Google Play Store is the largest repository of Android applications. Every user Android smartphone or tablet uses Google Play to install your favorite game or application.

However, Google Play is not the only way to install a new application on your Android device. You can use third-party websites, app stores, or even your computer to download and install the app on Android.

In this article we will tell you about three ways to install an application on Android from a computer.

Method 1: Install the application on Android from your computer via the Play Store

This is the easiest method to install an application on Android from a computer. You need to go to the Google Play Store website from your computer and remotely install the application on your mobile device.

  1. Open the Google Play Store website through a web browser on your computer. Click the "Register" button in the upper right corner to log in Google account, which is tied to your Android device.
  2. Find the app you want to install on Android and click the Install button.
  3. Select your smartphone from the drop-down list and click on the “Install” button. The application will be automatically installed on your Android smartphone.

Method 2: Install the application on Android from your computer

Preparation

The first thing you need to do is allow applications from unknown sources to be installed. By default, most Android devices do not allow you to install third party applications. To enable this, you need to do the following:

Go to Settings > Security and check the box next to “Unknown sources.”

Copy the application to your Android device

Once you have allowed installation from unknown sources, you need to copy the application (APK file) to your Android tablet or smartphone.


Install the application on your Android device

All we have to do is install the application on Android. To do this you need to launch the application ( APK file), which you copied in the previous paragraph.


Congratulations! You have successfully installed the application on Android from your computer.

Many smartphones have the Android operating system, which initially has a lot of icons behind which various applications are hidden. Before we figure out how to install an application on Android, let's figure out what an Android application means?

The Android application is a program with clear functionality that is designed to work normally on a smartphone, taking into account its capabilities. For example, such a program could be a game, a State Services application, a Sberbank application, a VKontakte application and numerous other Android applications.

On the other hand, an Android application is an “apk” file (from the English Android Package).

The "apk" file is the executable or installation file. It contains the application code and all the resources needed to get the application up and running. After completing the installation procedure for the apk file, you will be able to use the application.

In accordance with the fact that an Android application is

  • or a regular application,
  • or an application in the form of an apk file,

Then you can install the application on Android in two ways:

  1. like a regular application that is installed from the store, or
  2. as an application that is launched through an apk installation file.

Applications: pre-installed and those that the user installs

Devices running in the operating room Android system, already from the moment of purchase contain a large number of applications. Such applications are called differently:

  • pre-installed
  • factory,
  • default applications
  • etc.

To the number of preset software usually includes applications that provide antivirus protection, device navigation, geolocation, communication, and much more. When the user becomes comfortable with the functionality that has already been installed, he may need to add applications independently, of his choice.

Users who have just started mastering Android often have a question: why do we need applications for Android, and in such quantities? Is it possible to do without them?

You don't have to install new applications, or turn off pre-installed applications. Accordingly, in this case the smartphone becomes “morally obsolete” mobile device, which only allows you to call, send/receive SMS and view the time. Agree that few people are satisfied with such “stripped-down” functionality of a smartphone.

In any case, as you master it, there is a need to install some applications: VKontakte, Facebook, WhatsApp or others. As they say, appetite comes with eating. Android applications are easy to install, and if you don’t like them, they can be easily removed. Below we will consider these actions in more detail using the example of the Android application for Yandex.Mail.

How to install an application on Android from stores: the first method

The word “store” does NOT mean that the Android application will be paid. The store can have both free and paid applications.

The easiest way to install applications is from Google Play Market. It’s convenient to search in the Play Store required applications and find out information about them. Installing applications from Play Store carried out by clicking on the “Install” button.

Let's look at how to download Yandex.Mail on Android. The application is supported on smartphones and tablets on Android based 4.0.3 and higher. To download other applications, the steps will be almost exactly the same.

The Play Market application is pre-installed for Android. Find the Play Market icon among Android Applications and open it:

Rice. 1. You can find the Play Market in Android Applications

After opening the Play Market store, you need to look for the Yandex.Mail application. To do this you can:

1 in Fig. 2 – enter “Yandex mail” in the search bar and
2 in Fig. 2 – the application will be found:

Rice. 2. Download Yandex Mail for Android from the Play Market

It is important to open official Android applications, because, alas, there are many “fake” ones.

Open the Yandex.Mail application in Google Play Market to download and install it:

Rice. 3. Install Yandex Mail on Android

Before installing the application on Android, for security reasons

Rice. 4. Accept permissions before downloading Yandex.Mail on Android

By clicking the “Accept” button for permissions for Yandex.Mail, the application will be downloaded to Android. And you will be able to open the mail or delete:

After the Yandex.Mail application is installed, you can later find the mail icon in Android Applications:

Rice. 6. Installed Yandex.Mail can be found in Applications

Google Play Market is NOT the only store where you can download Android applications.

  • Among domestic stores, one can highlight the Yandex Store.
  • The American Amazon AppStore is also widely known.

How to delete an Android application

It happens that you used an Android application, but then for some reason you are not satisfied with it and you want to delete it. The pre-installed application can only be turned off; it cannot be deleted.

And those applications that the user installed himself are easy to remove. For example, let's look at how to remove the Yandex.Mail application.

Open “Settings” of Android:

Rice. 7. Android settings can be found in Applications

In Settings, find the “Device” tab and go to Application Manager:

Rice. 8. Android Settings – Device – Application Manager

In the Application Manager, from all the variety of applications, you need to find the Yandex.Mail application, which will need to be deleted:

Rice. 9. Find Yandex.Mail in the Application Manager

Before deleting Yandex.Mail, it is advisable to:

1 in Fig. 10 – Clear cache,
2 – Clear data, then
3 in Fig. 10 – Delete Yandex.Mail.

Rice. 10. Clear cache, data and delete Yandex.Mail

Delete the Yandex.Mail application means that such an application will not be on the smartphone. But this does not mean at all that it will be deleted along with the application.

If you need to delete your Yandex.mail account, I wrote about how to do this on a computer.

If there is no “Delete” button for an application, or this button is not pressed, it means that such an application cannot be deleted, because without it Android will not be able to function normally.

How to install an application on Android: the second method is an apk file

Applications on the Android system can also be installed by directly clicking on the “apk” file, which was NOT obtained from the Play Store. Such a file can be installed not immediately, but at a convenient time. In addition, such a file can be sent to a friend.


There is an Apkpure store from where you can download an apk file for any Android application:

Please note that to install applications NOT from the Play Store, you will need to enable the “Unknown sources” option in the device security settings on Android.

  • To do this, open “Settings” of Android (Fig. 7),
  • in Settings we find the “System” tab (2 in Fig. 11),
  • and in the System open “Security” (3 in Fig. 11):

Installing applications and games from the store Google Play usually does not cause difficulties even for inexperienced users. Since the installation process here is as simplified as possible, I clicked on the “Install” button and the application was installed.

download apk file Google Play Market

What do we need:



By default, on Android APK files Play Market APK files from computerSafety».

However, the creator's policy implies another way to install applications - directly from the device. For this you need download apk file, transfer it to your device and install it. This is for those users who are unable to connect to Google Play Market. Therefore, today we will talk about how this process works in general.

What do we need:

The device itself (smartphone or tablet).
Apk file downloaded to your computer
File manager installed on your device.

By default, on Android the device can be installed APK files only from the app store Play Market. In order to be able to install APK files from computer, you need to allow installation of applications from unknown sources. To do this, go to the settings of your Android device and go to the “ Safety».

After that, enable the " unknown sources».


After enabling this function, you will be able to install any APK files.


After that you copy the file APK either to the main device or to a memory card.


To complete the installation APK file from computer to Android device you need to run this APK file. To do this, you need to use any file manager. Run file manager, open the folder where you copied the APK file and run it. After launching the APK file, a window will appear on the screen asking you to install the application. To install the APK file, simply click on the " Further».

After this application will be installed on your Android device. After installation is complete, an icon will appear on the desktop installed application. Also, the new application icon will appear in the list of all applications.

be careful: if the application can make calls or send SMS messages, it is quite possible that it was created to steal funds from the subscriber’s personal account, since the same SMS messages are sent in such a way that the owner of the device will never guess about it, while his personal account is slowly emptied, After all, these messages are paid.

How to install an apk file on Android without a file manager?

Not all users have a file manager on their devices. So, launch any browser and in address bar we write the following phrase: file:///sdcard/. This way it will open file system your device.


Well, then it’s a matter of technology. Click on the apk file and install it. In our case, however, when you click on a file, it is downloaded. Then you need to call up the curtain and in the curtain click on the file again to install it.

In any case, this will not cause you problems.

In order to install the application on Android from a computer, you must have a Google account and access to it.

The installation procedure depends on the Internet speed, otherwise it is no different different models gadgets from all manufacturers.

Installing programs on Android from a computer via Google Play

  • The first thing you need to do is go to the official Google Play website through your computer browser. The site is intuitive even for an inexperienced user.

If you already have an account in the service, then you just need to log in to it.

Click on the login button, enter your address Email and click "Next"

  • Then enter the name of the application in the search bar or find it in the category menu on the left, and then go to the page with the program.

Advice! Any application in the Google Play store can be saved to a wishlist, which will be available on all Android devices with this data.

  • The page has everything necessary information about it, just like on a smartphone with Android OS.
  • In the next step, repeat the procedure directly on your smartphone, log in to your Google account, if this has not been done previously.
  • When both devices have the same account, the system will automatically determine whether it is compatible with the smartphone.

  • After this, you can click the “Install” button. The system prompts the user to select the Android device on which the program will be installed. There may be several of them in the list depending on how many gadgets are connected in this moment.
    Devices that were previously connected to this account but are not currently in use may also be shown here; they are indicated in gray.

  • After selecting a gadget, you need to click the “Install” button and wait until the program is automatically installed on your phone.

Advice! Before installing programs, you need to make sure there is free space on your phone, otherwise it will display a message that there is not enough memory to download.

Installing applications on Android from a computer via a USB cable

If the application that needs to be installed on your smartphone has already been downloaded, you can download it using a USB cable.

First, you need to make sure that the program has the appropriate .apk extension, and the gadget has enough memory necessary for installation.

  • Since the smartphone cares about the safety of its users and, in order to avoid infection with viruses, does not allow downloading from unknown sources, so first you need to remove this restriction.

In the settings in the “Security” menu, you need to move the slider to the green mark in the “Unknown sources” item, confirming the action before doing so.

  • In the next step, you need to connect a USB cable to your smartphone.

  • After this, you need to copy the file through Explorer to the “Downloads” folder on your smartphone.
  • After which you can disconnect the phone and find the folder with the application on it.

  • Click on the file via right button and in the window that appears, select “Package installation program.

  • After some time, the application will be installed on your smartphone.

In the first case of installation on Android via a computer, both devices must be connected to the Internet.

In the usage example usb cable there is no such need.

Using this principle, you can install the application via Bluetooth, WiFi and other services capable of transferring files of various formats.

How to install applications on Android from a computer

Step-by-step instructions: How to install an application on Android from a computer

Technology platform Android applications turned out to be universal 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 to Google browser Chrome. The application was developed by Google and it can be used not only on Windows computers - this method Works also 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 using Reserve copy applications on 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, for example APK Mirror.

When the required APK file is downloaded and ready for download, you can open ARC Welder from the list of extensions in Google Chrome and specify this 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 have native support at the moment Google services Play (if you are not an application developer and do not have access to source code), so Google apps and some third party apps 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 with different screen resolutions and hardware configurations. The first disadvantage this method can be called a rather complex 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 it's not the most best idea. The most reasonable way is to create a separate partition hard drive and installing 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 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 most simple ways to launch applications. However, the product uses a highly modified Android version to launch 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 Google devices Play called Galaxy Note II.

A separate BlueStacks window contains a list of applications divided into categories: games, social media 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 touch screen, You will be able to 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 Android builds. 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 application before installing it on physical devices, the Android emulator offers The best way to pre-test the application on your computer. 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 achieve 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 will be 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.