How to copy an application from a computer to a smartphone and install it? Is it necessary to go to Google Play (Market)? The answers to these questions are in our article.
What to do if there is very little traffic on the mobile Internet, but you urgently need to download and install the application on a mobile device with Android OS? It would probably be a good idea to download a program or game onto a regular personal computer, and then simply copy it to a smartphone and launch it there.
We will provide several convenient ways to install applications on Android from a computer.
We will give a couple of convenient ways to install applications on Android from a computer.
Method 1. We throw everything on
Once you download this convenient utility to your PC, you will have the enviable opportunity to install applications on Android devices directly from your computer. This software is perfectly compatible with Windows XP, Vista, 7 and 8.
All you need is to launch the program and connect your phone or tablet via USB. In the smartphone settings menu, go to the “Security” section (“Applications” for older versions of the OS), where we check the box next to “Unknown sources”.
In English: Settings - Application Settings (Security) - Unknown Sources.
Next, double-click on the *.apk file previously downloaded to your computer, after which the installation will complete.
If the installation still does not occur, go to the smartphone settings, select “For Developers” and check the box next to “USB Debugging”.
For the program to work, sometimes you may need to install special drivers, which you can download for free from the developer’s website.
By the way, you can download the Android application, which a priori comes with such an extension, not only on Google Market. Popular games and programs for smartphones based on the above operating system can be found on our website.
The only drawback is that this program does not work with all phone models. And if your device ends up in a small number of such unlucky smartphones, then another method will suit you, revealing how to install programs on Android from a computer.
Method 2: Installing the application through the built-in browser
In order for method number three to function, we will need to install a file manager. We choose ES Explorer, but you can install any other one.
Why do we say “for the next method to work”? Due to the fact that this method is too long and inconvenient for constant use, and by installing the proposed application, everything will be done in a few clicks.
So, connect the device to the computer and copy the apk file to the root of the memory card. Next, disconnect the cord, launch the browser and enter content://com.android.htmlfileprovider/sdcard/ApplicationName.apk or
file:///sdcard/ApplicationName.apk (depending on your OS version).
Method 3. Work for ES Explorer
For this method we need a useful program. This is a file manager that allows you to view all folders located on your smartphone or tablet. But the main thing is that you can use it to copy or move files from the communicator’s memory to the SD card and vice versa, as well as install games and programs on your Android tablet or smartphone.
The algorithm of actions is as follows:
1. install the ES Explorer program on your smartphone;
2. connect the smartphone to the PC and copy the required apk file from the computer to the smartphone’s memory;
3. Disconnect the device from the computer and launch ES Explorer in the smartphone itself, find the apk file and double-click on it to install the program.
Method 4. Gmail doesn't just receive mail
This is a very convenient and original way to install a program on Android, which only a few users know about, but judging by its complexity, we can say it’s outrageously easy.
So, we send a message to our gmail mail, attaching an apk file to the letter. Having opened it through the Gmail application, we will see that an “Install” button has appeared opposite the attached file (the application automatically detects the file).
By clicking on the button, you will download and install the application.
Important
Please note that if you are installing applications not from GooglePlay, a window will appear on your smartphone screen: “Installation blocked.”
The fact is that for security reasons, installation of applications from unknown sources on the device is prohibited. In this case, we do the same as at the beginning of the first method.
Select: Settings - Personal (Security) - Unknown sources. After this, such an operation as installing a game on Android from a computer or other methods will become quite accessible.
Many smartphones have the Android operating system, which initially has a lot of icons behind which various applications are hidden. Before we figure out how to install an application on Android, let's figure out what an Android application means?
The Android application is a program with clear functionality that is designed to work normally on a smartphone, taking into account its capabilities. For example, such a program could be a game, a State Services application, a Sberbank application, a VKontakte application and numerous other Android applications.
On the other hand, an Android application is an “apk” file (from the English Android Package).
The "apk" file is the executable or installation file. It contains the application code and all the resources needed to get the application up and running. After completing the installation procedure for the apk file, you will be able to use the application.
In accordance with the fact that an Android application is
- or a regular application,
- or an application in the form of an apk file,
Then you can install the application on Android in two ways:
- like a regular application that is installed from the store, or
- as an application that is launched through an apk installation file.
Applications: pre-installed and those that the user installs
Devices running on the Android operating system already contain a large number of applications from the moment of purchase. Such applications are called differently:
- pre-installed
- factory,
- default applications
- etc.
Pre-installed software usually includes applications that provide antivirus protection, device navigation, geolocation, communication, and much more. When the user becomes comfortable with the functionality that has already been installed, he may need to add applications independently, of his choice.
Users who have just started mastering Android often have a question: why do we need applications for Android, and in such quantities? Is it possible to do without them?
You don't have to install new applications, or turn off pre-installed applications. Accordingly, in this case, the smartphone becomes a “morally obsolete” mobile device, which only allows you to make a call, send/receive an SMS and check the time. Agree that few people are satisfied with such “stripped-down” functionality of a smartphone.
In any case, as you master it, there is a need to install some applications: VKontakte, Facebook, WhatsApp or others. As they say, appetite comes with eating. Android applications are easy to install, and if you don’t like them, they can be easily removed. Below we will consider these actions in more detail using the example of the Android application for Yandex.Mail.
How to install an application on Android from stores: the first method
The word “store” does NOT mean that the Android application will be paid. The store can have both free and paid applications.
The easiest way to install applications is from Google Play Market. In the Play Store it is convenient to search for the applications you need and find out information about them. Installing applications from the Play Store is done by clicking on the “Install” button.
Let's look at how to download Yandex.Mail on Android. The application is supported on smartphones and tablets based on Android 4.0.3 and higher. To download other applications, the steps will be almost exactly the same.
The Play Market application is pre-installed for Android. Find the Play Market icon among Android Applications and open it:
Rice. 1. You can find the Play Market in Android Applications
After opening the Play Market store, you need to look for the Yandex.Mail application. To do this you can:
1 in Fig. 2 – enter “Yandex mail” in the search bar and
2 in Fig. 2 – the application will be found:
Rice. 2. Download Yandex Mail for Android from the Play Market
It is important to open official Android applications, because, alas, there are many “fake” ones.
Open the Yandex.Mail application in Google Play Market to download and install it:
Rice. 3. Install Yandex Mail on Android
Before installing the application on Android, for security reasons
Rice. 4. Accept permissions before downloading Yandex.Mail on Android
By clicking the “Accept” button for permissions for Yandex.Mail, the application will be downloaded to Android. And you will be able to open the mail or delete:
After the Yandex.Mail application is installed, you can later find the mail icon in Android Applications:
Rice. 6. Installed Yandex.Mail can be found in Applications
Google Play Market is NOT the only store where you can download Android applications.
- Among domestic stores, one can highlight the Yandex Store.
- The American Amazon AppStore is also widely known.
How to delete an Android application
It happens that you used an Android application, but then for some reason you are not satisfied with it and you want to delete it. The pre-installed application can only be turned off; it cannot be deleted.
And those applications that the user installed himself are easy to remove. For example, let's look at how to remove the Yandex.Mail application.
Open “Settings” of Android:
Rice. 7. Android settings can be found in Applications
In Settings, find the “Device” tab and go to Application Manager:
Rice. 8. Android Settings – Device – Application Manager
In the Application Manager, from all the variety of applications, you need to find the Yandex.Mail application, which will need to be deleted:
Rice. 9. Find Yandex.Mail in the Application Manager
Before deleting Yandex.Mail, it is advisable to:
1 in Fig. 10 – Clear cache,
2 – Clear data, then
3 in Fig. 10 – Delete Yandex.Mail.
Rice. 10. Clear cache, data and delete Yandex.Mail
Delete the Yandex.Mail application means that such an application will not be on the smartphone. But this does not mean at all that it will be deleted along with the application.
If you need to delete your Yandex.mail account, I wrote about how to do this on a computer.
If there is no “Delete” button for an application, or this button is not pressed, it means that such an application cannot be deleted, because without it Android will not be able to function normally.
How to install an application on Android: the second method is an apk file
Applications on the Android system can also be installed by directly clicking on the “apk” file, which was NOT obtained from the Play Store. Such a file can be installed not immediately, but at a convenient time. In addition, such a file can be sent to a friend.
There is an Apkpure store from where you can download an apk file for any Android application:
Please note that to install applications NOT from the Play Store, you will need to enable the “Unknown sources” option in the device security settings on Android.
- To do this, open “Settings” of Android (Fig. 7),
- in Settings we find the “System” tab (2 in Fig. 11),
- and in the System open “Security” (3 in Fig. 11):
Most often, Google Play refuses to install an application for one of the following reasons:
- According to the developers, the hardware of your device does not ensure comfortable operation of their application.
- The application is not available for installation in your country.
- You have the wrong operating system version.
Changing the device model manually
You can bypass hardware limitations yourself and without using additional software, if you have superuser rights.
All Android smartphones have a special build.prop file that determines the device model. If you have, then you can edit this file and present your device as a completely different device. Of course, physically your budget smartphone will not miraculously turn into a branded flagship, but you will be able to install programs that are marked as incompatible with your device.
Market Helper
The Market Helper utility makes the procedure for replacing a device model faster, easier and safer, since it does not affect the build.prop file. The app is required and for obvious reasons is not available on Google Play. Therefore, you will have to download the program from the developer’s website.
In addition to bypassing hardware limitations, Market Helper allows you to spoof the cellular operator you are using. By pretending to be a resident of a country where the desired application is available, you can install the utility on your device.
VPN
In some cases, bypassing regional restrictions is possible using a virtual private network (VPN - Virtual Private Network), which replaces your real location.
w3bsit3-dns.com
The easiest and fastest way to get the desired application without using superuser rights is to download the distribution in the form of an APK file from the website w3bsit3-dns.com. Just enter a query like “[application name] 4pda” into Google.
Before downloading the file, make sure that you are doing it from the w3bsit3-dns.com website. There are many resources on the Internet that distribute “modified” distributions with malicious code.
To use the downloaded APK file, you must allow third-party apps to be installed on your device.
Please note: even w3bsit3-dns.com, despite its reputation, cannot be a guarantee of the security of the distributions hosted on it. Installing an application from an unofficial source is always a risk. Only you are responsible for the consequences.
APK Downloader
There are web services that can download applications in the form of APK files directly from Google Play.
The Android application technology platform has proven to be versatile and developer-friendly. You can develop an Android app and publish it on the Google Play Store with minimal restrictions. This concept has led to the rapid development of popular Android applications, some of which are not available on iOS and other platforms. To run an Android application, you usually need to use a smartphone or tablet with this OS - this is obvious. What to do if you want to try using Android without buying a device?
Fortunately, you have this opportunity; Android can be run even on an old desktop computer. There are several ways to accomplish this task, each of which has its own advantages and disadvantages.
Perhaps the easiest way to run Andoid apps on a Windows computer is to use the ARC Welder app for the Google Chrome browser. The application was developed by Google and can be used not only on Windows computers - this method also works on Chromebooks and Macs. The launch process is practically independent of the platform used. Simply go to the Chrome Web Store and install the ARC Welder app from the catalog.
The ARC Welder application is in beta and is intended primarily for developers. However, the process of downloading the app is quite simple. You need to upload the APK file to ARC Welder. The APK file can be obtained by backing up the app on a physical Android device or by downloading from various third-party sites on the Internet. We do not recommend downloading paid applications and games from dubious sites. There are resources that archive free apps, such as APK Mirror.
Once the required APK file is downloaded and ready for download, you can open ARC Welder from the list of extensions in Google Chrome and point to the file. Then you need to choose how to display applications - landscape/portrait mode, smartphone/tablet mode and clipboard access method. Not every Android application will launch this way, and some applications may lose some of their functionality. ARC Welder, unfortunately, does not currently have built-in support for Google Play services (unless you are an application developer and do not have access to the source code), so Google applications and some third-party applications will refuse to work.
Applications or games that run in ARC generally run smoothly. You can get full functionality from Evernote, Instagram and even Flappy Bird. You can only have one application installed in ARC Welder at a time; to launch another application you need to return to the installation dialog.
The application deployment process and the limitation of running only one application at a time create barriers to everyday use of the tool. However, the extension is suitable for the needs of developers and testers, or simply to get acquainted with the capabilities of the mobile platform.
The next easiest way to run Android apps on a PC is to use an Android emulator developed by Google as part of its software development kit (SDK). The emulator can be used to create virtual devices running any version of Android with different screen resolutions and hardware configurations. The first disadvantage of this method is the rather complicated installation and configuration process.
Neither product is perfect - you need devices supported by the tools, such as the Dell XPS 12 in the case of the Intel version or the Lenovo ThinkPad x61 for Android-x86. You can install these environments on top of Windows, but this is not a good idea. The smartest way is to create a separate hard drive partition and install Android on it.
If your PC configuration is not supported by these products, you can try installing them in VirtualBox or VMware virtualization environments, which are faster than the Android emulator. These products may still not be suitable for testing games, but most applications will install and work correctly. You will need to install applications yourself, because... There is no Google Play integration in these products. For help, you can use the instructions on our website - Installing Android in VMware Workstation.
If you're looking for a way to run multiple Android apps and games at once, and it's easy to install and configure, then BlueStacks is your choice. represents one of the easiest ways to launch applications. However, the product uses a highly modified version of Android to run applications. BlueStacks contains a built-in Google Play store, and you have access to all purchased paid applications. The program is added to the list of Google Play devices under the name Galaxy Note II.
A separate BlueStacks window contains a list of applications divided into categories: games, social networks, etc. When searching for an application or clicking on the icon of a specific application, the unexpected happens - the Google Play client in tablet mode is displayed. The user can navigate the interface as they would on a regular Android device, making BlueStacks more than just an “app player.” In fact, the user can install third-party launchers such as Nova or Apex from the app store and select them as the default launcher. The home screen in BlueStacks with app categories is a variant of the home screen. Thus, by replacing it, you can feel like the owner of a real Android device.
Full access to the Google Play store eliminates problems with application deployment, and BlueStacks itself works stably and quickly. You can play most games, but you may have problems using the mouse. If your computer has a touch screen, you can use applications that support multi-touch. BlueStacks can turn a Windows 8 tablet into an Android tablet. The technology used in BlueStacks is called “LayerCake” because Android applications run in a separate layer on top of Windows.
The only drawback of BlueStacks is the use of a modified build of Android. All changes made by the product developer to run Android applications on PC may cause crashes and failures in the application. This modified environment is of little value to developers - there is no guarantee that applications that display and run correctly on BlueStacks will behave the same on a physical device. The service uses a freemium monetization model - you can either pay $2 for a subscription or install several sponsored applications.
Which way is better?
If you want to test an app before installing it on physical devices, Android emulator offers the best way to test the app on your computer first. The product is quite slow, but it is standardized, so the developer can see how the application will behave on a real smartphone or tablet. Porting Android to PC can achieve decent performance, but there may be issues and glitches and it requires compatible hardware.
If you need to get several Android applications on your computer at once, the best solution is BlueStacks App Player. The product provides full access to Google Play, works quickly and supports Windows devices with multi-touch. Don't forget about ARC Welder as a way to run one application at a time. The extension is free and easy to install.
In this article we will tell you all the ways to install Android applications. Several ways to install APK from the Google Play store, file hosting services and using adb.
Method number 1. Install Android Applications
From the device in the official store
Almost all Android devices have the Google Play app store installed. In this store you can find millions of all kinds of applications - video and audio players, navigation, sports, office, and games.
In order to download and install applications from Google Play you need to:
Method No. 2. Uinstall Android applications
From PC to device in the official store (remotely)
Android has a way to install applications remotely; the main requirement is that your Android smartphone or tablet is connected to the Internet via a mobile network or Wi-Fi.
Method No. 3. Uinstall Android applications
From unknown sources
In Android, unlike iOS, there is an official ability to install applications not from the Google Play store, that is, you can install applications from various torrent and file-sharing sites. Be careful, because instead of a useful application, you can download a virus to your Android tablet or smartphone!
To install applications from unknown sources:
Video example of how to enable “Unknown Sources” in Android:
Method number 4. Install Android Applications
ADB Debugging Tools
ADB is an Android debugging and development tool (). To install the application on Android:
- connect android to pc
- Go to the command line and enter the command:
For example - adb install C:\Users\Vitaliy\Desktop\Vkontakte.apk
If you don’t like this method of installing applications, I advise you to use the Adb Run program, which can do EVERYTHING +
