How to transfer APK files between phones and from a computer

Phone to phone

• Quick Share (Android 6 and later with Google services; called Nearby Share before 2024): select the APK in Files, tap Share › Quick Share, choose the other phone. Works across manufacturers; on Samsung it also links with Samsung's own sharing.
• Bluetooth: slow but universal; share the file from any file manager. Some phones block .apk over Bluetooth; renaming to .apk.zip and back on the receiving side works around it.
• Send the installed app: SAI's Backup/Export, or the Share option in App Manager and many file managers, exports the installed app (with splits) as a file you can share by any method. This is how to pass an app that is not available for download any more.
• Messaging apps: Telegram and most chat apps allow APK attachments up to their size limit; WhatsApp blocks the extension.

Computer to phone

• USB cable: connect, choose File transfer on the phone, copy the file to the Download folder in Explorer or Finder (Android File Transfer on macOS, or the newer OpenMTP).
• adb: adb push file.apk /sdcard/Download/, or install directly with adb install file.apk; see installing with adb.
• Local web server: in the folder with the file, run python3 -m http.server 8000 on the computer, then open http://<computer ip>:8000 in the phone's browser and download the file. Useful on the same Wi-Fi when cables are not at hand.
• Cloud drives: upload to Google Drive or similar and download on the phone. Drive shows a warning for APKs but allows the download.

Phone to computer

Copy from the Download folder over USB, or adb pull. To back up an installed app to the computer, get its path with adb shell pm path <package> and pull each file listed.

After the transfer

Check the file size against the source before installing; a truncated transfer produces a parse error. Bundles (.xapk, .apks) travel as single files and need an XAPK installer on the receiving phone.