Earlier quoted context omitted.
>- Must enable developer mode -- some apps (e.g., banking apps) will refuse to operate and such when developer mode is on, and so if you depend on such apps, I guess you just can't sideload? Hi, I'm the community engagement manager @ Android. It's my understanding that you don't have to keep developer options enabled after you enable the advanced flow. Once you make the change on your device, it's enabled. If you tur…
I don't think Google should be changing Android this way at all, and fear that it will later be used for evil. That said, I thought of an improvement: Allow a toggle with no waiting period during initial device setup. The user is almost certainly not being guided by a scammer when they're first setting up their device, so this addresses the concern Google claims is driving the verification requirement. I'll be pretty…
Personally those two changes would mollify me somewhat, though the slippery slope concerns others have discussed in this thread remain. Additionally, I think there's a real anti competitive concern in that these changes negatively impact the market for non-Google-approved apps. (Perhaps the latter could be solved by allowing alternate app stores like F-Droid to completely bypass the verification requirement, allowing those stores' internal app verification processes to compete on equal footing with Google's.)