Introducing sideloading

To anyone who came of age during the 8-bit home computing boom of the 1980s, loading was something to be endured while a program was accessed on cassette or floppy disc.

To anyone whose first exposure to computing involved the internet, loading is a word which pops up for a second as an app game opens, or a console disc begins to whirr.

Today, another form of loading is becoming increasingly prevalent in the smartphone sector.

It’s known as sideloading, and it occupies a legal grey area where downloading and owning sideloaded content is entirely permissible, yet installing it may constitute piracy.

So how does this concept work? And does it place you at risk of receiving a visit from a nice policeman?

Side parting

Smartphone operating systems are sealed ecosystems, where the only software you can install has been vetted and approved by either Google or Apple.

However, there are countless apps and utilities in circulation which haven’t been approved for one reason or another.

Perhaps they weren’t professional or slick enough. Maybe their content was deemed too controversial. Alternatively, the app simply may not be available in this country yet.

One way to install unapproved apps and programs is to root or jailbreak the handset. We’ve written about these techniques in the past.

Another approach is to transfer content onto the handset using a USB storage device, in the same way you might move historic photos or music files onto a new handset.

This is known as sideloading, and it’s usually done on Android handsets, which have less stringent security than the walled-garden iOS environment generated by Apple.

It’s generally carried out by downloading an Android application onto a PC from a website like APKMirror, and then transferring it to the phone’s storage via USB.

These .APK files contain everything needed to install and use the app on a compatible device, just like loading a program off a CD-ROM, floppy disc or even cassette.

Once opened on the phone, the app ought to install as it would after being downloaded from the Google Play store.

This technique may allow you to continue using apps which have been removed from the Play Store or had support withdrawn, effectively extending their lifespan.

Is it legal?

There is technically nothing to stop someone with two tablets sideloading content from one onto the other. It only becomes a criminal offence if the transfer saved the user money.

There’s more ambiguity about replacing a glitchy new program with a stable older version, but even the developer would probably rather have you using an older app than switching to a competitor product.

From here, things become murkier.

Moving apps onto a handset represents a breach of your Google user agreement. And moving paid apps across to avoid duplicate payments constitutes piracy.

In truth, it’s hard to imagine a software developer pursuing a private citizen for having one or two sideloaded apps on a personal device.

That nice policeman is unlikely to come calling, because they have far better things to do.

But you will invalidate the phone’s warranty. And that’s important not just for its future resale value, but because the handset is being exposed to greater risk of malware.

Sideloaded content comes with none of the quality control applied by Google and (especially) Apple. It’s installed and used at your own risk.

If you’re willing to take that risk, however, your handset could receive a whole new lease of life.