An APK file is a file that contains all the information necessary to install and run an app on an Android device. This is known as an installation package. When we download an application from Google Play, it is installed directly on our mobile, but it does not leave any APK installation file along the way. Today we are going to see how can we extract that APK file from any application that we have installed on the mobile. Super practical.
What is the use of having the installation APK of an app?
Extracting an application's APK installation file can be helpful for a number of reasons. On the one hand, we can install the app in question without using an Internet connection. But it also helps us to copy and install the application on other devices, and it can even be great for us to store copies of different versions of the same app or keep applications that have already been deleted from Google Play.
It would not be the first time that an app has been updated for the worse, and in those cases, having a previous version can be quite a hoot to recover all those functionalities that were lost with it. update.
How to get the APK of the applications that we have installed on the mobile
To get the APK of any of the applications that we have installed on an Android, we do not need too many complications. There are what is known as APK extractors, applications that do exactly what their name indicates. One of the best is called APK Extractor Pro. It is free and we can download it directly from Google Play.
Download QR-Code APK EXTRACTOR PRO Developer: Magdalm Price: Free To extract the APK of any system application or app that we have downloaded to the phone, we will follow the following steps.
- We open APK Extractor Pro.
- We look for the application that we want to convert into an APK. In the "INSTALLED" category we will find the apps that we have installed ourselves, and in "SYSTEM" the system apps and tools, as the name suggests.
- Once we have located the app, click on the drop-down menu next to it (3 vertical dots) and choose «Extract«. We can also achieve the same effect by clicking on the app and selecting the box icon that appears at the top of the screen (see image).
- The application will automatically start the extraction job. It lasts just a few seconds. We can check that the APK has been downloaded by scrolling to the «FOLDER» menu.
- By default, the APK files generated in this way are saved in the "APK Extractor Pro" folder within the internal memory of our device.
In this way, we can make local copies in APK not only of apps like WhatsApp, games, etc. but also backups of basic functions of our mobile, such as the camera, the phone or the like.
Finally, remember that, if this is the first time we run APK Extractor Pro, the application will request storage permissions before doing the conversion. If we don't give you the permissions, you won't be able to make the copies!
How to extract APKs directly from Google Play
Another very convenient option to get the APK of an application is by downloading it directly from Google Play. For this, we only need to access this online tool and enter the URL in Google Play of the app we want to download.
At the moment, the tool will search for the app that we have indicated, will convert it to APK format and will show us a download link. I've been doing various tests and at least for now it seems to work remarkably well.
Very easy to use and practical especially from PC.The good thing about this method is that we make sure that we are creating an APK free of malware or viruses, since it is the official version hosted in the Google store, and that in principle it has passed all the required security filters. Although good, it would not be the first time that malware sneaks into the Play Store, but that is another completely different topic.
"Toolbox for Google Play Store" for PC users
If we usually install apps from Google Play in the PC browser, we cannot ignore an extension for Chrome called "Toolbox for Google Play Store". It is an excellent tool that add several extra buttons to the download tab of each app available on Google Play.
- APKM: Clicking on this button will open a window to download the APK package of the application from APK Mirror.
- AP: This button performs a search for articles about the application on the Android Police website.
- AB: Opens a page with application statistics in AppBrain.
Can you extract the APK of a premium app when it is on sale and install it later?
Every week, we publish on the blog a list of paid applications that are available for free download for a short period of time. Usually there are a lot of applications, and we may not have free space or we simply do not want to flood our mobile with hundreds of applications.
If we want to take advantage of this type of offer, we can do it without having to install or extract the APK of the app. Enough with register it in our order history from Google Play so that we can download it completely for free whenever we want, even after the offer date.
- We enter Google Play and locate the payment app that is on sale.
- Click on «Install«, And we cancel the installation before the download is complete.
- Now, we display the Google Play side menu and click on the «Bill«. If we scroll to "Purchase history" we will see how the application has been registered.
In this way, we can return whenever we want to the purchase history and re-download the application, without having to pay a single euro.
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