Content

• Steps
• Advice
• Warning

This wikiHow teaches you how to extract the APK (Android Package File) of an Android app so you can install it on another Android phone without using Google Play. This is useful when you want to install outdated apps on a newer phone, install a small screen app on devices with a larger screen, or check app compatibility with the device. new / old Android device.

Steps

Part 1 of 3: Using APK Extractor

1. 

   in the upper right corner of the screen.

2. 

   
   
   Tap a sharing option. In most cases, the APK file will be larger than the size allowed to be sent via email, so you'll need to use some cloud service (like Google Drive).
   • For example, if you want to put the APK file into the Dropbox app pre-installed on your Android device, tap Dropbox then choose Add to upload the APK file.

3. 

   
   
   Upload the APK file. After selecting a cloud service and uploading the APK file, you can transfer the APK file to another Android device. advertisement

Part 3 of 3: Transfer APK files to other Android devices

1. 

   
   
   Open share options on the second Android device. This is the service where you uploaded the original APK file.
   • For example, if you upload the APK file of an app to share to Dropbox on your original Android device, you need to open Dropbox on your second Android device.

2. 

   Select the APK file. This step depends on your specific sharing preferences, but usually you'll need to tap on the APK file name to download the file.
   • In some cases, you will need to press Download (Download) after clicking on the APK file name.

3. 

   Click INSTALL (Install) when asked. The action will be in the lower right corner of the screen.

4. 

   Click OPEN (Open). The option will appear in the lower right corner of the screen once the APK file has downloaded. After you click OPEN and the opening of the APK file's application means the app was successfully installed on the new Android device. advertisement

Advice

• You can use the APK file to install a phone-specific app on your tablet, or install an old version of something you don't want to update on your new device.

Warning

• You cannot use Android APK files on iPhone (or any other non-Android phone) because this file type is formatted exclusively for Android software.