We aimed an interesting app but we can't download it on our Android smartphone "> Normally APK files are not managed by the default Android system, since the applications are already available "ready" on the Google Play Store; but no one forbids the developer or the manufacturer of the app to release the APK on their site or on other collection sites so that, if a user has difficulty downloading or updating the app on his device, he can use the APK file taken from the Internet after changing the system to accept apps of unknown sources).
Of course, APKs also have limits and you need to consider them before moving on to downloading files:
- There is no guarantee of operation : if an app from the Play Store is not available on our device (for various reasons), downloading the APK does not give guarantees of operation, on the contrary often the installation freezes or the app does not start ( this is because one of the reasons why the app is not available in the Play Store of our device is incompatibility).
- There is no guarantee of updates : if an app not available on our Play Store is installed via APK, we will not receive automatic updates from Google and we will therefore have to manually download all the APKs of subsequent updates.
- We cannot download paid apps : paid apps are not available as APKs, since they only work if linked to the Google Play Store (and the account that manages them). If we find paid apps in APK format we are faced with crack versions, moddate (to add functions) and often full of viruses or crap.
- Greater security risks : as mentioned in the introduction to the guide we run the risk of infecting our smartphone, since an APK file can be modified to show additional advertising windows, install new infected APKs yourself or modify our chats on WhatsApp or other social networks.
Where to download the app APKs
APK files should not be downloaded with a simple Google search: most of the sources shown may contain modified APKs or infect the system even before starting the download! For greater security, we download the APK files from a PC and only then transfer them to the Android device, following the suggestions proposed in our guide on how to send files between PC and Android (mobile phone or tablet) in wireless wifi .One of the best sites to download APK is definitely APKMirror.
On this site we can find practically any app updated to the latest version (often even before it appears on the Google Play Store); to download the app, simply use the Search search bar at the top right, select the most relevant result among those proposed, press the See Available APKS button and download the version suitable for our system (we recommend you download the two APKs indicated) as armeabi-v7a e
arm64-v8a, testing both until we find the one that works properly).
Unfortunately, the site does not offer an alternative store to install on the device, so we will have to visit the site often to download the updated APK of the chosen app.
Another site where we can download safe APK files is APKPure.
On this site we can download many apps that cannot be found on APKMirror, so that you can take advantage of the desired applications even on incompatible tablets or smartphones or with an outdated version of the Play Store. To download an APK, simply use the search bar at the top right, select the desired application and press the Download APK button in the presentation window.
APKPure can also be installed as an alternative store app to the Play Store, so you can download and update all apps separately from the Google store (very useful on Chinese tablets or on TV Boxes without Play Store).
Another site that we can use to download the APKs for our smartphone or tablet is UpToDown.
Here we can find many constantly updated apps and many apps not supported by the Google Play Store, we will only have to use the search bar at the top, press on the name of the application to download and click on the Latest version button in the presentation tab of the app.
Also in this case there is no app store to install on our device, but we will have to download the APK of each update.
Another very famous site to download APK for Android is Aptoide.
From this site we can download practically any app already seen on the Play Store, just use the search bar at the top right, press on the most relevant result, click on the Download button and finally on Download, present next to the item Download the APK on your computer .
Aptoide is an alternative app store to the Google Play Store, capable of managing updates and direct installation of apps without going through the site, as seen also in our guide to Alternatives to Play Store to download Android Apps without Google account .
Finally, we recommend that you also try the downloader offered by the APK Downloader site.
With this site, simply enter the URL link of the app on the Google Play Store (we search for it and copy the link of the app in the address bar), select the Android version and the device model in the Android and Device fields and finally click on Generate Download Link to start downloading the APK. Obviously we can only download the free apps, it is not possible to use the site for paid apps.
How to install APKs on Android
After transferring the APK from the PC to our Android smartphone or tablet, we will have to "lower the defenses" of the operating system, which as mentioned by default does not support installation from unknown sources.Let's go to the Settings app, open the Security screen and make sure to activate the check mark next to the item Unknown sources .
We confirm in the warning window that will open then we open the file manager on our device (we can also download one for the occasion), go to the folder where we placed the APK then tap on it and press on Install to start the installation (if the application is already present on the device, we will be asked if we want to update it by pressing the Update button).
The location of this option varies from device to device, but is usually always present on the system security screen. On "pure" Android systems, instead, we will have to open the Settings -> Apps and notifications section, go to the Special access to apps menu, press on Install unknown apps and give permission to the file manager used.
After installing or updating the APK, we advise you to deactivate the item again or remove the assigned permission, so as to restore the right level of security as seen also in the guide on how to prevent Android tampering .
Conclusions
APKs can become a good alternative to obtain the desired apps on old devices, on Chinese tablets or smartphones without the Play Store or on all devices that (for one reason or another) are not compatible with some of the apps we use daily basis.If the problem of missing apps concerns the Amazon Fire TV Stick, we recommend you read our guide on How to Install Android Apps on Fire Stick TV, from APK or Store .
If instead we wanted to open Android apps on Windows, Mac or computers with GNU / Linux systems, we can continue reading on our article on How to Open Android Apps in Chrome on Windows, Mac and Linux PCs .
