>How is that different from "installing software"?
It's easy to see this play out if try to replace "sideloading" with "installing software". If you apply it to OP's headline of
>Google confirms 'high-friction' sideloading flow is coming to Android
You get
>Google confirms 'high-friction' installing software flow is coming to Android
which isn't at all accurate. You still need the distinct concept of "installing software not from first party sources", otherwise it sounds like google is making it a pain to install all apps, which isn't the case.
Sure, you could argue it helps to express a distinction but that doesn't mean it has to live inside the verb install. Historically installing software was the general act and provenance was handled with qualifiers eg installing from "third-party sources", "manual install" etc. Android is alone among computing platforms in collapsing that qualifier into a new term that implicitly recenters the Play Store as the default meaning of "install."
In other ecosystems the store path is described as "store install" not the other way around. Android chose the inverse framing and that choice isn't neutral.
How are "programming" "coding" and "developing" different? Is a "tap" different from a "click"? How about "swipe" vs "drag"?
Sometimes we use different words in different contexts. Language usually doesn't make logical sense. In mobile environments you sideload to get the binary onto the device and use the OS to properly install it. This dates from a time where putting the binary on the device was the difficult part. Devices didn't have standard ports or fast/free wireless data. You had to do something special to transfer the data.
In a lot of cases, installation was also a separate special process involving the command line. It wasn't always just tapping the install button.
gruez|1 month ago
It's easy to see this play out if try to replace "sideloading" with "installing software". If you apply it to OP's headline of
>Google confirms 'high-friction' sideloading flow is coming to Android
You get
>Google confirms 'high-friction' installing software flow is coming to Android
which isn't at all accurate. You still need the distinct concept of "installing software not from first party sources", otherwise it sounds like google is making it a pain to install all apps, which isn't the case.
glenstein|1 month ago
In other ecosystems the store path is described as "store install" not the other way around. Android chose the inverse framing and that choice isn't neutral.
dns_snek|1 month ago
sophrosyne42|1 month ago
estimator7292|1 month ago
Sometimes we use different words in different contexts. Language usually doesn't make logical sense. In mobile environments you sideload to get the binary onto the device and use the OS to properly install it. This dates from a time where putting the binary on the device was the difficult part. Devices didn't have standard ports or fast/free wireless data. You had to do something special to transfer the data.
In a lot of cases, installation was also a separate special process involving the command line. It wasn't always just tapping the install button.