Let's put it bluntly if you are one of those who just installed apps from the Google Play Store on your Android device, then you are missing out on a whole world of new and worth-trying apps, where unlike the other operating system iOS, Android allows you to install apps from anywhere, and this What is known as sideloading, and this is not the only feature that the Android system has only, as there are advantages of customization, open source applications, and so on.
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| How do I sideload apps on Android? |
Generally, whether you are a beginner on the Android system or in the intermediate to advanced stages, sideloading is useful to know, and here in this new article, we will walk you through the process of searching for third-party applications, and how to install these applications. And some safety concerns that you should be fully aware of.
First, what is Sideloading?
In a nutshell, we can define this feature as the process of installing a file on your Android device from sources other than the official Google Play Store, as Sideload applications include downloading a file known as “APK” to be installed manually.
Where the open nature of the Android system is that you are generally free to install applications from wherever you see fit, if you do not like the Play Store, you can install an Android application store as an alternative store such as F-Droid or Amazon Appstore, but since Google does not allow you to download these application stores, you will need to download it from somewhere else.
Why the need to Sideload Apps?
One of the biggest reasons for sideloading is to access apps that are not available on Google Play, most of which are not hosted due to violating the Store Terms of Service, and as we pointed out, the Play Store is not the final app for all Android apps, for example, Amazon's Appstore and Humble Bundle are not available due to Because they download applications, another example is the NewPipe application, which is a suitable alternative to the YouTube application, as it comes with advantages that we do not find in YouTube, and because Google does not like it, it prevents it from being on the Play Store, noting that these applications are safe, not to mention the set of benefits that It is offered to all Android users.
Another reason to sideload apps is that you probably want a phone completely devoid of Google services. Generally, whatever your reason, sideloading is an essential feature of Android that you should know how to do.
How to enable sideloading on Android?
The first thing that is required to enable this download is that you need to enable a feature on the phone, where Android prevents you from installing applications that come from outside the Google Play Store, under the pretext of preventing the user from installing malicious applications unintentionally, but of course, this can be bypassed setup, the process of doing this depends on your Android version, here's how?
Enable sideloading on Android 7.0 and below:
On older versions of Android, sideloading is an all-or-nothing toggle where you simply need to flip the switch to enable installing apps from anywhere. To do this, head to Settings and then Security. After that, you'll see an entry on this page labeled Unsourced Sources. known, toggle this option on, and your phone will display a warning that your device is more vulnerable to attack with this setting.
Enable sideloading on Android 8.0 and later:
In newer versions of Android, Google has made a change to sideloading to increase security, as now you have to toggle the Unknown Sources option for each app instead of the system-wide app, and this allows you to install from some of the apps you use often while keeping others blocked, so Open Settings and then go to the Applications and notifications option, expand the (Advanced) section at the bottom and click on Access to the special application, in the new screen scroll down and choose to Install unknown applications.
Here you will see a list of applications on your device that can install other applications. Directly select the application through which you want to install applications, such as browser, cloud storage, or file explorer, and finally enable the slider from this source.
Sideloading can be dangerous!
Before proceeding, it's important to discuss some security issues around sideloading. By installing apps on your device that doesn't come from Play, you're potentially opening your phone up to problems. And while Android malware isn't much of an issue outside the scope, the easiest way to introduce malware is through the installation of shady or dangerous apps.
And thanks to the Google Play Protect feature, all applications on the Play Store are safe (in theory), and this is not the case when you download from the Internet, so to stay safe you should download only from trusted sources, as the APKMirror platform is a well-known resource for downloading APK files, and it is It's completely safe, and you should also avoid installing 'cracked' apps (paid apps that are illegally distributed for free), as there is a higher chance of catching malware infections through them.
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How do sideload apps from Android?
The actual process of sideloading apps is very easy, here we will cover the three most common methods, which are as follows:
Before starting with the first method, you should know that apps installed outside of the Google Play Store will not receive automatic updates (apps from APKMirror are an exception), and you will need to check the third-party app store for updates or download them manually.
Method 1: Install APK files directly on Android
You can download apps directly from your Android browser, here all you have to do is open a page that offers APK files and download them, and you will see a warning that the APK file can harm your device, click OK to continue.
Once downloaded, you will see a small banner with an "Open" shortcut, tap on it and you can install the app, if you miss it, you can click on the download notification or open the downloads app to access it.
Once installed, just open it like any other app and it's ready to go.
Method 2: Install APK files on Android through cloud storage
If you find that your phone browser is uncomfortable for this task, the best way is to use cloud storage, as this allows you to download a large number of applications via your computer, and then install them on your phone.
Here we recommend creating a folder dedicated to APK applications from the Dropbox service, Google Drive, or any other cloud service, then download the application or applications that you want to install from outside the Play Store, and then drop them via the drag and drop feature or transfer them from the computer to the cloud service, After that, from your phone, open the service application and enter the folder, and you will see the applications there.
Finally, you have to click on the APK file, and you will see the same prompt to install it, making sure that you give the cloud storage app permission to install apps if you are running on Android 8.0 and later.
Third and final method: Install APK files on Android via USB
This is the least convenient method, but it still works if you don't want to use the above for any reason. First, download the APK files that you want to install on your computer, then connect your phone to your computer using a USB cable. You may need to click the notification on your phone and change the connection type to transfer files if your computer does not detect it, then simply transfer the applications and after completion install them through your phone, and you can also use Bluetooth to transfer APK files.
Now that you know the basics of downloading and installing APK files on your Android device, enabling it and installing apps is the easy part. It is very important to make sure that you stay safe while doing so, and again we remind you of the need to install from trusted sites.
