In the similar fashion, Android phones use APK files to install applications. An APK is a short form of the Android Package Kit. It is a package file format used on Android OS to distribute and install an app on Android devices. It is just like a .exe file used for installing software on Windows PC and a package installer for Mac.
Now, download a file manager app from the Play Store of your choice and install it.If your phone already has a preinstalled file manager app, then there’s no need to do this. Simply turn on the toggle next to ‘Unknown sources’ to allow the installation of unknown apps. Android Package Kit (abbreviated as “APK“) is the standard file format for mobile apps used in the Android operating system.
What does the .apk stands for?
Login to your shadow account via your phone, tablet, or laptop. Select Start Shadow to begin using your virtual desktop. Install SteamVR & Oculus Desktop app on your virtual desktop. Install SideQuest on your Quest headset and log in to your Microsoft account. For full installation instructions and a helpful video tutorial, we’d recommend visiting the official QuestCraft site. SideQuest can integrate with Github releases to make deployment of your app easier and can also handle updates.
- The parties agreed to zero dollars in statutory damages for a small amount of copied code.
- The tool itself is a Chrome extension used for testing Android apps for Chrome.
- However, as APKPure doesn’t have as rigid verification procedures as official app stores, you are more likely to contract malware there.
- You’ll have to pick which apps are allowed to install unknown sources, which is generally going to be your preferred browser app.
It emulates 3000+ virtual Android device configurations and meets all your App Store Website development and testing needs of your Android device. Next, you can click Play Store in Bluestacks app to open Google Play Store in Bluestacks. Then you can search for any app or game you want to download the Android app on your PC. If you don’t want to download the game and want to stream the Android game on the cloud, you need to use Bluestacks X.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Sideloading to Your Device
He’s an Android guy with a secret love for Apple products. He is a writer at Gotechtor covering streaming media, TVs, and everything smart-home related. Since anyone can create APK files, you should be very careful which websites you download your APK file from. You can go to theAPK Pure websitewhich hosts a huge amount of APK files and download the one you want.
You can install APK file on any good Android gadget like how you introduce application on a PC. Instances of such applications incorporate WinRAR, WinZIP, 7-Zip. Connections to them are accessible in “Helpful URLs” area of our site. To open APK file and view individual files from it you can use application which relates to the separated file group. You should either locate a relating application in Apple App Store or get an application from designer using IPA file. Never open APK files from sites you don’t trust.
The process below will show you how to install the Downloader app on Android phones and tablets. These devices run “Stock Android OS” and require a different process to install the Downloader app for sideloading. Within the Install unknown apps screen, click Downloader.
Downloading an app using APK are sometimes leaked apps that customize your Android experience or some other Android apps which are not uploaded on Google Play Store due to any reason. The first step is to enable ‘Install unknown apps’ on your Android phone running Android Oreo and above, or ‘Unknown Sources’ if your phone is running Android Nougat and below. We have split the instructions into two sub-steps depending on the Android version installed on the phone. Once installed, the apk installer will display the apk files which are on the memory card.