This is in stark contrast to Apple where you may not do anything outside of the One Apple Way(tm), which in this case means you will go through the Apple App Store or pound sand.
https://www.theverge.com/2023/11/6/23948990/and-were-on-to-s...
Apps installed from aftermarket stores:
- Cannot auto-update themselves, it requires user intervention for every individual app for every individual update.
- Cannot update at all if they were initially installed from the Play Store without uninstalling and losing all data in the process.
- Require multiple hoops and scary messages for the average user.
- Require extra maintenance burdens for the developer who essentially has to maintain two forks of the same application, further complicated by point 2.
- The payment issues mentioned upthread.
All of this makes aftermarket stores second-class citizens, all the while Google claims it welcomes them with open arms. Aftermarket stores aren't the only area where Google does this, either. Plenty of Android-of-yesteryear's customizability and openness has atrophied heavily while Google continues to profit off the bitrotting scraps that are left.