How much damage could a bad actor cause if they got hold of the Molly devs passwords, and uploaded a dodgy apk on GitHub? I guess Google Play Store might deny the change request if it's obviously bad, but I think GitHub has no checks at all?
I guess the question also applies for all apps. I'd be surprised if all currently benign popular apps will forever stay benign, especially if the devs retire and sell the app to bad actors.
Is the main defence to wait a few days before updating apps, especially if they are from GitHub?