Although the Google Play Store offers thousands upon thousands of applications to choose from, sometimes youâll want to break free and install applications that aren’t available in Google’s official store. Read on to learn how.
Your Android phone is, by default, set to disallow any applications that arenât from the Play Store. Itâs a wise move, as the majority of users are more likely to be exposed to rogue applications than when searching for apps outside of the Play Store. Nonetheless, there are times where you might want to install–or “sideload”–third-party apps that arenât found in Google Play.
How to Allow Sideloading
If you attempt to load an APK file (the Android version of the Windows Mobile CAB or the iOS IPA file) youâll get an error message like this:
But fear not, there’s a simple way to fix that. First, head into the Settings menuâyou can either tap the “Settings” button in the error message, or just pull down the notification shade and tap the cog icon. If you choose the latter method, you’ll then need to navigate to the “Security” menu.
From here, it’s all smooth sailing. Scroll down just a bit until you see the “Unknown Sources” option. Go ahead and toggle it. A warning will pop upâjust select “OK” here.
 
Now, re-launch that APK and it should install normally.
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