Install an APK online from a link or QR code

Browser previews are great, but sometimes a build belongs on a real phone — in your pocket, on your network, with your accounts. From the owner's portal, one tap mints an install QR code, so the exact same APK lands on the owner's Android phone. Here's that flow, honestly explained — including the Android warnings you'll meet on the way.

Try it with a live device

PreviewAPK is in private beta. Get early access to share your own builds.

The recipient-side flow, step by step

  1. Mint the install link and scan its QR. In the portal, the attached APK offers Install on my phone — point your phone's camera at the QR code it shows, and the download starts on the phone.
  2. The APK downloads. The file is the exact build attached to the device — fetched through a link that expires 15 minutes after it was minted.
  3. Open the file and allow the install. Android asks you to permit installs from your browser the first time (see below), then installs the app like any other.
  4. Open the app. It's the same build you could preview in the browser, now running natively on your device.

A download exists only because the owner minted it

This is the part most APK-sharing tools skip: on PreviewAPK, a share link never serves a file — it streams the app in the browser, view-only, and that's all it can do. The single download path lives inside the owner's portal: an install link minted on demand, for the owner's own phone, dead after 15 minutes. If you received a share link with no download button, it's not broken and nothing is switched off — downloads were never part of a share link.

"Install unknown apps" — what that permission actually is

Android only allows Play Store installs out of the box. Installing an APK from a browser is called sideloading, and the first time you try, Android sends you to a settings toggle: Allow from this source for your browser app. That's not a hack or a jailbreak — it's a standard, per-app permission Android provides for exactly this situation, and you can revoke it afterwards in Settings → Apps → Special app access → Install unknown apps. Developers and testers use it every day to install builds before release.

Play Protect warnings are normal for test builds

Google Play Protect scans sideloaded apps and may warn you that a build is unrecognized or from an unknown developer. For a random APK from the internet, take that warning seriously. For a test build your own developer just sent you, it's expected — pre-release apps aren't in the Play Store's catalog, so Play Protect has no record of them. The judgment call is about the source: install builds from people and teams you trust, via the link they sent you — which is also why PreviewAPK keeps the only download behind the owner's login instead of spraying files at every link visitor.

On iPhone? You can't install an APK — but you can still review it

Plainly: APK is Android's package format, and iOS cannot install or run one. No link or QR code changes that. What an iPhone user can do is open the same PreviewAPK link and watch or drive the app live in the browser, because the Android device runs in the cloud. For stakeholder reviews, that covers most of what an install would.

For build owners: what it costs

PreviewAPK is a flat $19/month per device with unlimited testing, in private beta now. Upload a build, share the session link to stream it, and mint the install QR when a build should land on your real phone.

FAQ

How do I install an APK from a link?

From the owner's PreviewAPK portal, open the APK's Install on my phone panel and scan its QR code with your Android phone (or open the install link it shows). The APK downloads; open the file and allow installs from your browser when Android asks. The install link lives for 15 minutes and exists only because the owner minted it.

Is it safe to install a test APK?

Apply the same judgment as any file you install: only install builds from people and teams you trust, from the link they sent you. On PreviewAPK, share links never serve files at all; the only download is an install link the owner mints for their own phone, valid for 15 minutes.

Why does Android warn me when I install an APK?

Android restricts installs from outside the Play Store by default. The first time, it asks you to allow "install unknown apps" for your browser, and Play Protect may scan the build and warn that it's unrecognized. For a test build from your own team, that's expected — the app simply isn't from the Play Store.

Can I install an APK on an iPhone?

No. APK is Android's package format and iOS cannot install or run it. On an iPhone you can still open the build's PreviewAPK link and watch or drive the app in the browser — the Android device runs in the cloud.

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