Between a Rock and a Sideload
First of all, I should say that I know I’m late to this, but I think it’s better late than never on this topic.
Second of all, I’ve been an Android user since the Android Ice Cream Sandwich days, so I have watched the OS change and mature over the last 15 years.
To get this conversation started, I should say that I object to Google’s decision to limit sideloading on Android that will take effect later this year. I’ve been a loyal Android user since the Android ICS days and have been “team stock Android” for most of it. My first Android phone, a Motorola Moto G (1st generation), was the “poor man’s Nexus” back then. It was a mostly stock Android experience, and I have been team Nexus and then Pixel ever since. I’ve owned the Nexus 5X, Pixel 2, Pixel 4a, Pixel 7a, Pixel 8a, and Pixel 9a. Through it all, I’ve been enjoying the freedoms that Android provides that Apple’s iOS doesn’t. These freedoms include, but are not limited to, the ability to sideload apps like F-Droid, wireless channel scanning, and having full file system access on the device.
While I will probably remain on Android for the foreseeable future, I do believe that the removal of easy sideloading presents a change in the Android world that removes the low barrier to entry that the platform is known for. My first app was a basic game in MIT App Inventor back in June 2015 for a world record attempt for coding an Android app.. This was only made possible because of Android’s open nature. The creation of additional barriers as Google has announced would have killed the over 1,000-person record attempt before it ever got off the ground.
Going forward, the lockdown of sideloading apps would deny millions of people the same opportunity that I had back in 2015. So please, for the sake of all the future IT professionals: don’t lock down Android. Keep it open.
For more information on the Android Lockdown, please see keepandroidopen.org