Comment by estimator7292

This is revisionist history to make things sound scary and evil. The term sideloading was first published before Google existed.

Go to the XDA forums and search for the word "sideload". You can filter for results before 2020 if you like, you get hits going back decades.

It's been in common use since the day we got smartphones. The term dates back to the 1990s. I remember reading the word when I bought my HTC Evo at launch. It's an industry standard term and has been for longer than Google has existed.

You know this is the internet and anyone can fact check anything at any time? Including you!