Should Google remove the option to sideload Android Apps APK ?

The problem with "Android App Piracy" seems to be escalating lately, with more and more developers expressing their negative opinion towards the platform's little to no protection against this problem.

App piracy on Android is nothing new. The percentage of pirated apps versus bought ones has always been higher on Android than on iOS, and developers have not once brought this issue to the public's attention.

The solution to all this seems quite simple to us get rid of the option that allows you to install apps from sources other than the Google Play store. Of course, Android is open and tech-savvy people will quickly find a workaround for that, but in case Google tries hard to make this workaround complicated enough, the vast majority of users will never bother to implement the workaround. As a result, people will just stick to getting their apps from the Play Store. Still, Google is yet to make this move, and there are no indications that it's going to happen anytime soon.

We are aware that such a transition will be hard at first, and probably many hardcore Android users will be pissed off, but the question is, should Google bother about those users? Google has always tried to be good to its customers, to not be evil, but now this kind of generosity is going against its own ecosystem. Developers are getting hurt financially, and are finding it increasingly hard to stay afloat due to this whole "open", and "don't be evil" mantra. Google will not become evil, if it closes that part of Android that makes piracy so easy. As a matter of fact, it should feel obliged to do so, because these devs are the same devs that made Android a worthwhile experience.

What do you think ?

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