A complete guide on Aptoide, the alternative online store to the Google Play Store: here’s how to download it and install the apps on your smartphone.
Is there an alternative store to the Google Play Store? There are many users who ask this question, curious to know if there are other applications available besides those present in the official Google store. The answer is enclosed in a single name: Aptoide. This is an alternative to the Play Store, through which you can download files shared by other users.
The popularity of Aptoide is due in large part to the possibility of downloading apps for free that are paid on the Play Store, hence the comparison with the BitTorrent network. There are also new applications, downloadable only on Aptoide and impossible to find in the official Android phone and iPhone stores. You can also find apps already available on the Play Store but illegally modified by some users, who then share their files on the secondary store.
Below is a complete guide on how Aptoide works, both if you use an Android smartphone and a PC with the Windows operating system or a Smart TV on board: we will illustrate the preliminary operations and the steps to take to download Aptoide and use it on the devices mentioned above. Finally, we will discuss the issue of legality and security in a store that is not recognized by Google.
How to download Aptoide
How Aptoide works on Android
After answering the question about what Aptoide is, we can proceed with the explanation of its operation using an Android smartphone.
From the preliminary operations to be performed to the download, to then simulate the actual use once downloaded: this is how Aptoide works on Android.
Preliminary operations
In order to allow Aptoide to be downloaded and installed, the smartphone must be able to download files with an .apk extension from unknown sources. The procedure is very simple and does not require special skills on the part of the user.
First you need to open the Settings, then select the App and notifications section, touch the Advanced and App with special permissions items, then press on the Install unknown apps command. Now tap on the Chrome app and move the lever from left to right next to the Allow from this source item.
We chose Chrome because we will use the Google web browser to download Aptoide, but if you want you can choose any other Android browser that will download the unofficial store.
Important: the steps indicated above refer to an Android smartphone that received the Pie update (Android 9), but are also valid on mobile devices with the Oreo version (Android 8) on board. On phones upgraded to Nougat (Android 7), the procedure is slightly different: after opening the Settings, select the Security tab and move the lever from left to right next to the heading Unknown.
Download
We are now ready to download Aptoide on Android and install it. We open the Chrome web browser on our smartphone and connect to the alternative store official website. Once you have accessed the home page, simply tap the Install Aptoide button and tap the OK button in the automatic alert by which Google alerts you about the risks associated with downloading an APK file.
Once the download is complete, select the Open command next to the aptoide-latest.apk file and tap on the Install item in the new screen displayed. Then wait a few seconds to allow Aptoide to be installed on the phone, then select Open.
If the procedure is successful, the classic welcome screen will open. To skip the intro and start using Aptoide right away just touch the Skip command located at the bottom right.
In the new screen displayed called Personalize your experience the user is asked whether to accept (touch the Yes, accept ) or not (tap on the item No, thank you ) to receive advertisements based on their personal data processed by MoPub, division of Twitter that deals with the strategies for app monetization.
Download app
The Aptoide home page looks like a common official store. For example, the section Editor’s Choice is highlighted, which includes the most relevant apps. If you tap the App button you land directly in a space where the apps are divided into the categories Best apps, Table games, Music, Education, Role- playing games, etc.
It is interesting to note that Aptoide recognizes the apps previously installed on our Play Store and proposes an update by downloading the latest files shared by the community on which the secondary store is based.
To test the operation of a modified app already in use, touch the App tab at the bottom right of the home screen and select the arrow icon next to the application you want to update. If you tap on the Update all command, all the apps installed on the Play Store and recognized by Aptoide will be updated using files with the .apk extension.
Before installing a new app from Aptoide you need to allow the alternative store to download and install unknown apps. The procedure is identical to the one followed previously to download the APK file of the store from Google’s Chrome web browser: open the Settings, tap the App and notifications option , select the Advanced tab then the Apps with special permissions and Install unknown apps.
At this point it is sufficient to select the Aptoide app and move the lever positioned next to the application from left to right.
Important: some Android smartphones do not include Aptoide among the apps in the Install unknown apps section, but this does not affect the possible download of an application from the unofficial store.
How Aptoide works for PC
The apps in the alternative Aptoide store can also be used on the PC and Mac, thanks to one of the many Android computer emulators.
We will now show how Aptoide for PC works using the Android BlueStacks emulation program , one of the most popular on the net. In addition to BlueStacks, you can test other emulators like Andy OS and Nox App Player.
To install the BlueStacks Android emulator on your computer you need to connect to the program’s official website and click on the Download BlueStacks button. The download may take a few minutes, as the file weight is just under 500 MB. When finished, open the BlueStacksInstaller.exe file, type the administrator password and click on the Install Now button to start the installation.
Once the installation is complete, click on the Complete button and wait a few minutes for the first start of the BlueStacks emulator on our PC. The Google Play Store is already present in the main window of the emulation program, while Aptoide is absent.
Installing the secondary store requires a few simple steps. First of all you need to download the APK file from the official website by clicking on the Install Aptoide button. After the download, click on the icon of the three dots in the BlueStacks emulator window next to the Installed app item (top left) and select the Install apk command.
At this point, simply select the APK file downloaded previously and select the Open button to start the installation of the Aptoide store in the Android emulator.
Other versions of Aptoide
The Aptoide store is available in two other versions: Aptoide TV and Aptoide Lite. To download the first version it is necessary to have a Smart TV with Android TV operating system, because Smart TVs with Tizen OS (Samsung Smart TVs), webOS (LG Smart TVs), Firefox OS (Panasonic Smart TVs) do not support installation of Aptoide TV.
As seen for smartphones (and tablets), permission to install apps from unknown sources is required to download Aptoide TV. Here are the steps to follow on a Smart TV with Android TV on board: open the Settings menu, select the Security option and add the check mark next to the heading Unknown sources.
Once this is done, simply open the Chrome web browser, connect to the official Aptoide page and select the Install Aptoide TV button. Once the installation is complete, select the Open button to enter the store.
Aptoide Lite is instead the lightest version of the unofficial Aptoide store for Android, recommended for medium-low end devices and not particularly fast Internet connections. This version can be downloaded from here, taking care to perform the preliminary operations required for the full version.
Is Aptoide safe?
On the safety and legality of Aptoide the discourse already addressed for the uTorrent program applies: the Aptoide store itself is safe and legal, problems arise when you choose to download free apps that are paid or any other content on the Play Store copyrighted.
“Is Aptoide safe?” This question often occurs in forums where the main topic is Android. Regarding this, it is important to point out that the protection offered by Google Play Protect when downloading the apps on the Play Store is completely absent on Aptoide.
We therefore invite you to use Aptoide consciously to avoid problems both from the point of view of device safety and legality.