What is an apk file and how to install an apk file on Android. How to install apk file on computer

Android devices are used by millions of people. There are a huge number of applications and games for this system. You don’t have to spend a lot of time to find the program you need, because almost all of them are collected in the Play Market. The app store is installed by default on most modern smartphones. It contains paid and free content, divided by topic. But you can use the application not only on mobile devices, since the Play Market is available for your computer.

In order to access the Store, you must go to the official website of the application. Here you will be asked to log in to an existing account or create a new one. In the line that opens, you must enter your login and password. After this, the user is taken to the Application Store, where he can find the desired utility or simply view what is offered by the developers.

Google Play for your computer allows you to download files in .apk format. This extension is intended for devices running Android OS, so you won’t be able to open documents and install applications from the archive on a Windows PC. What should the user do to install the file on the computer?

To do this you will need to install an emulator. These programs are designed to enable users to work with Android applications on a PC. Among the most popular of them are Droid4x, as well as BlueStacks, but the developers have also presented other utilities that can be used for this purpose. For Mac OS it is better to use IntelliJ IDEA or Apple Archive Utility.

When the installation of the emulator is completed, the program will open. It looks like a familiar Android screen. In it you can change settings, resolution and other parameters. Many emulators are equipped with additional functionality. In them you can change the location in various applications and take screenshots.

After installing the emulator, you can unpack .apk files downloaded from the Internet or directly from the Google Play store. To do this, just go to the emulator and find the required file. You should click on its name, after which the installation of the program will automatically start. You should not download .apk files from unverified resources; in order to find the application, it is better to turn to the Play Market, where a huge collection of various utilities is collected.

One way or another, if you have a desire to download an Android emulator and try running applications and games in Windows 10, 8.1 or Windows 7, here you will find several ways to do this. New method 2015: How to run Android APK in Google Chrome (works for a very limited number of applications for now).

Nox App Player

Studying materials and reviews on this topic, we can conclude that Nox App Player is the best Android emulator for Windows. After my experience with it, I decided to put this product first in the review because it is really good. The developers claim compatibility with Windows 10 (How to check your computer for compatibility with Windows 10), Windows 8.1 and 7.

We install the emulator and launch it - we see the usual Android screen (version 4.4.2, Cyanogen Mod, 30 GB of internal memory) with the Nova Launcher shell, with a file manager and browser already installed. Despite the fact that the emulator itself does not have a Russian interface, “inside” Android you can enable the Russian language in the settings.

By default, the emulator opens in a tablet resolution of 1280x720 (if necessary, it can be changed in the settings tab (called by the gear icon at the top right) Advanced). Also, the default is set to low performance (Performance Setting), but even on a weak PC (How to speed up booting and shutting down your computer) it works fine.

The controls inside the emulator are very similar to any Android device. There is a Play Market (How to download apk from Google Play Store), from where you can download applications and games and run them on Windows. Sound, as well as the camera (if you have one on your PC or laptop) work in the emulator, the computer keyboard also works inside the emulator, as well as its on-screen version.

Additionally, on the right side of the emulator window (which, by the way, can be opened in full screen without a noticeable loss in performance) there are action icons, among which are:

• Installing applications from APK files from your computer.
• Location substitution (you can manually set the location, which will be perceived by the emulator as received from the GPS receiver).
• Uploading and exporting files (you can simply drag and drop files onto the emulator window). This feature did not work as expected in my testing (the files seemed to be imported, but could not be found in the Android file system after that).
• Taking screenshots.
• For some purposes, Nox App Player also creates a Multi-Drive icon to launch several emulator windows at once. However, I haven’t figured out how it can be used or what it can be used for.

To summarize this brief description, if you need to run Android games and applications on Windows, use Instagram from a computer and do the like, and you want the emulator to work without any lags - Nox App Player will be an ideal option for these purposes, better optimization I haven’t seen it yet (but I can’t promise that heavy 3D games will work, I haven’t personally tested it).

You can download the Android Nox App Player emulator for free from the official website http://en.bignox.com

BlueStacks - for those who don't need a full-fledged emulator

BlueStacks is one of the most popular programs for running Android games on Windows. It is intended specifically for games and does not offer the user full Android emulation, however, this will be enough for many, and in games BlueStacks shows slightly better performance than most other emulators.

You can download BlueStacks from the official website http://www.bluestacks.com/home.html, it supports not only Windows (XP, 7 and 8), but also Mac OS X.

After installing the program, it will open in full screen mode, but you can also enable windowed mode. In the main window you will see a list of games available for download (you can also use the search). To install applications, you will need a Google account (you can create a new one).

BlueStacks main window

In addition, if you have an Android smartphone or tablet, you can install the BlueStacks Cloud Connect application to sync applications between it and Windows.

Genymotion is a high-quality Android emulator with rich features

The Genymotion emulator is quite easy to install, allows you to emulate a wide range of real devices with different versions of the Android OS and, most importantly, it works quickly and supports hardware graphics acceleration.

You can download Genymotion for Windows or Mac OS from the official website http://www.genymotion.com/. This emulator is available for download in both free and paid versions. For personal use, the free version is quite enough, there are no restrictions.

To download the Genymotion Android emulator you will need to register on the site, then use one of the download links. I recommend using the first one, which includes VirtualBox and automatically makes the necessary settings. When installing, do not launch VirtualBox; you will not need to launch it separately.

And after Genymotion has been installed and launched, in response to the message that no virtual devices were found, select creating a new one, then click the Connect button at the bottom right and enter the data that you specified when registering to access the list of devices . Having selected a new virtual Android device, wait for the necessary components to load, after which it will appear in the list and you can launch it by double-clicking or using the Play button. In general, nothing complicated.

Upon completion, you receive a full-fledged Android system with extensive additional emulator capabilities, which can be found in more detail in the program help (in English).

Android game running on Windows using Genymotion

Note: when I created my first device, after downloading the files, the program reported an error in mounting the virtual disk. Restarting Genymotion as an administrator helped.

Windows Android or Windroy

This program with a simple name from Chinese programmers, as far as I could understand and see, is fundamentally different from other Android emulators for Windows. Judging by the information on the site, this is not emulation, but a porting of Android and Dalvik to Windows, using all the real hardware resources of the computer and the Windows kernel. I advise you to read the material Tips for setting up and optimizing Windows.

You can download Windows Android from the official website http://www.socketeq.com/, no problems were noticed during installation and startup (however, they say that not everyone runs it), except that I was unable to switch program into windowed mode (runs in full screen).

Note: install to the root of the disk; there is a lot of information about Windroy on thematic Russian-language forums.

Creating emulators in Android Virtual Device Manager

On the website for Android application developers - http://developer.android.com you can download everything you need for programming for Android (Android SDK). It goes without saying that this kit also includes tools for testing and debugging applications on virtual devices.

So this is the official way, but it is not too easy for the average user. If desired, you can find all instructions for installing the Android SDK and creating virtual devices on the specified website.

YouWave for Android

YouWave for Android is another simple program that allows you to run Android applications on Windows. You can download the emulator from the website http://youwave.com/. The developers promise high compatibility and performance. I myself have not launched this product, but judging by the reviews on the network, many users are happy with this option, while for some, YouWave is the only thing that launched from Android emulators.

That's it, hopefully one of the listed methods will allow you to experience Android on your Windows computer.

The Android application technology platform has proven to be versatile and developer-friendly. You can develop an Android app and publish it on the Google Play Store with minimal restrictions. This concept has led to the rapid development of popular Android applications, some of which are not available on iOS and other platforms. To run an Android application, you usually need to use a smartphone or tablet with this OS - this is obvious. What to do if you want to try using Android without buying a device?

Fortunately, you have this opportunity; Android can be run even on an old desktop computer. There are several ways to accomplish this task, each of which has its own advantages and disadvantages.

Perhaps the easiest way to run Andoid apps on a Windows computer is to use the ARC Welder app for the Google Chrome browser. The application was developed by Google and can be used not only on Windows computers - this method also works on Chromebooks and Macs. The launch process is practically independent of the platform used. Simply go to the Chrome Web Store and install the ARC Welder app from the catalog.

The ARC Welder application is in beta and is intended primarily for developers. However, the process of downloading the app is quite simple. You need to upload the APK file to ARC Welder. The APK file can be obtained by backing up the app on a physical Android device or by downloading from various third-party sites on the Internet. We do not recommend downloading paid applications and games from dubious sites. There are resources that archive free apps, such as APK Mirror.

Once the required APK file is downloaded and ready for download, you can open ARC Welder from the list of extensions in Google Chrome and point to the file. Then you need to choose how to display applications - landscape/portrait mode, smartphone/tablet mode and clipboard access method. Not every Android application will launch this way, and some applications may lose some of their functionality. ARC Welder, unfortunately, does not currently have built-in support for Google Play services (unless you are an application developer and do not have access to the source code), so Google applications and some third-party applications will refuse to work.

Applications or games that run in ARC generally run smoothly. You can get full functionality from Evernote, Instagram and even Flappy Bird. You can only have one application installed in ARC Welder at a time; to launch another application you need to return to the installation dialog.

The application deployment process and the limitation of running only one application at a time create barriers to everyday use of the tool. However, the extension is suitable for the needs of developers and testers, or simply to get acquainted with the capabilities of the mobile platform.

The next easiest way to run Android apps on a PC is to use an Android emulator developed by Google as part of its software development kit (SDK). The emulator can be used to create virtual devices running any version of Android on board with different screen resolutions and hardware configurations. The first disadvantage of this method is the rather complicated installation and configuration process.

Neither product is perfect - you need devices supported by the tools, such as the Dell XPS 12 in the case of the Intel version or the Lenovo ThinkPad x61 for Android-x86. You can install these environments on top of Windows, but this is not a good idea. The smartest way is to create a separate hard drive partition and install Android on it.

If your PC configuration is not supported by these products, you can try installing them in VirtualBox or VMware virtualization environments, which are faster than the Android emulator. These products may still not be suitable for testing games, but most applications will install and work correctly. You will need to install applications yourself, because... There is no Google Play integration in these products. For help, you can use the instructions on our website - Installing Android in VMware Workstation.

If you're looking for a way to run multiple Android apps and games at once, and it's easy to install and configure, then BlueStacks is your choice. represents one of the easiest ways to launch applications. However, the product uses a highly modified version of Android to run applications. BlueStacks contains a built-in Google Play store, and you have access to all purchased paid applications. The program is added to the list of Google Play devices under the name Galaxy Note II.

A separate BlueStacks window contains a list of applications divided into categories: games, social networks, etc. When searching for an application or clicking on the icon of a specific application, the unexpected happens - the Google Play client in tablet mode is displayed. The user can navigate the interface as they would on a regular Android device, making BlueStacks more than just an “app player.” In fact, the user can install third-party launchers such as Nova or Apex from the app store and select them as the default launcher. The home screen in BlueStacks with app categories is a variant of the home screen. Thus, by replacing it, you can feel like the owner of a real Android device.

Full access to the Google Play store eliminates problems with application deployment, and BlueStacks itself works stably and quickly. You can play most games, but you may have problems using the mouse. If your computer has a touch screen, you can use applications that support multi-touch. BlueStacks can turn a Windows 8 tablet into an Android tablet. The technology used in BlueStacks is called “LayerCake” because Android applications run in a separate layer on top of Windows.

The only drawback of BlueStacks is the use of a modified build of Android. All changes made by the product developer to run Android applications on PC may cause crashes and failures in the application. This modified environment is of little value to developers - there is no guarantee that applications that display and run correctly on BlueStacks will behave the same on a physical device. The service uses a freemium monetization model - you can either pay $2 for a subscription or install several sponsored applications.

Which way is better?

If you want to test an app before installing it on physical devices, Android emulator offers the best way to test the app on your computer first. The product is quite slow, but it is standardized, so the developer can see how the application will behave on a real smartphone or tablet. Porting Android to PC can provide decent performance, but there may be issues and glitches and it requires compatible hardware.

If you need to get several Android applications on your computer at once, the best solution is BlueStacks App Player. The product provides full access to Google Play, works quickly and supports Windows devices with multi-touch. Don't forget about ARC Welder as a way to run one application at a time. The extension is free and easy to install.

On Android, this is installation from the official Google Play application store. For most users, this method is the only one, because... In principle, there are a great variety of programs on Google Play, for every taste.

However, sometimes you need to install an application that is not on Google Play, but is available on third-party resources that distribute Android software in the form of APK installation files. This situation may arise, for example, when a user for some reason wants to install an old version of the application, which can no longer be installed from the official store. In this material we will tell you how to install an .apk file on Android.

Allow installation of applications from unknown sources

By default, the Android operating system disables the ability to install from unknown sources, in order to protect the user from viruses entering his device. To install an application from a downloaded apk file, the user needs to give permission for such installation. This is done as follows:

Now you can install applications that you downloaded as apk files.

Install the application from the APK file

If a file was downloaded from the Internet directly to a smartphone or tablet, then using any file manager, find where it was downloaded and simply run it for installation by its name. If you don’t know where the file was uploaded, then the article “” will help you find it.

If the apk was downloaded using a computer, then your device to the computer’s USB port
and copy the file to any convenient location in the internal memory of the device, where you can run the .apk for installation using the file manager.

At the beginning of the process, a window will appear asking you to familiarize yourself with the permissions that the installed application requires to operate.

To complete the apk installation, click the " Next" or " Cancel» in case you change your mind. When the installation is complete, the application icon will appear on the desktop.

At the end of the article, I would like to warn you that downloading Android applications from dubious sources increases the risk of infecting your smartphone or tablet with viruses. Download apk files only from well-known and well-established sites.

The process of installing apk files is quite simple. All you need is an installation file and the ability to install applications from unknown sources. Read about the last condition.
One of the main reasons for the popularity of unofficial applications is, of course, that really useful and high-quality applications in the Play Market are paid. However, why pay if you can download the same thing, but for free.

Install the apk file from the phone

All you need to do is download the apk file to your device (or move it from your computer if you downloaded it previously). Now click on the button Install. This is exactly what will happen. Wait for the installation to complete.

Note: Another installation method is the command installation method. This is all done in the browser.
1. Download the desired file to your phone's memory card.
2. Enter in the search bar of any browser what is on your device: content://com.android.htmlfileprovider/sdcard/****.apk (instead of ****, enter the name of the program you wanted to download).

Install the apk file using a PC

You may rather need this method for convenience. If, for example, you always download applications on your PC, and the scheme will be established. That is, without any folding, I pressed the button and “alo-op” - everything is ready.
What you need:

1. Installed drivers for USB connection to your device.
2. InstallAPK program.

When all this is on your PC (including the connected device), you just need to double-click on the apk file (like installing an exe file on a PC). InstallAPK will automatically install the application on your tablet or smartphone.

Brief summary
It's all quite simple, isn't it? Once you figure it out, you immediately begin to wonder why I didn’t understand this earlier. Still, now you know everything and can install any apk file. Good luck!