As someone who develops for the platform, I tend to agree, I'll probably never distribute apps with sideloading, but I think ultimately it's a good thing. I'd also be happy if it attracts more interest and developers to the platform who were previously turned off by the App Store process and Apple Tax.
I also build for macOS, which has always allowed sideloading and don't see any major issues with it there.
Most ports right now are quite gnarly, you have to jump through a multi step build process just to do what other browsers can handle in a single click or drag and drop. Other methods I've seen involve relying on something like tampermonkey to run the scripts on the sites you want. Alternatively, making safari users mad by making your extension cost on the app store.
So I have high hopes! Finally developers should be able to release things for safari without feeling so suffocated.
When that happens, please switch to Firefox. It has more extensions than you'll ever need, and it's better for the tech environment and your privacy.
I don't know if that'll be good or bad but it will for sure be a shift.
Isn't it funny that something that has been completely normal for decades - the freedom to (develop and) install the software we want - now has new term because corporates have forced themselves as a middle-man to dictate what we can or cannot install? (And worse, now even have automated ways to kill or uninstall a software without our permission. Remember when the Amazon Kindle app deleted the 1984 ebook from everyone's devices (Amazon Secretly Removes "1984" From the Kindle - https://gizmodo.com/amazon-secretly-removes-1984-from-the-ki... )? That's the bleak future we are heading to ...)
1. I am a citizen of a country, so I give some freedoms away to have a military, police force, etc.
2. I work for a company, so I give some freedoms away to gain economic security.
3. I am part of a family, so I give some freedoms away to ensure my family is stable and secure.
4. I drive a car, and I give the freedom to not submit to a brethalyzer test to ensure I can get to places further than I can walk.
You do too.
What I object to is the idea that I'd be better off with more totalitarianism (in this instance, a corporation dictating which computing I am allowed to perform on my pocket computer) rather than less. I prefer as little as possible.
Again, I sacrifice some freedom and privacy (too much, I'm afraid) for convenience. But I certainly won't go ahead and say, "I wish I'd sacrificed even more."
Though I can understand that this is very common, and appears to be an adaptive mechanism that maintains mental health by minimizing cognitive dissonance.
Luckily, there's very simple solution for you! Just don't use sideloaded apps.
Unfortunately, in practice, Apple have proven to be entirely incompetent at achieving that protection. The App Store is 90%+ garbage and scams. It's completely unusable for any form of discovery. Even when you know exactly what app you're looking for, you have to wade through copycats, typo squatters, and even paid adverts trying to distract you from your search.
Sideloading is full of risks, and I don't love it. But it's at least a little bit of competition to push Apple towards make the App Store useful again.