[android help] How to install an Android application on a real device without publishing and Eclipse?

How can I install an application without any developer tools (Eclipse, Android SDK tools)? I've compiled and created an .apk file. Now I am gonna send this apk file to my friend. He is not an Android developer; he doesn't know how to use Eclipse or the SDK. And I don't want to publish my application to android market. Is there a way to launch the application on a real device without publishing it or having access to a machine with the SDK? edited Sep 23 '11 at 16:22 asked Jan 18 '10 at 8:42

	You can deploy the .apk file on your local server(apache or jboss) with a static IP to make the file available for download. Now just open the download link of the apk file in your mobile browser. The device will automatically start the installation after the download completes. answered Jan 18 '10 at 11:46

The way I usually do this is: Plug in my USB cable to my PC and mount my SD card on my computer Get the APK file somewhere on my SD card on the phone Unmount the SD card on my PC, allowing the phone to see the SD card contents again Use Astro File Manager or some similar app to browse to that file on the SD card and select it, which will prompt you if you want to install the app on your phone. answered Jan 18 '10 at 15:49

	You should set Settings -> Application -> Unknown sources to allow installation from non-Market. Then, once your application is published somewhere, you can download it an install it. answered Jan 18 '10 at 12:42

Also you can use 'adb install ' to install apk's to your device. Though this approach requires you to have adb available on your computer and adb is part of the sdk. Another, easier approach, is using DropBox. This enables you to save the apk in the dropbox/public folder, create a URI from there and supply this to your friend. Then have him download the apk. Android will notify him when it's done, so he only has to click the notification and Android will ask him whether or not he wants to install this software. answered Jan 18 '10 at 15:20

Hopefully you will find the answer from here Install Android application on Android Device Add your APK file to your device SD card and run it, you must allow to install non-market application on your device before you going to install. Go to Setting -> Application Setting ->Unknown Source and tick check box which will allow to install non-market application on your device answered Jun 8 '12 at 11:50

Use DeployGate. Just upload your app and share privately via distribution page. It will guide your friend to install your app and you can see how is going, e.g. which version is installed or updated, or app is crashed, in realtime. Though it's a very common question, there were no simple way to achieve it. Even if we can send the apk via any way, we need to change the non-Market setting and get asked for help of this kind everyday. It's simply a hassle. So we made DeployGate, a tester-friendly private app distribution service to help the developers just like you ;) answered 18 mins ago

	what i usually do is: 1. Through mail: i send the .apk to their mail id. 2. do open his mail in his mobile. and download the attached .apk. 3. it will ask for installation and do run. answered Mar 1 '12 at 8:13

default

.

stackoverflow.comm