While Google Play is the default app store for most Android devices, sometimes the app you want isn’t available due to regional restrictions, device compatibility issues, or other reasons. By the way, many companies have their own Android apps that are not distributed via Google Play by default. Such apps need to be downloaded and installed on your phone. Here’s how you can install apps on your phone without Google Play.
Installing Apps via APK Files
One of the easiest ways to install an app without using a store like Google Play is by downloading the APK file directly from a trusted source.
- Go to Settings.
- Open Privacy or Security (the name may vary depending on your device).
- Find Special Permissions or something similar.
- Enable Install from Unknown Sources.
Once you’ve enabled this setting, you can install APK files directly from your browser. When installing an APK, your device will prompt you to allow either just that installation or all similar installations. If you install a self-extracting app, when you launch it, you will get a warning about an unknown app that you need to allow to be installed on your phone.
Risks of Installing Apps from Unknown Sources
The reason Android blocks the installation of apps from unknown sources by default is to protect your device from potential risks. Installing apps from third-party sites can expose you to several dangers, often hackers develop malicious apps that can steal confidential data. By disguising such apps as games or useful applications.
How to Reduce Risks:
To reduce risks, when installing an application, no matter if you install it from Google Play or another source, be sure to pay attention to the permissions requested by the application, if it requests permissions that are not typical for this type of applications, for example, the toy requests access to documents, contacts and asks permission to take screenshots of the screen, then such an application is better not to use.
