Is it safe to ‘sideload’ mobile apps?

All the apps recommended in this feature are available in the Apple App Store and Google Play Store, and traditionally we’ve advised sticking to those sources, to keep your phone and tablet safe from malware. But things are changing, and Apple and Google are both, albeit reluctantly, making it easier to install apps from alternative app stores – a process known as ‘sideloading’.

Following an EU regulatory ruling called the Digital Markets Act, Apple is now required to allow third-party stores on iphones and ipads, starting with the just-released IOS 17.4. This currently only applies in the EU, but it’s possible the option will eventually come to the UK, if the Government’s ‘Digital Markets,

Competitions and Consumer Bill’ forces Apple to comply. Until then, you can only sideload apps by jailbreaking your device, which may have a detrimental effect on its security and performance.

Google already lets you sideload apps on your Android device, but as part of a recent legal settlement, it will soon tone down the language it uses to warn you about using third-party app stores (see www.snipca.com/49650).

Safe sources, which vet all the apps they offer for malicious content, include Apkmirror (www.apkmirror.com) and F-droid (www.snipca.com/49651), where you’ll find tools not available in the Play Store, such as the ad-free Youtube front-end Newpipe.