There aren't that many hurdles.

1. You download the apk

2. When you try to install it, it tells you it's from an unknown source and the installation was blocked to protect you

3. You tap "settings" and flip a switch to allow installing apps from your browser

4. You go back and tap "install". That's it. It's done. And you won't need to go to the settings the next time, it'll just work.

It is not meaningless, but agreed not something for mass use yet. Similarly like 30-40 years ago with personal computing, now also geeks start the paradigm shift into privacy-aware computing.

The other aspect is that Google is now jeopardizing many people who now enable "other sources", making them more susceptible to malware. (Not saying you shouldn't enable "other sources", but many people don't understand what they are doing).

The same was said of purchasing stock options.

Only if your users are really lazy. It's certainly easier to install Element from an Apk then it is to set element up from then on.