer Google has to pay exorbitant fees t…

This isn't about pure revenue, it's about scams. Android has a reputation for being unsafe precisely because of sideloading (as well as low Google Play fees, looser app review, accessibility services and remote access). This policy is bad for us HNers, but objectively good for the 95+% of people who will never sideload a legitimate Android app, but are extremely likely to get caught by scammers. The heavy US skew of…

  To resolve the problem, scammers would deceive the victims into downloading a malicious app, in an Android Package Kit (APK) file format, sent through WhatsApp.

Post by eldaisfish » Sun, Jan 25, 2026, 6:47 PM UTC

8note wrote: post #496

hoistbypetard wrote: post #425

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know about categories overall, but I'm attached to my iPad and won't switch to Android in part because Affinity is not available there, nor is there any near equivalent as far as I can tell. I still think Overcast is nicer to use than Antenna Pod. Microsoft Office apps work much better on iDevices, in my experience. (I know they exist for Android, but I've never had much luck editing there, where it actually…

how do you live without ublock on your browser though? firefox with adblock is the high quality youtube app

Post by behnamoh » Sun, Jan 25, 2026, 6:49 PM UTC

lokar wrote: post #368

goldenarm wrote: post #182

Sideloading is a neologism to scare users and lawmakers, it just means "Installing software" and should be a basic right. Also software installation in Android has been high friction for a while. Installing an APK on my phone is at least 10 clicks.

I think what is missing here is the growing trend of scammers convincing people they are their bank (or whatever) and walking them through enabling side-loading and then installing malware (sometimes to address some urgent security issues with their account). This is meant to counter an actual issues that is affecting many many users.

Post by neychim » Sun, Jan 25, 2026, 6:50 PM UTC

akerl_ wrote: post #337

ben_w wrote: post #232

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Good for you? The fact this happens on my versions of both MacOS and iOS means they didn't have automated tests covering this from day one. Famously, "it works for me" is not how high quality software happens.

It seems basically impossible that math works differently on your calculator app than somebody else’s. Can you post a recording of what you’re seeing?

Post by palata » Sun, Jan 25, 2026, 6:51 PM UTC

al_borland wrote: post #480

myko wrote: post #273

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree with the thrust of the GP comment but: > The IOS versions of social media apps extract way less data from the device than on android, and is thus more privacy friendly. I seriously doubt this. I agree that this is the perception but anyone working in the mobile space on both platforms for the past ~2 years will know Google is a lot more hard nosed in reviewing apps for privacy concerns than Apple these days (…

Last time I tried Android I had to sign my rights away to everything the app wanted just to install it. In contrast, on iOS I get prompted to allow or deny access to my information when the app tries calling Apple’s API to fetch that information. For example, if an app wants access to my contacts to find other people using the app. On iOS I can simply say “no” when it prompts me to allow it to read my contacts. I los…