how to identify a third-party APK provider source safe or not??

[KurtPattinson]

Recently, my friends had advised me to have a look on APK Files to resolve to my "Google Play Store not working" problem since my Android was little bit out of date, the data consumed to run Google Play Store seems to be a burden for my Android.

They said that many third-party websites also provide the previous app's version which may be compatible to my phone. But as soon as i started stalking on Google about APK, did I realize that there are dozens of APK providers, i have no idea which one is safe or not, so confused.

Can anyone help distinguish this?
My Android is in need of your help sincerely TT

 

[B. Diddy]

Welcome to Android Central! I moved this from the Android Apps forum to the General Help forum since the former is intended for developers to promote their apps.

Which phone do you have, and which version of Android is it running? Did the phone come with the Play Store preinstalled, or did you have to install it manually? If we can fix this without having to resort to looking for apk files on random websites, that would be best.

 

[Rukbat]

APK Files, the site of that name, is one of the "usually safe" sites. But just downloading apk files from unknown sites could damage the phone.

If Play isn't working, try installing GApps - that should give you a working version of Play.

 

[KurtPattinson]

Okay, i will try to have a look. So weird when both of your answers are GApps recommendations

 

[me just saying]

also you may be able to access the play store through the phones browser so apk might not be necessary.

 

[hallux]

We're still missing a critical piece of info - what device are you using and what version of Android is it on?

Apps will be built for a minimum version of Android (or API level). If the phone is not at that level it will be missing things that the app is expecting. What this means is that even if you DO find an app on a 3rd-party site and manage to install it on your device it STILL may not work.

 

[Mova Store]

it really depends on where you download them. A good rule of thumb is to only APK from reputable sites. Even if they are reputable there is no 100% guarantee that the APK is safe.

 

[Rukbat]

Even if they're from Play there's no 100% guarantee that the app is safe.