I have no issues with side-loaded apps or apps downloaded from the Google Play Store on my Nexus 7 with 5.0.2.
I *do* call init() and verify(), so maybe that’s the difference? I don’t know.
The app that’s live on Google Play was compiled with Corona build 2014.2393 and the side-loaded app was compiled with 2015.2552, so it doesn’t look like the issue has anything to do with newer/older versions of Corona either.