Google shouldn't be doing what they're doing, no question. BUT, this reaction to the idea of people downloading apps is over the top. The world is full of people who made lots of money on the back of people downloading and installing their apps, even with far worse UXs than what Android provides.
Minecraft.
Steam.
Heck, every video game ever.
Skype.
Microsoft Office. Made billions when people had to physically go to a store and get it.
Google Earth. Chrome itself.
IntelliJ, any developer tool.
Zoom. WebEx. Most video conf tools, actually.
Any pro tool whatsoever.
You get the picture. No, ticking a box and tapping is not the end of the world and never has been. The UX for app installation on macOS and Windows is totally atrocious in both cases and people figure it out.
If you live in the Valley bubble world where every single app that exists is VC funded and desperately racing to get to a 100M daily actives first, then it might seem like one extra click is literally the end of the world. But FFS the vast majority of all businesses and products require more effort to get than that, and they work just fine.
Minecraft.
Steam.
Heck, every video game ever.
Skype.
Microsoft Office. Made billions when people had to physically go to a store and get it.
Google Earth. Chrome itself.
IntelliJ, any developer tool.
Zoom. WebEx. Most video conf tools, actually.
Any pro tool whatsoever.
You get the picture. No, ticking a box and tapping is not the end of the world and never has been. The UX for app installation on macOS and Windows is totally atrocious in both cases and people figure it out.
If you live in the Valley bubble world where every single app that exists is VC funded and desperately racing to get to a 100M daily actives first, then it might seem like one extra click is literally the end of the world. But FFS the vast majority of all businesses and products require more effort to get than that, and they work just fine.