we could make Google directly reliable for malware in the appstore.
There is no reason they shouldn't be now. Developer verification for the play store is one thing. Developer verification for installing an application on your own device is wholly separate.
I declare both as a risk.
And one is substantially higher risk than the other. Namely, the play store. As we recently saw with tens of millions of downloads from just a handful of apps in the play store. Does requiring this developer verification on a device resolve that problem? No. Not even remotely, does it?
While this started as a very anti consumer change
As long as it impacts the device use (it does), it still is.
I'm leaving Android over this. I doubt I'll be the only one.