Android's open-source status makes it easily accessible to developers, but also leaves the door open for malicious apps. Apple's App Store isn't immune from this issue, but it's much less severe.
Google carefully vets the products in Play to make sure they're safe. Rotten apps do slip through on occasion, but the company is fairly quick at removing anything problematic. And malicious apps aren't a minor threat. When you get your apps from somewhere other than the official stores, well, instead of just not getting the real thing you could lose your money, lose your personal information.
One problem confronting Android in particular is the broad range versions, and manufacturer-imposed "skins" on top of those versions, in the wild. Nearly half of current Android users are on devices running Android 4. This puts devices at risk because hackers can continue to successfully exploit known Android bugs for years even though they have been patched in more recent firmware updates, a strategy malware like Gooligan often relies on.
Keep in mind that there can be additional security prompts or prompts to allow the installation of files from unknown sources on some devices or older versions of Android.
On devices running Android 7. This will enable you to install apps downloaded from any source outside of the Google Play Store. Allowing this kind of blanket access can be risky, so if you want to do this, it's a good idea to head back into settings and toggle off the unknown sources option once you've got the app you wanted.
There's a reason that installing APKs from unknown sources is switched off by default in Android: it's inherently unsafe to download random APKs from the web and install them on your phone. While that might seem contradictory with providing a guide on how to install from outside Google Play, as long as you know and trust where your apps are coming from. The efficacy of anti-virus has long been up for debate, but if you do think they're worthwhile on an Android device, they'll often scan apps before you install them, providing another potential line of defense.
By leaving the installation of all unknown apps on by default, you're opening the door for any malware-infected or malicious apps to silently download other nefarious software silently in the background. If you disallow by default and only allow on a case-by-case basis, there's a much smaller risk of this. By now, you know that where you download your APK from is key.
Let's take a simple example like downloading and installing WhatsApp from outside the Play Store. In this case, WhatsApp provides its own direct download page that you can either visit on a desktop and then transfer the file to your phone, or visit on your phone browser requesting the desktop site from your browser settings and then download it directly to your device.
Once downloaded, you can check out your Downloads in the app drawer and select the downloaded APK file. Clicking on that will start the install process, and if required, will ask you to allow the app permissions to continue.
If you want to install Fortnite on your Android smartphone, you can follow our guide here. This requires a dedicated file explorer app to access the APK. You will also need to grant the File Explorer permission to install from unknown sources. Many apps can't be downloaded directly from the company that makes them, however. In this instance, you'll want to check out one of the more trusted app repositories like APKMirror. From there you can download manually vetted apps that use the same digital signatures as the apps on Google Play.
If you can't find what you're looking for on the Play Store or APKmirror, there are some alternative app repositories out there. We've taken a look at the most important ones in this article. However, the recent decision of Epic Games to bypass Google Play and offer Fortnite to players directly through their website, is likely to make other developers follow suit. We think you should expect more apps requiring sideloading in the future. For the retro gamers among you, sideloading is also the best source of discovering emulators that Nintendo and Sony have purged from Google Play.
Have you tried to install apps from outside Google's Play Store? Let us know how it went in the comments below! I had a comment about my old Gingerbread phone below, but worth adding that more than availability, it's just a lot easier to search and evaluate sites for APKs on a big screen PC. I'll throw in a word for SoftPedia as a reliable legal source, which recently added a good Android library along with news and reviews. How can I get my Google apps from my other tablet onto my windows Step 1: Of course, if you are sure that an app is safe, you can allow the installation of external apps.
With that done, installing apps from other sources will be allowed. This can be changed at any time, just by going back to this same menu. We recommend that you do not leave it on at all times, just enable the option, download and install the application you want, and leave it disabled again to ensure your safety.
Keep in mind that, when you open up an apk file, your Android will prompt you asking if you want to allow from that source. As we mentioned earlier, this is a good alternative for apps that are not available in your region, for example. One of the most popular and trusted sites is APKMirror, which you can access via the link. Just search for the app or game you want to download and click on its latest version.
On the specific page of the application, you will see some information about it and whether it is safe to install. If you download the app on your computer, just connect your smartphone to your PC and paste the APK file on your device. If you download the app directly on your smartphone, you only need the file in your downloads folder.
Select this option and wait for the installation to complete, it should take a few seconds. With that done, just enjoy the app or game that you managed to download outside the Google Play Store at will. Just remember that any updates that the app has over the months will have to be installed manually. This can be done through the same website you used to download the APK file. To see some of the best websites and virtual app stores, just check out our detailed list of the Google Play Store alternatives.
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