These are some good points but when you say <i>&quot;He only wants distribution through channels that provide the same security assurances and deployment features that Google does through the Play Store.&quot;</i> it must be noted that this isn&#x27;t a guarantee of security.<p>A quick search of &#x27;Google Play malware&#x27; returns many results from 2016 and going back to when it was still called Android Market. This isn&#x27;t hand-waving, there are many concrete and specific examples of security lapses in the Google Play store and this is a persistent problem. Plenty of bright people over there who care and are working on it I&#x27;m sure, but not solved yet.<p>Bottom line is it&#x27;s his decision to make, but the only certainty that using Google&#x27;s store brings is that you must have a first-party relationship with Google to use his app. It&#x27;s better than downloading APKs from some warez site but not a guarantee of security. Framing it this way misses the bigger picture.