Is it safe to install an APK from a website?
It's riskier than installing from an app store. Google says it finds over 50 times more malware in apps sideloaded from the internet than in apps on Google Play. If you do it, only use the developer's own official site, and keep Google Play Protect on.
An APK is an Android app package. Installing one from a website is called sideloading, and Android makes you allow it source by source with a setting called Install unknown apps.
Fake and repackaged apps are the classic danger: real apps unpacked, given hidden extra code, and re-signed with someone else's key, often shared as free versions of paid apps. Play Protect checks apps from any source when you install them, but it can't catch everything.
- Prefer the official app store, and check the developer name on the listing
- Never install an APK from a text message or a 'free premium' forum post
- Turn Install unknown apps back off for your browser when you're done
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Where Apps Come From
From the Inside an APK course. Compare app sources and learn the checks to run before you tap Install.