What’s an APK file?
APK (application package files) are a compressed single-file package of an Android app. The APK must be executed once (by tapping on the file) for the application to be installed and able to run on the Android device.
Installing non-market application (APK) files from a computer to your phone using an Application Installer or File Manager
Requirements :This method requires an SD card for
the phone. Also, if you do not already have an application installer or
file manager installed on your phone, then cellular or internet service
is required to access the Android Market, from which you can install an
application installer or file manager.How to Install
1.Download the application (APK) file to a folder of your choice on your computer.Note:
You’ll sometimes find that when you download an APK file to your computer, the extension is changed to .zip by the browser. Try renaming the file within a .apk extension in place of the .zip extension.
2. The next step is to copy the APK file from your computer to an SD card. You have two options for performing the copy ~ either the SD card can be mounted in the phone or it can be unmounted. Copying to an unmounted card requires that you have a USB card reader attachment that accommodates an SD card. Alternatively, copying to a mounted SD card requires you to connect the phone to the computer via USB cable, which requires that you install (or have already installed) USB drivers for the phone on your computer.
Instructions for each of these options follow.
A. Option 1 – Copy to unmounted SD card:
- Assuming the card is currently inserted in your phone, you will need to remove it. First, open the Applications menu on the phone and select the Settings application. From the Settings menu, select SD card & phone storage, then select Unmount SD card.
- Open the back of the phone and remove the SD card.
- Mount the SD card on your computer (i.e., insert it into a USB SD card adaptor and insert it in your computer’s USB port).
- An Autoplay wizard may pop up on your computer. If not, open the computer explorer / file manager application on your computer. You should see the SD card listed as an accessible device.
- Use the file manager to copy the APK file from your computer to the root directory of the SD card.
- Eject the SD card from your computer (i.e., rightKclick on the SD card device shown in your computer explorer / file manager application and select ‘Eject’ or ‘Unmount’). A message is typically displayed telling you it is safe to remove the device.
- Remove the USB SD card adapter from your computer, take out the SD card and then insert the SD card into your Android phone.
- Continue with step 3 below.
- If you are running Windows on your computer, this option requires that you have USB drivers for the phone installed on your computer. These drivers are available by installing the Android SDK.
- If you currently do not have the drivers installed, please follow steps 1 – 4 in the next section, “Installing non-market APK files from a computer to your Android phone using the Android Software Development Kit (SDK)”, before proceeding to step BK3. 2. If you are running Linux or Mac OS X on your computer, you do not need to install USB drivers. However, if you are a Linux user, you need to complete step 5 in the next section, “Installing non-market APK files from a computer to your Android phone using the Android Software Development Kit (SDK)”, before proceeding to step BK3.
- Plug the phone into the computer via the phone’s USB cable.
- To mount the phone, pull down on the status bar at the top of your phone’s screen and select USB Connected, then select Mount.
- An Autoplay wizard may pop up on your computer. If not, open the computer explorer / file manager application on your computer. You should see the phone has been mounted and is listed as an accessible device. Click on it to navigate to the phone’s SD card.
- Use the computer’s file manager to copy the APK file from your computer to the phone’s SD card.
- Unmount the phone from your computer (i.e., rightKclick on the phone device shown in your computer explorer / file manager application and select ‘Eject’ or ‘Unmount’). It is safe to remove the device when it disappears from the computer explorer / filemanager device list.
- Unplug the phone from the computer.
- Continue with step 3 below.
4. Select Applications from the Settings menu.
5. Make sure that the first selection, Unknown Sources, is checked so that you can install an APK file from a location other than the Android Market. A warning message about the phone being vulnerable to attack will be displayed. Select OK to continue if you trust the APK file you are about to download. You can change this setting back after the current installation is complete.
6. If you do not already have an application installer or file manager installed on your phone, you will need to download one from the Android Market and install it. To do so, follow steps 7 and 8. If you already have an application installer on your phone, skip to step 9.
7. Open the Android Market application in the Applications menu on the phone and search for “App Installer”. (Note: if you have never accessed the Android Market before, please see the first section, “Installing applications from the Android Market to your phone” for more information.) Several app installer applications will be listed. Click on one of the free installers in the list (e.g., ‘AppInstaller’ by Cdroid Themes), then click on the Install button at the bottom of the screen. Alternatively, search for a free file manager, such as ‘Astro File Manager’ by Metago, and install it from the market.
8. After the application installer or file manager is installed, pull down on the status bar at the top of the screen and you should see its name listed; click on this name to open the application. (You can also open the installer or file manager by following step 9.)
9. If you already have an application installer or file manager on your phone, open the Applications menu and select the application installer or file manager to open it.
10. The installer will list all the APK files stored directly in the root directory of your SD card. In the list, you should see the APK file you copied to the SD card in step 2. Click on this APK file name. Similarly, the file manager will provide a list of the SD card contents, from which you can select the APK file. 11. A new screen showing the selected application’s name at the top is displayed. This screen gives you more details about the application including the different functionalities it will need to access. To install the application, just click on the Install button on the bottom of the screen.
12. A new screen is displayed once the installation is complete and you can choose to immediately run the application by clicking the Open button on the bottom of the screen.
