📱 Installing the test version on an Android phone

The test version doesn't come from Google Play, so Android asks a few questions before installing it. That's normal. Here's the way through, tested on a Samsung.

1. Download the file on the phone

On your phone, open your site's admin → App and tap Install on your phone (or open the link someone sent you). The file (.apk, about 100 MB) downloads.

Download it directly on the phone. Moving it over from your computer works badly: often the phone doesn't see it.

2. Open it from your files, not from the browser

On some phones (Samsung among others), tapping the file in Chrome opens a blank page (about:blank). Instead, open the My Files (or Files) app → Downloads, and tap the file.

3. Allow the install

If the phone says installing from this source isn't allowed, tap Settings and turn on Allow from this source, then go back and tap the file again.

4. Google Play Protect: "App blocked"

Google shows "App blocked to protect your device" for any app from a developer it doesn't know yet. That doesn't mean the app is unsafe: it's yours, it just isn't in Google Play yet.

• Tap Install anyway: it's the small text above the big button.
• Careful: the big blue Got it button cancels the install ("The app wasn't installed").

5. If "Install anyway" doesn't work

1. Open the Play Store, tap your profile picture (top right) → Play Protect.
2. Tap ⚙️ and turn off Scan apps with Play Protect.
3. Go back to My Files → Downloads and install the file.
4. Turn the scan back on right after.

6. Samsung: Auto Blocker

On recent Samsung phones, Auto Blocker blocks every app that doesn't come from Google Play. If that's what's blocking: Settings → Security and privacy → Auto Blocker, turn it off, install the app, then turn it back on.

A new test version?

Install the new file over the old one: your settings in the app stay.

And once the app is in Google Play?

None of these steps anymore: your fans install it like any other app, with no warning.