Comment by jajuuka

I think your comment highlights the balancing act of providing an open platform while also protecting the average user. I'm sure everyone here knows that the average technology user is not the brightest or savvy. Making changes like putting scare screens before side loading an app is a good compromise on the user side. However it does make it more difficult for app developers to distribute their apps that way. Anyone with basic security training will be cautious about going further. So you've effectively limited your audience just to power users.

However moving to a whitelist system I think is counterproductive. Especially when Google is the only one with the power to edit that list. There is a reason Microsoft or Apple never went down this route in the name of security. It's just too much of a burden on them and it hinders power users, hobbyists, and small developers. Cases where one might want to keep their identity to themselves are edge cases but they are VERY important edge cases.