this post was submitted on 26 Dec 2023
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I think it's more about the defaults included, plus Google hides sideloading more with each new version of android. They have a semi-reasonable worry of "If we show off how easy sideloading is or can be, that enables bad faith actors." Like Microsoft and IE/Edge.
But on a fresh install of Android, if you download f-droid from Chrome or Firefox, you need to:
Meanwhile Play Store doesn't have any of that, it's enabled and allowed to download and update anything without user prompt, it's an opt-out.
Plus with how anything that conflicts with a default app like a Clock app, there's a decent shot it might not work due to the default battery optimizations, the internal syscalls for "Google's Clock" instead of "Default Clock" it just kinda makes using anything that's not the one included with your phone more of a headache.
It's easier with SMS, Dialer, browser, and Home launchers, but if you wanted to change any other important apps like your calendar or email it's kind of a headache.
There's also the recent fallout from the Epic v. Google case which determined that Google was also leveraging their market dominance to manipulate the market and negotiate more favorable deals behind closed doors to reduce competition.
Honestly, I feel like they've made side loading easier and easier as times go on. Used to be that you'd just get a pop up that installs weren't authorized for that app, then you had to dig through the settings to enable it. Nowadays the pop up has a shortcut to the correct settings page and even visually flashes the right toggle for you to make it easier to find.
I could be wrong but I think at one point the outside sources toggle was just a one time thing and affected all applications.
You're right, it did use to be that way and I'm pretty sure it also automatically took you to that particular setting when you needed it