How to Install an APK Safely on Android

On this page

1. Why Android shows a warning
2. The “install unknown apps” setting
3. A safe routine
4. Red flags
5. Keeping the app up to date

An APK is simply the file an Android app comes in. Apps from an app store arrive as APKs too; the store just installs them for you. When you download one yourself, Android asks a few extra questions — and it is worth understanding what they mean.

Why Android shows a warning

An app store checks the apps it lists. A file from a website has had no such check, so Android cannot vouch for it. The warning does not mean the file is harmful; it means the decision is now yours.

The “install unknown apps” setting

On current versions of Android this permission is given per app. If you download with Chrome, you allow Chrome to install that file. It is not a switch for the whole phone, and you can turn it off again straight afterwards.

A safe routine

1. Open the operator’s official site yourself — do not follow a forwarded link.
2. Download the APK from that site only.
3. Open the file and, when prompted, allow your browser to install it.
4. Install, then go back to Settings and switch the permission off.
5. Open the app and check the permissions it asks for. Refuse anything that makes no sense for a game.

Red flags

• The file arrived through a chat group or a file-sharing link.
• The name contains “mod”, “hack”, “pro” or “unlimited”.
• The app asks to read SMS, contacts or to control the screen.
• Someone is on the phone telling you to install it.

Keeping the app up to date

Apps installed this way do not update through a store. When the app tells you a new version is available, download it again from the same official site and install it over the old one.

For a specific walk-through, see our GoPlay11 APK guide, which includes the steps for the Drem app.