Installing it

Android will interrupt you three times on the way in. All three are normal for an app that is not from the Play Store, and none of them means anything is wrong with the file. Every button below is quoted exactly as it appears on the screen.

1. Tap the download button

   A box appears headed File might be harmful. Choose Download anyway. It says that about every APK that did not come from the Play Store.

2. Tap the finished download

   Pull down your notifications and tap sidekin-….apk — Download complete.

3. Choose “Package installer”, then “Just once”

   This is the step to be careful with. Android shows an Open with list, and other apps you have installed may offer to handle the file — file-sharing tools and “APK installer” apps often put themselves on this list. Pick the one called Package installer, which is Android’s own, and then Just once. Nothing else on that list should be opening this file.

4. Tap “Install”

   If Sidekin is already on the phone this reads Do you want to update this app? — tap Update. Android may first ask whether to allow installs from your browser; that is a one-time permission and you can turn it off again afterwards.

5. Play Protect will block it. This is the one that looks fatal, and is not.

   You will see App blocked to protect your device and “Play Protect hasn’t seen an app from this developer before.” The big button says Got it — do not press it, it cancels the install.

   Instead tap More details, which expands the box, and then tap Install anyway. It is small grey text rather than a button, sitting just above Got it. That is deliberate on Google’s part and it is the only way through.

   Then you get App installed. That is it — you are done.

6. Why it says that

   Play Protect has simply never seen this app before, because it is new and is not distributed through the Play Store. It is not a virus warning and it is not something being detected in the file. Once enough installs exist the warning goes away on its own.

   If you want to be certain the file is the one we published, compare the SHA-256 above against the file you downloaded — every build is published with its checksum.

7. You only do this once

   Sidekin updates itself from inside the app after this, so you will not need this page again.

These steps were checked on a real Samsung handset on 28 July 2026. If Android shows you something different from the wording above, stop and tell us rather than tapping through it.

Release history

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