I mean, as long as Apple gets away with it, Google will trend towards it... Give them another five years, and they'll push everyone into some kind of TestFlight system to side-load, and just claim they are following best practices.
"Verified Developers" are coming to Google Play.
Yes, this even applies to sideloading applications. Yes, sideloading will still technically be allowed, but only if the app comes from a verified developer.
Sideloading apps from unverified developers will be blocked on certified Android devices/OS, regardless of how you obtain the APK.
It seems the only way to install apps from nostr:nprofile1qqs83nn04fezvsu89p8xg7axjwye2u67errat3dx2um725fs7qnrqlgpzemhxue69uhkummnw3ex2mrfw3jhxtn0wfnj7klqyqq in the future might be to run a custom ROM such as Graphene, etc.
https://android-developers.googleblog.com/2025/08/elevating-android-security.html
Discussion
They will have completely fallen at that point. I won't believe that's where we are headed. Literally goes against everything AOSP and the Open Handset Alliance stands for.