Android 15 cracks down on sideloaded apps even harder to protect users
 

• Android 15 has new restrictions on what permissions sideloaded apps can be easily granted.
• Sideloaded apps can no longer be easily granted permission to draw over the screen, obtain usage statistics, act as a device admin, and more.
• This is an expansion of the restricted settings feature introduced in Android 13, which can still be manually disabled on a per-app basis in Android 15.

For power users, theres no question that being able to install apps from outside the Google Play Store, i.e., sideloading, is one of the biggest advantages of Android compared to iOS. Sideloading gives users the freedom to install any application they want, even if its not approved by Google or, more importantly, the authorities. Because distributing apps directly to users is easier than publishing them on app stores like Google Play, many hackers rely on sideloading to infect users devices with malware. To combat this, Google is introducing new restrictions in Android 15 that make it harder for sideloaded apps to obtain sensitive permissions.

Before I go any further, I need to address Googles intentions with this change. Is Google restricting what permissions sideloaded apps can obtain because they actually want to protect users, or are they doing it to keep people on the Google Play Store? Given the many court cases and legal battles that Google has been caught up with in recent years, its easy to be skeptical that Google has good intentions with this change. However, its important to consider two facts.




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