How to install an APK on Android?
Mobile applications are one of the great advances of this century in the technological and digital field. They allow us to create customized and innovative solutions that help us in our daily lives. We are sure that we can find numerous apps on your mobile device that you have downloaded from platforms such as Google Play and App Store but, do you know how to install an APK on Android? What is an APK?
As a company dedicated to app development, we often receive some questions from our customers when installing an APK in order to test a mobile application.
Therefore, in this post, we tell you a little better what an APK file is, how to install it, and its advantages but also its disadvantages, and possible risks.
How to develop secure mobile apps? Keep reading to know some tips to create a secure mobile app.
What is an APK?
Most of the time we are not aware of what is going on behind our smartphones, that’s why we don’t know terms like the one we are looking at in this post even though we are actually very familiar with them.
APK files contain an application that needs to be installed on a device. Inside of an APK format are elements that are part of the app and need to be installed to work properly. It can be said that an APK makes the process of installing a mobile application on a device easier and faster.
Changes and evolution are constant in the technological and digital world. For this reason, Google decided a few months ago to replace the APK format by the so-called AAB in order to strengthen security, but its way of installing on devices is the same.
How to install an APK on Android?
When it comes to installing mobile applications on our Android devices we have two options. The first one is to use platforms like Google Play to install an app. These platforms are official download stores and we can find millions of apps.
We do not always want to install an app that is in stores such as Google Play or App Store, but sometimes we need to install an application from another website. It is at this point that the process to have an app on our device is somewhat different.
The need to install an APK is very common when testing an application that is not yet uploaded to the download platforms.
Although each device may have a different configuration and settings, in general, the way to download and install an APK on Android is very similar, without being an overly complex process.
To install an APK on Android it is necessary to access the Settings of the device. Once in this section, we enter Security and activate the Unknown Origins option. By activating this option, we allow the installation of apps that are not from Google Play. Once this is activated, a notification will appear warning you about the possible risks of downloading apps from unauthorized sites.
Therefore, when you install an APK you must ensure the origin of it to avoid installing malware on your mobile that can damage the device or the information on it.
Once the Unknown Origins option is enabled, we can access the APK file and install it on the device.
How to install an APK on Android. Option II.
With more and more advances in mobile devices and especially, in cybersecurity, the option discussed above may not be available for all devices, especially for the latest models.
Therefore, we are going to tell you another option through which you can download and install an APK on Android.
In this way, you must press and hold the icon of the application from which you want to download an APK. In this example, we will see how to do it from Google Chrome. It should be noted that using this method it is not possible to do it from any application.
Once the Google Chrome icon is pressed for a while, a pop-up window appears where you can expand the information of the app. Here, you can activate the option to install mobile apps of unknown origin and thus install an APK on Android.
Get in touch with our team to start your next development project!
