APK files are really safe and good for downloading apps/games on Android?

[Madamdreamer Lee]

Hi everyone Anyone has used Android and had problem with APK files like me? I wanna install some apps/games to relax. I also wanna try to download apk files through a few websites. However I scare that my Android device will be hacked with virus. Do you know if apk/apk bundle/.... are good for Android? And hope you guys recommend me the webs that are really safe for my mobile phone and Pc or laptop

 

[kct1975]

My suggestion is use the Google Play Store

 

[Mooncatt]

I second Google Play. The Amazon app store is also legit.

You are wise to avoid those sketchy apk sites, as they often modify the apps and you have no idea what may have been added to them to infect you with malware. If for some odd reason Play or Amazon doesn't have what you're wanting, then try contacting the developer of the app you want directly. They may be willing to send you the app straight from the source.

 

[me just saying]

it is best to get your apps from the play store, amazon or if your phone manufacture has an app store, get them from there. otherwise, unless you know who to trust, you could download malware with the apk

 

[B. Diddy]

Hmm, this is the 5th or 6th question about this in the past week or so.

 

[Mooncatt]

Hmm, this is the 5th or 6th question about this in the past week or so.

I noticed that too. It is odd.

 

[B. Diddy]

Rukbat thought it was because of Google's recent introduction of app bundles: https://developer.android.com/platform/technology/app-bundle. But whenever I see this kind of pattern, I half-expect tag-team spammers to jump onto the thread and suggest all manner of shady sites.:-\

 

[Rukbat]

An apk bundle is just another format that Google has developed.

As for the safety of apk files (or apk bundles), that's what you get from Play, and it then automatically runs the app installer on the apk file, installs the app and deletes the apk file. If you back up an app, you're creating an apk file. (That's really just Google's extension for a zip file - you can open an apk file in any app [or PC program] that opens zip files.) The difference between an apk and an apk bundle is that if the app is bundled, when it gets an update, the update is smaller than the whole apk file. Otherwise, if you're installing it for the first time, an apk bundle is an apk file. (Google explains it quite openly on the web. No secret.)

 

[Mooncatt]

As for the safety of apk files (or apk bundles), that's what you get from Play, and it then automatically runs the app installer on the apk file, installs the app and deletes the apk file.

Technically this is true, but no one ever refers to apps as apk files when installing from Play. Any time someone mentions getting the apk file itself, that suggests they are downloading it from some place other than Play, and it wouldn't auto-install.

 

[Rukbat]

Oh, I'm completely aware of that, but as far as safety (which is what the OP was asking about) is concerned, an apk downloaded from Play or one downloaded from a safe site (they used to actually show links to a couple of sites right on the Play page, next to the Install button) is exactly the same file.

If you download from a safe site, the apk is perfectly safe. If you download from a shady site, you take your chances. (And if someone posts a link to a site, and I go there with my sandboxed browser and get a malware warning, I edit the post to replace the link with something like [unsafe link removed by mod]. I've been in this game too long to get hit by that kind of nonsense, or to leave it up on a site I mod on.)

 

[Buchheitpaul]

what u ask is also my question. I wonder which webs are safe to download? there are lots of webs on the internet to download but I don't know whether they are safe or not

 

[hallux]

The risk you take when you download from any of the APK sites is that the file that's posted is not the original app but one that includes extras injected such as ads or other malware. The other thing to look out for are paid apps that are free on those sites - modern-day piracy.

The ones noted above are the only ones I'd trust on MY devices - Play Store, Amazon, device manufacturer markets.

 

[mustang7757]

what u ask is also my question. I wonder which webs are safe to download? there are lots of webs on the internet to download but I don't know whether they are safe or not

I use APK mirror for years and haven't had any issues .

https://www.apkmirror.com/

 

[Rukbat]

APK Mirror used to be listed on Play as one of the two safe alternate sites. (No one uploads apps to them, they download them from Play.)

Also, any apps listed on XDA, by the developers, are safe to download from the links in the threads.