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A comment on Google: 'Your $1000 phone needs our permission to install apps now' [video]. Parent comment

Re:Google: 'Your $1000 phone needs our permission to install... by wilsonnb3 on Sunday August 31, 2025 @03:59PM (#45086538)
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.

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Re:Google: 'Your $1000 phone needs our permission to install... by buran77 on Sunday August 31, 2025 @04:16PM (#45086675)
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

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