This still represents a foundational change to the android model, and there are better ways of doing so. The simplest (which requires no changes) of Google to asking you to sign a few dozen different versions of your app for different models. That idea is easy to reject because it would be "too cumbersome" and require re-uploading the same app package repeatedly, but it would work.

There are other models that Google could adopt to allow this functionality. Google could come up with a new app format whereupon there were a signed manifest of files, and Google could selectively leave some out (Git does something very similar: The commit includes a map of filenames to cryptographically-secure object IDs, which may be in one of many different packfiles). This would allow Google to strip the assets that are unnecessary for your device, while still giving the Developer control over what's shipped.

But more importantly: This is about control. Currently there's a nice check-and-balance system. The developer signs the package, and Google inspects and can choose not to distribute it. The new system gives all the control to Google; They sign, they distribute. This may have been effectively where the system was before, because only a sparse minority of users checked the developer keys directly, but there's a big leap between the trust being defacto with Google (because people trust them and don't check), and that trust being completely with Google (because there's no way to check, Google holds all the keys).

I do trust Google to distribute my app. I trust them where I can check their work. I trust them because I can check their work. I know there would be outrage if they started distributing things that were not what I signed. This is that outrage.