It's fair to question whether the play store is the number one source of scams, but you should also question whether google actually does enough to keep scams off of Play, or is that just a pretense.

If I search for "DeepL" the first hit on the play store is "Preply" whatever that is, only the second one is actually DeepL.

When I search for ChatGPT right now on the Play Store, the first result on my phone is a counterfeit app with a fake logo, I don't think even basic diligence has been done on the play store, it's the far west.

As for the apk, of course not many people distribute legitimately this way ... because it's already too complicated! Even Fortnite couldn't make it work, so if they cannot, how can your average developer do it?

If you want more legitimate apks, the solution is to remove friction and make them easier to install.

Google has been acting in two steps here:

- first make apks too complicated for legitimate developers

- then claim that no legitimate developer use them...