Sideloading on Android is about to get less newbie-friendly
In the past, downloading APKs and installing them on your Android phone was a pretty straightforward process. You simply download the APK, unpack it, and you’re more or less good to go. However, Google has made a recent change to the way apps are distributed which makes sideloading on Android a bit more complicated.
According to a post on X by Artem Russakovskii, it seems that Google has stopped generating “fat APKs” for apps. Instead, Google is now relying on bundles. The Android App Bundle was originally introduced at I/O 2018. The idea is that instead of packaging all versions of an app inside a single file, which takes up more space and makes for bigger downloads, bundles only what the user needs.
This is because it takes into account things like the language of your device, the type of device, and the version of Android you’re running. This is more efficient and a space saver. Unfortunately, it only applies to apps downloaded via the Play Store. It also complicates the sideloading process on Android phones.
This doesn’t mean that sideloading on Android is impossible. According to Android Police, it means that users will need to rely on third-party tools like Split APKs Installer or APKMirror Installer. It’s an extra, but not complicated, step that users will have to take.