Cracked apps, particularly on Android, are apps that you can install on your mobile device even though they are not supported by the official app store of your device (Google Play Store or Apple App Store). This process involves downloading APKs (Android) or IPA files (iOS) and installing them manually on your device. It’s an easy process if you follow the proper steps, which is what we’ll be showing you in this tutorial.
Following Steps to Download and Install Cracked Apps on iOS and Android Devices
Enable Unknown Sources in settings
To access these fantastic cracked apps, you must enable Unknown Sources in your device settings. This will allow you to install apps from sources outside of Google Play. To do so, go into Settings > Security and toggle Unknown Sources (Android 4.0+) or Install Unknown Apps (iOS).
This is an essential step as malicious code such as viruses and malware can be injected into an app during its creation. If installed by an unsuspecting user, these could damage or destroy an operating system but are easily avoidable if using proper security procedures like enabling Unknown Sources.
Download the file browser
You can find an app like Astro or X-plore in their respective stores. These file browsers will allow you to move files from one place to another without installing them via an APK. Just locate that .apk file and drag it over into these apps and transfer it into a directory of choice.
When you open up Google Play again, you’ll be able to see that app under My Apps even though you didn’t install it officially through Google Play. Once you’ve done all of that, head back into Google Play and select My Apps at the top right corner of the screen. Locate your APK file in here and tap it once, so it usually begins installing like any other app, but don’t close out just yet!
Open File Browser and Navigate to The Cracked App
Now that you have a file manager on your phone, it’s time to find a program. You can do so by opening File Manager and then navigating through the Downloads folder of whichever app you want. Once there, scroll until you see an APK file (most of them are downloaded).
Tap it, and a drop-down menu will appear asking if you want to open it with another app like Google Play. Choose that option and confirm installation when prompted. The app should now be installed on your phone!
Tap the Apk File
Once you’ve downloaded an app, locate it and tap it. This will open a new window with two options: Install and Open. Choose Install. If you don’t have a file manager already installed, choose that option instead and find one that works for you.
The installation process will now begin! For example, if you had downloaded an app from APK Mirror—one of our favorite websites—it would be necessary to tap Open File from Unknown Sources in Settings > Security > and finally choose OK to proceed with the installation.
Install the app
Before installing any of these programs, you’ll need to ensure your computer and phone communications. If they aren’t, go through and complete steps one through four on each device. Once you have completed those steps, connect both devices with a USB cable. Next, download and launch each program from your computer onto your phone.
It will search for updates before downloading them (make sure it does). Select which service provider you are using (AT&T, Verizon, etc.) and download them accordingly. After about 20 minutes of downloading service-specific files for Ting/Sprint/etc., you should be ready to go! At that point, just open up iTunes on your Mac or PC and sync all of those newly downloaded apps!
Open the app and allow permissions
To use a cracked app, you must allow it specific permissions. It’s similar to when using a phone on which you’ve disabled individual permissions. Once installed, go ahead and grant those permissions if they don’t automatically appear. Also, be sure that you only give them while in incognito mode – if someone knows that there are these specific permissions installed, they could gain access to data from both apps and your overall browsing habits.
You should also uninstall any previously installed updates before installing a cracked version of an app. That way, you can ensure there won’t be any unwanted side effects due to incompatibility between versions if everything goes smoothly; congratulations! You have now successfully downloaded and installed a cracked version of an app onto your device!
Try out the app and verify it works
After cracking open that IPA, you’ll need to get it onto your device and test it out. Connect your iPhone or iPad (or any other iOS device) with iTunes installed. On Windows, hold down Shift and right-click in any folder > choose Open command window here from the menu. At a Mac Command Prompt (Terminal), type: software update -I -a. iTunes prompts you to authorize that computer for use with your Apple ID. Once done, go back into Xcode Organizer > click Devices at left and select your connected iPhone at right > click Install.
You should see your app show up under Installed Apps. If not, check to make sure you set your iPhone when installing and ensure it’s been synced recently (if not, try again). Note: You may have noticed I skipped steps 2 through 5 for iOS devices because those are all about setting up a developer account with Apple—something we don’t care about since we’re just cracking our apps.
If you want more information on setting one of those up, read through step 2 above but skip steps 3 through 5; then come back here when you’re ready to crack an app.