I really agree that providing an APK is a simple and good to way to provide the app to users who donât want or donât have access to the play store. (E.g. some custom roms or if itâs blocked)
Nextcloud wants to have itâs software as easy to get ass possible. Thatâs why the android app is free (the ownCloud app wasnât but was open-source though). See: Desktop & Mobile Apps