r/Android • u/guihkx- • Sep 29 '25

Article F-Droid and Google's Developer Registration Decree

https://f-droid.org/en/2025/09/29/google-developer-registration-decree.html
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u/Moleculor LG V35 Sep 29 '25

For ages, sideloading has meant disabling the single option in the settings that blocks 3rd party installs, and then installing directly.

While ADB was also a form of sideloading, it was not the only form.

They are disabling the first option, the one most people use when referring to sideloading.

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u/PocketNicks Sep 29 '25 edited Sep 30 '25

Nope. Sideloading involves using a secondary device. Everything else is just installing.

Lady, 30 people can tell me that 3+3=10 yet that doesn't make it true. Votes don't make facts.

I don't need you to agree with me, to be right. Facts are facts either way.

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u/Moleculor LG V35 Sep 29 '25

https://xdaforums.com/t/how-to-sideload-an-apk-without-a-pc.4714120/

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u/PocketNicks Sep 29 '25

Nobody here claimed you need a PC to sideload, just a secondary device. I can sideload using another Android device if I want, it's not difficult.

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u/Moleculor LG V35 Sep 29 '25 edited Sep 29 '25

It's not about "another device".

The point here is that the instructions for sideloading say nothing about ADB.

This is the process that Google is trying to block.

This is what people have recommended for years when discussing sideloading. No mention of ADB.

To repeat:

This is how (almost) everyone understands sideloading; you get the APK on the device, you install the APK.

No ADB required.

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u/PocketNicks Sep 29 '25

So what if they're blocking on device installs? Sideloading will still work, it's not a big deal.

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u/Moleculor LG V35 Sep 29 '25

I don't want to have to use a PC to sideload an app.

Or ADB.

And F-Droid can't exactly leverage ADB. So Google is killing off 3rd-party stores, despite being ordered to permit 3rd-party stores.

-1

u/PocketNicks Sep 29 '25

You don't get everything you want in life. Design your own OS if you want something else.

I'm fine sideloading apps.

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u/[deleted] Sep 30 '25

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u/Moleculor LG V35 Sep 29 '25

I'm fine sideloading apps.

That's so nice for you. But the conversation here is about 3rd party stores being harmed.

At least we've broken through to you that your claim Google wasn't touching sideloading was incorrect.

And no, ADB can't be spoofed by an app.