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“Sideloading” is the perfect word to frame the behavior of downloading apps in a negative light or as an illicit activity. No-one has ever talked of sideloading
by tqkxzugoaupvwqr 5y ago
“Sideloading” is the perfect word to frame the behavior of downloading apps in a negative light or as an illicit activity. No-one has ever talked of sideloading an app on macOS – because sideloading is simply downloading an app from the Internet as we have known it from the very beginning of the Internet. I still cannot believe most people adopted this word as part of this discussion and keep using it, helping Apple’s narrative. Stop using “sideloading”, use “downloading from the Internet”!
- throwmeariver1 5y agosideloading was never a term used in any official documentation or communication the term was coined by the android community. we have to pick our own nose for that one.
- opan 5y agoOn Android it specifically refers to installing something on your phone via your computer with the adb sideload command. If you just download and install an apk on the phone itself, it's not sideloading. For this reason it wouldn't make sense to use the term for installing anything on a PC.
- johnwalkr 5y agoIt’s older than that, I remember using it to describe loading mp3s to iPods without using iTunes.
- Tozen 5y agoVery good point.
- PolygonSheep 5y agoI never though "sideloading" had a negative connotation in the Android world. It always felt neutral to me. Kind of a "you can do this if you want but you're on your own if it's malicious". It also made a distinction between apps acquired from the Play Store and apps you loaded yourself from outside of it.