I have never developed an application in android which I distributed to others. It seems fun with b4a because its easy to do. But, is google play the only way to distribute app to others? I read some comments here from others who are complaining about how their apps were removed by google play team.
No, you can upload the APK file for anyone to download and install. Or you could upload your app to other markets like Amazon Kindle store or Huawei store.