This is a shame. Is the privileged extension a large maintenance burden?
F-Droid took until now to use those APIs.
> Android provides two APIs for installing apps: a “privileged” API for things built in, and a “session” API for third-party apps. The built-in API provides key UX improvements, but is quite restricted due to the security architecture. The third-party API is not used by Google at all, and therefore it is buggy and receives sub-par maintenance. Also, Google is motivated to keep it lower quality since all apps that use it are inherently competitors to Google Play. The additional system prompts and potential instability owing to frequent changes in Google’s SDK requirements may frustrate users, particularly those who are not tech-savvy.
Other things not mentioned:
- updating applications with adb or the package installer (e.g. by downloading and opening the APK) seems to force F-Droid to show the dialog again
- applications are not eligible if their minimum API version is too low, meaning you get a prompt on every update
All in all I see no reason to put up with subpar installation UX just because Google doesn't endorse the store I use.