If you spot great apps when you’re browsing the internet from your PC or Mac, you’ll be happy to know you can install apps to your phone straight from the Play Store website! Check out our easy-to-follow guide to find out how.
DOWNLOADING ANDROID APPS FROM YOUR COMPUTER
Searching for an app in the Play Store website.
- Firstly, open your internet browser. It really doesn’t matter whether you prefer Chrome, Safari, Firefox or any of the other alternatives out there, as long as it can visit websites.
- In your address bar (the text box at the very top of your internet browser), typewww.play.google.com. Press Enter on your keyboard when you’re ready to move onto the next step.
- Type the name of the app you’d like to install, then press the Enter key on your keyboard or click on the Magnifying glass icon to the right of the search box.
Picking your app.
- The Play Store will now offer app suggestions based on the words you entered in the search box. In our example we chose Clueful Privacy Advisor, and as you can see it was the first suggestion on the list. Click the app to continue, or press the See more button to view other suggestions.
- After clicking on the app you want, you’ll be taken to its summary page. Here you can read more about the app, view screenshots of the app in action, browse comments left by other users and even check out similiar app alternatives.
The app summary page.
- If you’d like to save this app and come back to it later, press the Add to wishlist button. This is especially useful if you’re comparing apps to find the best one for you.
- Not all apps are compatible with all Android phones, so check the warning below the Install button to see if there are any issues.
- If this is the app you wish to download to your phone, press the green Install button. If the app comes with a price tag, the green button will show the cost instead of the word Install.
Ready to install!
- A pop-up window will appear, displaying a list of permissions the app requires in order to work correctly. Below the list you will spot the choose a device dropdown menu, from which you can choose an Android phone or tablet to download the app to. If the app is incompatible with any of your gadgets, this is where you find out which gadget and why!
- Click on the smartphone or tablet you wish to install the app to. Once your handset is selected, the dropdown list will disappear from view, leaving you with the green Install button.
- Click the green Install button and, if successful, the Play Store will congratulate you on your installation. Press OK to dismiss the congratulatory popup and return to the Play Store, where you can continue browsing for new apps to install.
Switch over to your smartphone now, and you should spot a new app showing up in your notification bar – this usually looks like a tiny shopping bag. Touch the notification bar and drag your finger downwards to display the whole notification panel.- From here you can see straight away that your app installed successfully! Tapping on the notification will launch the app, or instead, take a look in your apps list. The new app will be waiting for you, ready to open.
Having problems with any of the above steps? Let us know in the comments box below and one of our Agents will get back to you as soon as they can.