Getting Android apps without access to the official Google Play Store can be a bit of a gamble depending on where you lot cull to go your apps. While Android will let you install an APK from basically anywhere on the web, you want to be smart about choosing your source for those files. And that's why there'south simply 1 source we recommend: APK Mirror. In this post, we'll show you how to install or "sideload" APKs onto your Android phone or tablet, and why APK Mirror is the best place to get them. Specifically, we run the site, and we stand by it — and it even offers divide APK App Bundles for things yous usually can't go anywhere but the Play Store, like Netflix, Disney+, and other pop services.

How to download and install apps from APKMirror

(Disclosure: APK Mirror is owned and operated past Illogical Robot, LLC, which also owns and operates Android Police)

If you're the sort of person that prefers video instructions, nosotros've put together a quick six-minute walkthrough on the process that you lot can watch just below. If text is more your style, though, read on.

These days, Android has both "normal" APKs, and something called separate APKs, or App Bundles. App Bundles save bandwidth and storage infinite, but they make it hard for people to share apps with one another outside the Play Shop. That'south considering every telephone is technically running its ain slightly different version of an app. But APKMirror and the APKMirror Installer app eliminate that problem.

Yous tin sideload most Android apps without the use of another app. Withal, with the ascension of "bundling" and dissever APKs on the Play Store, nosotros wanted this guide to cover all apps, not just those that nonetheless aren't using bundles, so our unified instructions that cover both use the APKMirror Installer.

The get-go matter yous'll want to do is install the APKMirror Installer. You can get it from the Play Shop, or you can install it from the APKMirror site — either is fine, but the Play Store is easier.

Installing the APKMirror app from the Play Store is every bit easy as tapping the widget or link above and tapping "Install."

Once you've got the app, installing apps from APKMirror is pretty easy, and pretty much the aforementioned, whether you're downloading an App Bundle or non — yous don't fifty-fifty need a separate guide for the 2 processes.

Go to APKMirror.com

Navigate to APKMirror (apkmirror.com), and search for the app you'd like to install. Note that not all apps you lot can get from the Play Store may be available.

Detect the app you're looking for

If necessary, you tin scan apps by APK names, app names, and developer names as you hunt for whatever information technology is you're looking for. When you've found the app you lot want in the version you need, just tap the download icon on the right side of its listing.

If you lot terminate upwardly sorting by app or programmer, rather than APK, yous'll then need to settle on the version of the app you want — if you don't care or don't know, the latest non-beta version is probably fine. Scroll down to "All versions" and find the i you demand, then tap the download icon to the right.

Select the right version of the app

On the App listing, gyre downwardly to the "Download" section — as well easily accessed past tapping "See available APKs and Bundles." Here y'all may have more than than i option available. If that's the case, you'll need to check the FAQ and do a chip of research to determine which version is appropriate for your telephone. Tap the colorful label for the variant y'all'd like to download.

Although the process later should gracefully fail if you download the wrong version, you should still double-check that y'all take the right one. (By and large speaking, you tin't mess information technology up besides badly, though. If it installs, it was compatible, though you might run across some smaller problems with things like DPI.) In general, all modern Android phones are arm64, and a nodpi version should work most of the time.

Download the app yous want to install

On the next page, scroll down to the large colorful "Download APK" or "Download APK Packet" push button — whichever it is you lot get, that will vary based on the app. Yous might exist asked by your browser if you'd like to salvage the file, and you might go a warning that the file format/extension is potentially unsafe. If yous're willing to trust APKMirror as a source, y'all can allow it.

Open the downloaded app in APKMirror Installer

Once you've downloaded the file, you need to find a way to open it. You lot can tap the download notification at the bottom of the screen if y'all're using Chrome, for case, but yous might demand to tap a download notification in your status bar or navigate to where you downloaded the file with a file manager and open information technology manually, depending on your browser.

If prompted, open the file with APKMirror Installer. The APKMirror Installer app will load up the APK and get things ready.

Install the app in APKMirror Installer

Dissever App Bundles (left) give you lot a more verbose installation screen than normal APKs (right).

APKMirror Installer volition feed you lot a pile of details regarding the app you're installing if it's an APK Bundle — your best bet is to trust the app'south judgment, though you tin tweak things if you run into problem and have to reinstall later. If you're not installing an APK Bundle, you'll get a simpler prompt. Whichever you get, tap "Install app" to continue.

The beginning time you practice this, you might encounter problem. On recent versions of Android, you lot'll be prompted to allow the APKMirror Installer app as a source for app installations equally an easy toggle (visible above). While you shouldn't enable this setting for just any app, it's okay to do it for APKMirror. But information technology is at that place to protect y'all from apps that might install malware.

On older versions of Android (Pre-Android 8.0 Oreo — consider upgrading for your own security if your phone is this old), you'll accept to manually enable a separate toggle to install apps from unknown sources. That'due south usually in Settings -> Security, or you can search in the Settings app for "Install apps" or "Install unknown apps."

In one case the permission has been granted, you can go back until you're back in the APKMirror app, which will continue the installation process, or you tin start over, attempting to run/install the app you downloaded from your browser or file manager.

APKMirror volition gear up the installation, then your phone will inquire (again) if you'd like to install the app, with the wording varying slightly if it's an update to an existing app or a new app for your phone entirely. Tap "Install" to keep, and y'all're basically washed.

Once APKMirror Installer has finished installing the app, you'll exist prompted to open it, but y'all should be running the version that you installed.

If you run into whatever issues during this process, APKMirror Installer will let you know, spitting a large warning if the app installation fails for any reason. So if you accidentally select an x86 APK when your phone is arm64 (similar 99% of all recent phones), it probably won't work.

You tin can even install the Play Store if you desire to

Using your new tricks, you can fifty-fifty finagle the Play Store itself onto your device, if yous like. All y'all demand are four apps (though you might need unlike versions depending on how old your phone is, or what version of Android it is running). It also may not work on all devices, and specially old or unusual devices might require tracking down specific versions of the right APKs. This guide is non-exhaustive.

Without opening any of these until yous reboot at the stop, install the following apps in this order:

  1. Google Account Managing director
  2. Google Services Framework — cheque in your phone'southward Settings app to find your Android version (Unremarkably Settings -> About phone, or Settings -> Most phone -> Software information) and download the latest services framework that matches (i.e., Google Services Framework 7.i.2 if you are running Android Nougat seven.1.2).
  3. Google Play Services
  4. Google Play Store

Once all four have been installed (once again, without opening them), reboot and yous should have the ability to apply the Play Store. If y'all get a notification that Play Services is out of date, don't worry. If you can sign in, everything should eventually automatically update to the latest compatible version.

If you run into trouble, near issues can either exist fixed by one of the following escalating steps:

  • Rebooting the device
  • Clearing app data for the Play Shop and launching it again
    • get to the "Apps" or "Apps & Notifications" section of Settings, find Play Shop, tap it, select "Force End," and and so go to "Storage," and select "Clear data" or "Articulate storage."
  • Clearing app information for Google Play Services and rebooting
    • become to the "Apps" or "Apps & Notifications" department of Settings, find Google Play Services, tap it, go to "Storage," and select "Clear data" or "Clear storage."
  • Uninstalling all four apps, rebooting, reinstalling all four apps in the order described above, and rebooting once again.
  • Lastly, you can endeavour resetting your device equally a last-ditch effort, if you are sure you're using the right versions of the right APKs and doing things in the right order.

Not all devices will ultimately piece of work with a sideloaded Play Shop, and you may feel subsequent issues or odd behaviors when information technology comes to some apps or the device as a event, but information technology is an option.

Why install apps outside the Play Store?

There are plenty of reasons to look for apps outside of Google's store. Odds are if you lot're here, you already have at least one, but at that place are some reasons you might non be aware of.

For 1, Google sometimes removes apps from its venue based on content, functionality, or equally a affair of censorship to comply with local laws. Sometimes apps are kicked to the adjourn for perfectly legitimate and valid reasons, like containing malware or violating user privacy, but that isn't ever the example. For improve or worse, Android gives you the freedom (and associated responsibility) to get your apps anywhere you like.

Another proficient reason to download apps from APKMirror is simply that they aren't even present on the Play Store to begin with. For instance, the popular Lawnchair 2 alpha wasn't bachelor on the Play Store before its formal release. Apps on the Play Store can as well be geographically restricted/censored, and users in some countries don't have access to them. Other times, apps that are distributed on the Play Store roll out updates progressively, so when it comes to playing with the latest cutting-edge features you might read about in our coverage, you lot may not have access to them notwithstanding. We're all beholden to the slow Play Shop ringlet-out.

Lastly, sometimes updates aren't e'er for the improve, and APKMirror tin provide a way to roll dorsum to previous versions of an app in the event you come across an result.

Whatever your motivation (and there are enough), if yous've resolved to get an app elsewhere, you lot can probably get it at APKMirror. And, it'due south also the safest choice.

You tin trust APKMirror

There are four chief reasons you tin trust APKMirror as a source for Android apps:

1. We run information technology, and we stand by it

While Google might be responsible for the ads you see at APKMirror, we've done our all-time to make a good quality, easily navigated repository of Android applications. It might take you a minute to acquire to navigate things like the dissimilar APK versions based on hardware platform or "DPI," but it'due south more often than not straightforward to become what y'all need.

2. Apps are signed past developers and safety to use

The apps that you download from APKMirror are unmolested and securely signed by their developers. Nosotros make sure that all APK cryptographic signatures are verified to lucifer the originals (either previous updates or versions distributed on the Play Store), and we match new applications to known signatures from developers. In the effect we can't verify an app's signature, APKMirror won't accept it. Nosotros also block publicly disclosed test/dev/debug signing keys, since they tin't always be trusted.

For the non-technically minded, that all means we're as sure as we can be that the apps we're distributing are safe.

three. No pirated or "cracked" apps

Three, there is absolutely zero pirated content on APKMirror. While you lot might be able to get around geographic restrictions or censorship, APKMirror doesn't provide "croaky" or pirated versions of apps (though nosotros do host some modified apps, similar Google apps tweaked to piece of work with more devices).

Android Law and APKMirror are here to aid developers, not make their lives harder or take away their ability to earn a living. Connecting with our previous point regarding rubber and security, many apps modified to provide paid or premium features for free also take malware or spyware hiding within them, which yous don't want.

4. Don't just take our give-and-take for it

Lastly, fifty-fifty if you disagree with these arguments on the premise that we have a vested interest in promoting our own services, other impartial sources too trust APKMirror.

For more than information, cheque out the total FAQ which tin as well answer other questions, like if apps downloaded from APKMirror tin can still be updated by the Play Store (yes), what different "arm"/DPI builds mean, or how to troubleshoot some uncomplicated errors, should you meet them.

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About The Author

Ryne Hager (2898 Articles Published)

Ostensibly a senior editor, in reality only some verbose dude who digs on tech, loves Android, and hates anticompetitive practices. His only regret is that he didn't buy a Nokia N9 in 2012. Email tips or corrections to ryne at androidpolice dot com.

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