Android is an operating system that has many qualities despite the fact that it shares many aspects with most systems, even those of the competition. But if there is something that always made Android a key product, that is freedom, both when it comes to customizing devices and installing applications or APK. Do you want to download apps and games from sites other than the Google Play Store, the official system store? There is no problem. Of course, be very careful with those applications.
This freedom sometimes works against the user, turning this advantage into an open door for the installation of malicious software.
For security reasons, it is not recommended to install applications from pages other than the official Android store. However, services such as Amazon have their own apps that have been registered in the official Google store, and they offer you the possibility of downloading their full version from their official website, which means that it can sometimes be useful.
What happens if you install a third-party APK or what could happen
Installing an app in the .apk format on Android is like installing an .exe app on Windows. That means that the dangers to which you expose yourself when doing so are the same, such as the possibility of infecting with a virus, malware or adding other programs to your mobile in the process of which you are not warned.
As in any other operating system, if I put a virus in an application, I will do so by downloading this app and modifying its code, but I will not leave clues in its name or icon. Therefore, by default you will have no way of differentiating an infected apk from one that is not, and hence the importance of being very careful about where you download it from.
All Android applications are signed by the developer. This implies that each app and game that is distributed through the Google Play Store includes a signature or certificate that makes it recognizable when there is any question of authenticity. At the moment in which the application is modified (to introduce malware, adware or to alter its operation) said application cannot be signed with the original certificate, therefore it loses its identity code. And it is the best weapon to know if a downloaded Apk is reliable or not.
