alt Hacker NewsGoogle does still let you sideload though. The publisher has to submit ID but other than that, there are no restrictions.
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bccdee • yesterday at 3:17 AM
Apple also permits people who follow an application process to sideload software. That's still illegal. I'm not sure what the details are of this EU law, but it's entirely possible that Google will be noncompliant here.
Google has to approve the publisher (so Google can ban any developer, also no more apps from countries the US sanctions, e.g. Iran or Venezuela) and only one person can publish the same namespace (so no more fdroid).