The applications for Android smartphones are downloaded and installed not only through the Google Play store, but also through other unofficial stores or by downloading the installation files from the internet (i.e. APK files ), as is done with Windows programs. While the Google Play Store is controlled, in the sense that the apps do not have malicious code or malware inside, other stores or websites do not have the same completeness and, above all, not the same control and the downloads can be dangerous and damage the cellphone.
However, this rule has an exception in the reliable APKMirror site, a portal to install Android apps by downloading APK files without going through the Google store, now also capable of managing app updates .
READ ALSO: How to Download Android Apps (APK) on the PC
On the APKMirror site you will find the APK files of the same applications that are on the Google Play Store, which you can download from your PC or directly from your smartphone. When downloaded from your smartphone, APK files can be opened from the download notification bar or from the download management app (called Download )
The site is controlled like Google Play, but only contains free apps, not being able to manage paid apps (which if it distributed for free would be an illegal site). The only thing to be careful of is to install the version compatible with your smartphone, for those apps that require it.
However, if you are wrong or try to install an incompatible app, you will simply receive an error and you will not have any other problems.
And it is thanks to the APKMirror site that it is possible for all of us Italians to install applications not yet made available in our country, such as Facebook Lite and Messenger Lite, which I personally recommend to everyone to replace normal apps.
The only problem with APKMirror is that the applications installed by the site by downloading the APK on the mobile phone are not automatically updated and it becomes really inconvenient to check, every day, if a new version of an app is available.
Fortunately, this problem has been solved in an ingenious way by using Pushbullet, the popular application to receive Android notifications on PC, which also allows you to transfer files, links and sites between PC and smartphone.
In addition to all these things, by installing Pushbullet on the Android phone, you can receive updates of the apps installed via APKMirror .
Then install the app on Android and register a new account.
Then go to the Pushbullet website with your mobile and PC browser (if you want to download APK files from your PC) and log in by logging in.
Open, for example, the site on the Messenger Lite page, choose the latest version available and note that there are two buttons on the right above the download button, one of which for Messenger Lite Follow .
This Follow allows you to stay informed about the availability of these new versions through Pushbullet.
This Follow button is visible and also works in the mobile version of the APKMirror site, by touching the button with the Pushbullet icon.
When there is a new update for an APKMirror app, Pushbullet sends a notification and you can then open the app tab via the browser to download the new version. In the Pushbullet application you can manage all the Follow from the " You are following " tab.
NOTE: With the occasion of this article I have also created a Navigaweb channel on Pushbullet that notifies each new article and that it can be convenient to follow
I remember that APK files can be installed on Android freely only by opening them, but that it is necessary to have the Unknown sources option activated.
To be precise, go to Settings> Security and activate Unknown sources (on some smartphones this option can be in Settings> Apps ).
Finally, while we are using Pushbullet, it is also worth using it to download APK files from your computer and then send them to your mobile phone .
To do this, simply install Pushbullet on Chrome or Firefox and log in with the same account used on the smartphone. You can then press the Pushbullet button, select the smartphone in which Pushbullet is installed in the list of devices, press the paperclip button and send any file. This is certainly the easiest way to switch a file from PC to mobile phone and vice versa.
Another way to keep installed apps updated via APK files without going through the Google Play Store is via APKUpdater sends a notification every time a new version of an application comes out, including the link to download it.
