Most of us Android mobile phone users keep installing and trying different applications and games from the Google Play store on a regular basis. These applications are installed automatically and just appear on our mobile devices once we click the install button. Alternatively, there is another way to install applications and games, as well as live wallpaper on your phone without using an application store like Google Play. That is where APK or Android application Package files come into play.

Anybody who has used an Android smart phone and likes to install lots of applications and games will likely already know or read about APK files. The APK file extension is a special file format that works much like a standard EXE or executable file does on a Windows computer. It can be executable program file that installs an application on your Android mobile phone.

These files are extremely easy to use but you first need to setup your smartphone to install applications from third-party sources. There is an option for that in your phone's settings, usually found within the security or applications settings sections. Once you check that, you only need to copy an APK file to your memory card, and you're good to go.

Conversely, the tricky part is finding a reliable source of such files. You cannot just download files with the APK file extension from any website. Quite a number of sites that do not run proper antivirus checks and verify the application files uploaded there. Some of these can simply be viruses or any other malware designed to give someone else access to your phone's features like the camera, microphone, your picture gallery and contacts lists, breaching your privacy. As long while you download APK files from reliable sources though, you shouldn't possess any problems.

Typically, you can find discontinued applications or live wallpapers like Flappy Bird online within the form of APK files that other individuals who use the app have uploaded to web sites. They can be an extremely good source of custom applications as well that users made for their very own use. Those simple, small, and mostly ad free apk files applications are great to add some new features to your smartphone for example a flashlight or perhaps an RSS reader. On the flip side, one should be cautious about what file we download and from where because not everyone might make good quality applications and some can even mess up the telephone if run on an incompatible device.