Survey shows most of you are still sideloading apps

Google introduced new restrictions for installing apps from sources outside of the Play Store earlier this spring. For average users, having to wait a day to install that APK probably won’t matter all that much. For some enthusiasts, though, it’s the change will be a considerable new inconvenience. Going by a recent Android Authority poll, that includes a lot of you.

In a survey we’ve been running since late May, we asked whether our readers have ever installed an Android app from anywhere other than the Play Store. Unsurprisingly, most respondents have — with the largest share saying they do so regularly.

Our poll asking readers if they’ve ever installed an Android app from outside the Play Store had three options: regularly, sometimes, or never. Of 3,661 people who answered, a whopping 43% and change indicated that not only have they installed apps from outside the Play Store, they do so regularly.

The second-most popular choice was “A few times:” a little more than a third of respondents said that they have installed APKs sourced from somewhere outside the Play Store on more than one occasion. Only about one in five people who took our survey said that they have never installed an app from outside the Play Store.

For our audience, these results are in line with what I’d expect; if you’re reading Android blogs recreationally, you’re probably familiar with sideloading. Still, 40-plus percent of respondents saying they’ve installed apps from unofficial sources shows that it’s a pretty popular practice.

What was the last app you installed from outside the Play Store? Will Android’s upcoming sideloading restrictions affect you? Tell us about it in the comments.