Smartphones are great. They allow us to do extraordinary things that weren’t possible not that long ago. They are the direct result of compelling progress in technology and a proof of what people can achieve if they put their minds to it. That being said, let us delve deeper into the subject, and explore what makes smartphones great. The answer, without any time for deliberation, is of course mobile apps. Mobile apps have created an ecosystem of their own where the fittest developers are rewarded handsomely for their work.
Many people miss out on the sheer efficiency of mobile apps because they don’t quite know how to get around getting new apps for their devices. That’s OK, as we are going to see just how mobile apps can be installed on smartphones.
The traditional way
The traditional way of installing applications onto a smartphone is by visiting the app store your smartphone’s operating system hosts. In the case of phones powered by Google’s Android, the app store is Google Play Store. For those that have gone the Apple route, they will find that apps are sold or distributed on the App Store.
Accessing the store is quite easy. All phones come with a pre-installed application that allows them to quickly access the app store which otherwise could be accessed via the website just as well. Look in your app drawer for either the App Store or Play Store application, and tap it. You will be redirected to the app marketplace where you can either use one of the available categories to browser apps or directly research particular apps with the search bar. Once you’ve found an app that you think will look nice on your handset, tap its icon. From the app page, press the install button and follow the on-screen instructions. That’s about it.
The APK route
If you don’t or can’t install apps the traditional way, you can always download the APK files of applications and have them manually installed on your device. This method probably bodes well with people that don’t like going through Google’s device pairing process.
APK files are the mobile equivalents of PC installer executables. You download them into your phone, then tap them to start the installation process for the app. From here, it installs much like a desktop program would. Keep in mind that unless you enable the Unknown Sources option in Settings, you won’t be able to install the APK.
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