Sideloading, in five steps
“Sideloading” just means installing an app from a file rather than from
a shop. Android allows it, but it asks you to confirm that you meant to —
which is the right question, because nobody has checked this app except me.
- Tap the download button above, on the phone itself. The file lands in
your Downloads folder. Downloading it on a computer and emailing it to
yourself also works, it is just slower.
- Open the file. Tap the notification, or find the
.apk in
Files → Downloads and tap it.
- Allow this one app to install apps. Android will say something like
“For your security, your phone isn't allowed to install unknown apps
from this source” and offer a Settings button. Turn the permission on
for whichever app you are installing from — usually Chrome or
Files — then come back. Since Android 8 this is granted per app, not
as one global switch, so you are not leaving anything open afterwards.
- Install. The normal install screen appears. Play Protect may add
“Unsafe app blocked” or offer to scan it. That warning means
Google has not seen this app before, not that anything is wrong with it.
Choose Install anyway / More details → Install anyway.
- Open it. It behaves like any other app from then on, including updates
— though updates here mean coming back and downloading the newer file.
Not sure you want to install anything? The apps marked Run in browser
are the same thing running as a web page. Nothing is installed and nothing is sent
anywhere — they work entirely inside your browser.
Check you got what I published. Each app above lists a SHA‑256
fingerprint. If you want to be sure the file was not altered in transit, hash your
download and compare — the two strings should match exactly.
sha256sum three-zone-1.4.apk # Linux
shasum -a 256 three-zone-1.4.apk # macOS
certutil -hashfile three-zone-1.4.apk SHA256 :: Windows
Why Apple is different. iOS will not install an app from a web page at all.
A native iPhone build has to be signed and distributed through Apple — the
App Store, TestFlight, or a re-signing tool like AltStore that reinstalls it
every seven days. Rather than put anyone through that, the iOS entries above are
web apps: open the link in Safari, then Share → Add to Home Screen.
You get an icon on the home screen, a full‑screen app with no browser
chrome, and it still works with no signal.