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Do you see the direction they're heading? They're now making it so maybe .5% of android users know how to sideload. They're clearly chipping away at it, even though they might not be making all the changes at once.

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What fraction of users do you think have a legitimate need to sideload apps on Android? I would imagine it's much less than 0.5%. Developers and technically-minded power users must be a tiny minority amongst Android users given that it has an install base in the billions.

Right now, not many. My point is that they aren't flipping a giant switch from an open platform to a closed platform. They're boiling the frog -- slowly removing features until all choice is gone.

A few more years in this direction and Android can be as locked down as iPhone before Apple was forced to allow sideloading

I mean, piracy is a common thing on Android devices, at least here in Latin/South America.

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