Have you ever downloaded an APK on your mobile or PC? You may wonder if it is a safe APK without viruses , if so there are different ways to check that the application you have downloaded in that format you can use it without problems.
On different occasions and due to certain circumstances, an Android application is not available on Google Play and the only way to install it is by obtaining the APK of said app over the Internet, and that is when we can find unsafe APKs .
By this we mean that not all APKs available on the Internet are virus-free and safe , you may find the odd case, but it is difficult to discover until you install the application and begin to notice strange behavior.
Hence the fact that you have to activate the installation from unknown sources on Android , a parameter that allows you to install a third-party APK , something that in some cases may not be the best idea. In any case, it is always better to install any app from Google Play.
If this is not possible, you should make sure that the APK you have downloaded is safe and does not contain any type of virus, and for that you have the option of carrying out the odd step prior to its installation on your Android phone or tablet.
Check the APK signature
One of the first steps you should take if you download the APK on your mobile or computer is to check the authenticity of the application’s signature , that is, that the developer who created it is the same person as the signature, an infallible method.
Why? Because from the moment it is modified for any reason, the application is no longer authentic, which means that the signature does not correspond to that of the original developer of the application and it can be dangerous to install it on your mobile.
To make sure that the APK is original and safe, just enter the web that we will leave you just below, upload the APK and wait a few moments for the web to perform the analysis in which you can get 2 results, that the APK is authentic or has been modified.
If it is original and authentic, you will see a message in green that informs you that the app is the unmodified official version and the APK is safe, while if it is not, you will see a red notice that the APK is modified and recommends you avoid its installation on the device.
Web: APK Signature Verification
Scan for viruses with VirusTotal
Apart from knowing if the APK that you are going to install on your Android mobile is safe or not, you should also check if it contains any type of virus or, on the contrary, its installation is safe since it is free of any type of malware. You can do this with VirusTotal .
VirusTotal is a web service with which you can analyze applications, programs and others in search of any type of virus thanks to its 55 antivirus and 61 detection engines that work together to analyze any file that you upload to the web.
All you have to do is enter the web from your mobile or PC, choose the “file” option and upload the APK you want to check for viruses. A few moments later the analysis will begin and in a few seconds you will obtain the results, if it appears in green you can be calm.
Web: VirusTotal
Analyze the APK with your antivirus
To be even more sure, it is advisable to download the APK on your computer and then transfer it to your mobile, but as a previous step it would also be advisable to analyze it with the antivirus that you currently have installed on your computer, in our case Avast.
By right-clicking on the APK and clicking on “analyze the selected elements” or another option that will vary depending on the antivirus you have, you will be able to know in a few seconds if it contains any type of virus or not, otherwise do not install it anywhere device.
Install it on BlueStacks and test the app
If even with all the above you still have doubts, you can try to download the APK on your computer and install the application in APK format in BlueStacks to test it and use it for a while until you finally decide or not to install it on your mobile or tablet.
BlueStacks is like a fully functional Android virtual machine where you can install apps from Google Play or via APK. In this case, install the app and test it for a few days to see if it works well, you see strange things, etc.
In any case, if the signature analysis is negative and the virus search is also affirmative, it means that it is not a safe APK and it contains viruses, so it is totally inadvisable to install and use it.
