It’s called that because you used to download the apks on a separate computer and then load them onto the phone, it has nothing to do with sounding illegal

No, that's not necessary. You can download them straight to your phone. The 'side' is clearly in reference to the fact that you bypass the app store.

Yes, you can download APKs but I don’t remember that being common in the early days of Android.

This was before it had a download manager or file manager and using your computer to manage your phone was the norm.

The term predates Android anyways, goes back to the 90s I think.

The etymology of the word itself is more obscure [0], but ask anyone who knows the term with the current popular meaning and they'll make the association with sidestepping the restrictions of the official app store, or the contrast between a main and a side entrance.

You'd never need sideloading on your PC no matter how you got the installer. Because you can run anything there, you don't need to "come in through the window" to run whatever you want. Yet.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sideloading#Historical

You could always download apks directly from your phone...

Back in the day it wasn’t the norm though. We plugged our phones into our computers to manage media, jailbreak them, install apps downloaded from forums, etc.

Hell, people used to use iTunes to manage the apps on their iPhone and organize their Home Screen.

No, you could always install APK's manually, and there were early package managers, you didn't need a computer at all or to jailbreak an android.

Then with the windows mobile world, you could install manually, or use activesync which really sucked. Same with Palm. I don't recall Blackberry.

> No, you could always install APK's manually, and there were early package managers

In fact on the iPhone Cydia existed before the app store ever did. Apple had decided that web apps were the way to go.

I did not check but I think that the term may be older than Android, iirc on Symbian phones installing custom Java applets required a computer to place the package on the phone.

That's how I've always done it. Why would anyone do it any other way? Genuine question.

Some devices don't have browsers, some are locked-down and only support one app store, or sideloading via adb, sometimes the UX is better (SideQuest for the Meta Quest).

The large majority of Android devices have a browser by default.

Kind of like "jailbreaking" as a term. It makes it seem like you're a criminal escaping from confinement enforced by good and decent society.

Agreed. I refuse to use the terms "rooting" and "jailbreaking" in professional environments, I always use terms like "admin access to the mobile device".

Because that's what it is, despite the extremely successful campaign to paint people who want admin access on their mobile computers to be painted in the same light as pirates.

Yes, good one that is another one.

To jailbreak you need to be imprisoned. Since your only crime was buying an iPhone it presents apple as the tyrant. I think the term fits