Nate on Nostr: Zapstore, IIRC, distrubutes apks that were signed by the dev (either directly ...

Zapstore, IIRC, distrubutes apks that were signed by the dev (either directly uploaded to the Zapstore or just yoinked from GitHub) - it shouldn't matter whether Google signed the dev's keys or not.

Though I'm not a fan of Google's power grab, it shouldn't effect alternative app stores. It only really effects whether devs themselves can sign apps with a Google approved key. If you're not on a Google certified device (e.g. GrapheneOS) you'll be able to install any app anyway (Google approved or otherwise). If you are on a Google certified device, as long as the person compiling the app had their key approved by Google, you can install that apk from anywhere.

The only store I think it effects is F-Droid. They're insistent on compiling apps themselves, instead of following the standard Android security model and having the dev compile the app. If neither Google or F-droid reverse course F-droid will break on certified Android devices, but otherwise as far as I know everything else should continue as usual.