Sideloading remains with Android - with 24-hour waiting time

Jan Johannsen

20/3/2026

Translation: machine translated

Google wanted to abolish sideloading altogether, but changed its mind after protests. The company is now explaining how apps can be installed outside of the Play Store in future.

You will still be able to use sideloading on your Android smartphone in the future. Depending on the status of the app developer, however, you will need patience. For unregistered publishers, you will have to wait 24 hours for the app

No restrictions for Google-known app developers

In August 2025 Google Tfoosan announced that new rules for apps will apply from March 2026. It should only be possible to install apps from registered developers. Reason: Protection against malware and scammers. A side effect of this planned requirement would have been the end of sideloading, i.e. the installation of apps outside of the Play Store.

After strong protests Google announced in November 2025 that sideloading will still be possible, but users will be shown more warnings. In a blog post, Google now explains how exactly the so-called «advanced flow» will work in the future.

For app publishers who have registered with Google, nothing will change with sideloading. This will continue as before. With one of the new free accounts without proof of identity, which are intended for small solo developers, sideloading only works on up to 20 devices. For unregistered apps from developers who do not identify themselves to Google, on the other hand, the process is time-consuming and involves a waiting period. This is likely to affect open source applications in particular, which do not want to or cannot go through the costly registration process.

• Enable Android developer mode
• Confirm that no one is trying to trick you into installing this app.
• Restart your phone and log in again.
• Wait 24 hours and log in using biometrics or PIN.
• Install the app - either permanently or for seven days only.

With these measures, Google wants to prevent scammers from pressurising people into installing an unsafe app. As these scammers usually take their victims by surprise with time pressure, the delays are intended to give people the opportunity to think and make the effort unattractive for the scammers.

The restricted accounts and the «advanced flow» should be available in August, shortly before the new rules for the registration of app developers come into force.

Jan Johannsen

Senior Editor

Jan.Johannsen@galaxus.de

As a primary school pupil, I used to sit in a friend's living room with many of my classmates to play the Super NES. Now I get my hands on the latest technology and test it for you. In recent years at Curved, Computer Bild and Netzwelt, now at Digitec and Galaxus. more

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