Sideload an app from .apk file

[trueriver]

I want to sideload an app for beta testing purposes onto my Fairphone FP5 Murena-supplied phone running /e/OS version updated recently, Android 13.

The dev was unable to load it from her Windows based dev gui, even with the advised dev options enabled Windows could not find a driver for this phone, but she can let me have a .apk file.

She has not used adb, and I last used it years ago and have totally forgotten everything, so regard me as a noob for the purposes of this query.

I am running LinuxMint (dual boot: Latest Debian Edition, and an older version based of Mint based on Ubuntu. The uname from the older Mint is

Linux r-mint-20 5.4.0-190-generic #210-Ubuntu SMP Fri Jul 5 17:03:38 UTC 2024 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

Please point me to a HOWTO (here or on another site) about how I run adb from either of these versions of Linux Mint, and then probably another HOWTO tell me what commands I will need.

I did a search in this forum with the text exactly as the above title, and it did not get me anywhere. I added e/OS/ to that text and tried Duck Duck Go and then Google: still didn’t seem to get anything helpful

I am an almost total noob at using adb, as may be obvious, but i believe this should be a viable way to test this app on the de-Googled /e/OS/

@mods: feel free to move this if there is a better place to post it.

River~~

Regain your privacy! Adopt /e/OS the deGoogled mobile OS and online services

[piero]

Have you failed to intall the .APK from the device file-manager ?

[trueriver]

Hi Piero,

No, I have failed to try that. Like I said, although I did play with adb some years ago, I have forgotten most of it.

So you are suggesting to get the .apk onto the phone (by download, file transfer, or via an SD card), and simply tap on it in file manager?

And is this something that is specific to /e/OS/, or would it work on a standard Android as well?

I do not yet have the .apk from the dev, that will be coming to me this week – the purpose of this question was to get anything else ready that I might need.

TR~~

[AnotherElk]

@trueriver

And is this something that is specific to /e/OS/, or would it work on a standard Android as well?

It’s generic Android.
The App in which you open the APK file (could be your browser in case of a direct APK download, too) should prompt you for the permission to install Apps from unknown sources, if used in this way for the first time.