Google is set for major changes to Android following its legal spat with Epic Games, offering a friendlier route for third-party app stores and more freedom over payments. But even with the headlines, sideloading — installing apps from a source besides official stores — isn’t being given new life. What Google is suggesting would increase competition between stores, not resurrect the freewheeling sideloading culture that many power users crave.
What Google Is Changing in Android App Store Policies
At the center of this is a brand-new system for “Registered App Stores,” which brings with it an all-new install flow. The store-approved screen will present one-click installs from the web, with neutral language that replaces the maze of warnings that have traditionally scared away even casual users. But most importantly, the install screen will give it permission to install apps, which should somewhat eliminate the extra steps you’d take in other marketplaces today.
This is not just policy; it is OS-level work. Google is going to put it into Android itself in an upcoming major version (most assume it will be 17) because they don’t want this to vary by device. The company is pledging to back the feature for years to come, a sign that it wants rival shops to stick around rather than just existing as experiments for a while.
Why Sideloading Still Meets Resistance on Android
These changes do not liberalize sideloading; they legitimize alternatives to Google Play. That’s a crucial distinction. Getting certified also means that Google gets to set the bar for what counts as a registered store. The company says requirements will be “reasonable,” but there’s still a gate. Community-led repositories like F-Droid, for instance, are worried about looming rules for developer verification that could block unverified developers’ ability to distribute at all — a brutal blow to the long tail of indie and open-source apps.
Security friction won’t vanish either. Warnings from Android and its permission models are intended to block malware and social engineering. And even on neutral install language, stores that don’t come preloaded by the device maker are still a trust gap away. And since historically the most powerful set of install permissions have been confined to such preinstalled storefronts, it may take a while before certification in practice places third-party stores on an equal footing both in the eyes of the OS and users.
Fees Shift, but They Don’t Vanish for Android Apps
Google is also relaxing Play Billing’s hold on developers by letting them offer alternative payment systems — such as links to the web — alongside Google’s. That’s quite a swing after years of advocating Play Billing for in-app transactions. But the economics of Google’s platform remain skewed in its favor: The company has announced that it could charge as much as 20 percent for many game-related purchases through other means, with a service fee for non-game categories reaching up to 9 percent.
Context matters here. Google’s typical rate has been 15% on Play revenue up to $1 million and 30% thereafter. Alternative billing does help some developers boost margins, but it leaves Google with remaining fees; the company still gets paid on most app store–bypass transactions from downloaded apps — even if the payment winds up going somewhere else. Organizations such as the Coalition for App Fairness will probably also argue that this maintains effective platform taxes — at least for games with concentrated spend.
OEMs and Rival Stores Get Some Breathing Room
And on the distribution side, Google is voluntarily limiting what it can extract from device makers and carriers. Manufacturers will be able to preload third-party stores and put them in front of users, without needing to worry that they’re going to lose access to Google products or revenue-sharing contracts. Google also says it won’t pay potential competitors to suppress competing app stores — something Epic accused it of hinting at in the past.
That might benefit players that include Samsung’s Galaxy Store, Amazon’s Appstore, and the Epic Games Store — which have all struggled to match Play’s ease.
It will finally enable these storefronts to compete on content, curation, and pricing without burdening users with difficult installs, preloads, and contractual shackles. Nonetheless, rev share, developer tooling, and user trust maintain the gravitational pull of Play, insofar as market trackers like data.ai and Sensor Tower both describe Play as the winner in terms of Android app spend.
What These Changes Mean for Android Users and Developers
For users, that competition ought to mean more choice, occasional exclusives, and possibly lower prices for in-app goods as stores and developers experiment with promotions and alternative billing. For developers, there’s some leverage gained: more storefronts to pitch games at means more negotiating power and a clearer path to own customer relationships. But it’s incremental, not revolutionary — the Play Store is still the front door on more than 3 billion active Android devices.
There is not much that sideloading supporters can celebrate. “Android is shaping up to be a curated multi-store world, not just unfettered installs from anywhere.” Google’s verification push and certification gates will probably squash unverified or niche channels, even as legit stores ascend. It reflects a larger dynamic: in Europe, the Digital Markets Act has pushed Apple and Google toward alternative distribution and payments, but both have erected new guardrails (and fees) that keep control uniquely their own.
The bottom line: Google’s plan significantly reduces the barriers for third-party app stores and makes room for new business models, but it does not “save” sideloading.
The path forward for Android distribution seems to be getting more competitive with a few sanctioned stores rising but, also more organized, with true off-store installs being an extremely high-friction experience for experts and the determined.
