Also, as a Blackberry 10 user this will come in very handy. It can be sometimes tough to find more obscure apps outside of the Play store, nevermind trying to keep them updated.
This is what I used to use it for, on my Playbook.
APK Downloader
11–20 of 38 posts
Re: APK Downloader
#12This should be part of the Google Play desktop website, and it's actually abuse of the open Android platform by Google that it isn't. (Yes, it can still be abuse if developers can technically host APKs elsewhere in the same way that any monopoly can be abusive).
I can see Google banning this or trying their best to block this pretty quickly though and shows just how far Google has fallen from being open. I could be wrong though, will be watching this website with interest (and using it to download all my apps, for sure). Props to the creators.
EDIT: For those wondering why Google would be bothered by this - the Google Play app distribution channel is the big factor that requires Android device manufacturers to pay their license fees for Android and prevents them from forking the platform. An Android device without Google Play is an automatic no-buy for most consumers. However, if APKs - even just free ones - could be downloaded onto a device without Google Play, then it allows users and manufacturers to easily bypass a lot of the lock-in.
Re: APK Downloader
#13> Have you ever wanted to get your hands on the latest game, only to find that the Google Play thought it wasn't compatible with your phone? As an android game developer... if we tell Google Play a game isn't compatible with a particular device, there's generally a very good reason for it.
I have never developed for android, but the vast majority of programs that say they don't work on my device work flawlessly. I suspect some of it may be due to the fact that I run custom roms.
Re: APK Downloader
#14The only reason that I connected my Android phone to a GMail account is to access Google Play and download clean apps. Lots of third-party websites offer various apks but many are infected with malware.
So, assuming Google won't block this, I won't be needing a GMail account to use Android (without Google apps) from now on? Nice!
Re: APK Downloader
#15The only reason that I connected my Android phone to a GMail account is to access Google Play and download clean apps. Lots of third-party websites offer various apks but many are infected with malware. So, assuming Google won't block this, I won't be needing a GMail account to use Android (without Google apps) from now on? Nice!
Hope this frees up Android from the clutches of Goggle
Re: APK Downloader
#16VIRUS WARNING!
Clicking the Download & Install Now button gives me a popup that says to go to evozi.com/l.php?go=apkinstaller which tries to download APKDownloaderv200_downloader_by_APKDownloaderv200.exe
McAffe detects this as Artemis!5D95FF710F55
I guess to be fair the popup does warn you that the installer may contain extra software.
Re: APK Downloader
#17This should be part of the Google Play desktop website, and it's actually abuse of the open Android platform by Google that it isn't. (Yes, it can still be abuse if developers can technically host APKs elsewhere in the same way that any monopoly can be abusive). I can see Google banning this or trying their best to block this pretty quickly though and shows just how far Google has fallen from being open. I could be w…
I am sure Google would ban this pronto. This reduces their ability to exclude other forks of Android from using the app store.
Re: APK Downloader
#18Found the source that these guys are ripping off to make this extension: https://lekensteyn.nl/apk-downloader/
Re: APK Downloader
#19> Have you ever wanted to get your hands on the latest game, only to find that the Google Play thought it wasn't compatible with your phone? As an android game developer... if we tell Google Play a game isn't compatible with a particular device, there's generally a very good reason for it.
I don't doubt this is true for you, but there are an increasing number of apps on the Play Store that are hardware-exclusive (typically Samsung exclusive).
A number of broadcasters cut deals with Samsung to give their VOD apps exclusivity on Galaxy hardware, and the Twitter Android Tablet app is currently not available on the Nexus 7 due to an agreement with Samsung.
Re: APK Downloader
#20VIRUS WARNING! Clicking the Download & Install Now button gives me a popup that says to go to evozi.com/l.php?go=apkinstaller which tries to download APKDownloaderv200_downloader_by_APKDownloaderv200.exe McAffe detects this as Artemis!5D95FF710F55 I guess to be fair the popup does warn you that the installer may contain extra software.
And, in fact, https://lekensteyn.nl/apk-downloader/ says "Beware: apps.evozi.com hosts a version of this extension which contains spyware."