And is it safe to use?

Sideloading is the process of locally moving files and programs from one device to another. Typically, this involves connecting your computer to a smartphone or tablet. For most people, sideloading isn’t something they’ll ever need to do, but knowing how to do it can be a useful skill.

But what is sideloading? There are some important things you should know before doing it, as there are potential security risks involved and in some cases it can void your device’s warranty.

For most of our devices, we obtain files and software by downloading them from the internet. This is usually done via software provided by the manufacturer of our device. For computers, this is the browser or software store. Android and iOS use the Play Store and the App Store respectively.