I am sure you may have come across this term ‘Sideloading as on your mobile phone’, it is actually pretty simple, and that is what I am going to show how to do it in this article.
This term might sound a little complicated but it is really not. It’s actually pretty simple, so much that it can be explained in two sentences.
Sideloading apps on your mobile phone is just like installing an application on a Windows computer. You download a file on your computer and then install it.
In a similar manner, if you have to install an app on your mobile phone all you need to do is download the APK file and then install it.
For the convenience of its users, Google has built an App Store with it calls Play Store, where developers submit their apps and the apps are scanned for any kind of Malware.
Making an App Store solves a lot of problems, such as, it’s easier to find the app you want to install on your mobile phone, it is categorized nicely, or you can make a search.
Google has control over what apps would appear in the Play Store and they also so have control over the developer account, if they find Developer is not playing by the books they can disable their account or suspend the app to protect the users.
But, Android also allows anyone to install apps outside of the Play Store, if you can obtain the APK file of the particular app, you can install it on your Android mobile this process is called Sideloading.
In order to be able to sideload apps on your Android mobile, you need to check an option which can be found in the settings, area of your mobile phone the option would allow you to install apps from unknown sources.
If you don’t know where to find it, you can download the APK first and when you try to install it the Android smartphone would automatically send you to the particular section, where you have to check the option to install apps from unknown sources.
Where to download APK files of Android Apps?
There are many ways you can get the APK file of the Android app, you can directly get it from your friend’s phone if they have got the app installed on their Android phone.
Your friend can share the APK file using apps like ShareIt, or Xender, etc.
There are also a number of trusted websites that host APK files on their servers. One of the trusted websites that we recommend you to our readers is APKMirror.com.
Situations where Sideloading APK files on your Android can be useful
We always recommend our readers to install apps on their Android mobile-only from the Google Play Store, because the apps are much easier to manage.
You get notifications whenever there is a new update available for an app, origin also set up automatic updates so that you do not have to worry about updating the apps manually.
But sometimes, an app is not available in a particular country and you cannot wait for it to be made available, you can grab the APK file of that Android app and sideload it on your mobile.
For example, the PUBG Mobile Lite was not available in every country when it was released last year but users were able to play it by sideloading the game.
Also, WhatsApp is not available for tablet PCs that do not have a SIM card functionality, but you can still sideload there APK file of WhatsApp to use it on your tablet PC.
Some users also like to use the modified version of apps for extra functionality, such as there is WhatsApp GB, which gives you more functions over the normal WhatsApp.
There are also Mod apps for Instagram, and other apps as well, but we do not recommend you using these modded apps.
Also, do not download the APK files from just anywhere on the Internet, because it may contain Malware. So, always make sure that the source you are using to download the APK file is trusted or has been recommended by someone who you trust.
