> Google technically allows apk downloads, but they're "scary" and most users don't know how to perform them. No matter what happens, this will continue to be

> Google technically allows apk downloads, but they're "scary" and most users don't know how to perform them. No matter what happens, this will continue to be true for some percentage of users because they've come to associate downloading software from random sites with things like malware and adware, and not without reason; while there are perfectly legitimate software packages that can't be distributed on the Play Store for one reason or another, by far and away the most common reason for APKs not being on the Play Store or users sideloading is because the app in question is doing something shady or the user is pirating apps from dubious sources that turn the apps in question into trojans. Even in the desktop world there's some level of trepidation with downloading from websites, particularly on Windows where search results are littered with things like shady SEO-optimized download sites, and that problem pre-dates all modern app stores. The question is how to solve that. I don't think the answer is to give up and say it's unsolvable and just has to be lived with, especially since doing so isn't going to engender support from those who cling to app stores for safety purposes.