What does this app do?
APKMirror Installer is a helper app that lets you install app bundle .apkm, .xapk and .apks files in addition to regular APK files.
We’ve also added a much-requested bonus feature for regular APK files: if sideloading an APK fails and you want to know why, you can now see the exact reason for the failure by starting the installation from APKMirror Installer.
Split APKs – huh?
In mid-2018 at Google I/O, Google announced a new dynamic format for app delivery called App Bundles. We highly recommend reading this AndroidPolice post as the illustrations will make the concept much easier to understand.
Otherwise, here’s a brief explanation. Before app bundles, developers either created a single “fat” APK with all libraries and assets in it, or manually managed multiple APK variants (for example, arm64 320dpi, x86 320dpi, arm64 640dpi, and so on).
The new App Bundles allow developers to shift the burden of managing variants to Google, which then splits the app release into multiple chunks, hence the term split APKs. Each version therefore consists of a base APK and one or more APK divisions.
For example, a single version can now come as 5 files: base.apk + arm64.split.apk + 320dpi.split.apk + en-us.lang.split.apk + es-es.lang.split.apk.
Unfortunately, you can’t install all these split APKs by just tapping them on your device – you can only install the basic APK, which will crash due to lack of resources.
This is where APK Mirror Installer comes in.
Alright, so what are these .apkm files?
As many apps are migrating to the split APK format which cannot be easily shared and installed without a companion app, APKMirror has developed a solution to accommodate these changes and continue to allow for easy and safe sideloading options.
Each .apkm file consists of a base APK and a number of split APKs. After installing APK Mirror Installer and downloading the .apkm file you want to install, tap it or use APKMirror Installer to find the download path. You will be able to see the exact contents of each .apkm file and select only the divisions you want to install to save space on your device.
APK Mirror Installer and the underlying infrastructure took many months to develop at a considerable cost, so we hope you understand why the app and site are ad-supported. For those who prefer to avoid in-app ads, there are various subscription options to go ad-free and unlock additional features.
Problems and bugs
Xiaomi/Redmi/Poco MIUI users
Unfortunately, Xiaomi has changed MIUI and especially the part of Android that APKMirror Installer uses to install split APKs.
There is a workaround that should work: disable MIUI optimizations in developer settings. Please try and the installation should succeed.
Further discussion of the issue can be found here: https://github.com/android-police/apkmirror-public/issues/116.
Other issues/bugs
Please report any issues to our Github bug tracker.
Note: This app is a file manager and does not have any direct app store functionality, such as browsing websites or directly updating applications, as this would be against the Play Store Terms of Service.
