Getting apps into the Nexus 7
I’ve always had a problem with credit cards. Mainly, I can’t seem to handle them. My expenses always balloon out of control, and pretty soon I’ve got to go into debt negotiation with the banks.
So, years ago, I settled my debts and swore I’d never get one again. So far, this has worked out for me. I never spend for anything until I have the cash in hand for them.
But it has its drawbacks. For one, I can’t get anything online. These always require credit cards, and my refusal to have anything to do with them has always gotten in the way. I’ve circumvented this a bit by getting prepaid gift cards, like for my iTunes account, or for Amazon, but there are still many I can’t access.
Among these is the Google Play Store. I can’t buy any apps!
But I’ve found a way to circumvent that too. Its kinda illegal, but I don’t really have much choice in the matter.
This is how it works: I sideload the damn apps. I torrent the APKs, then upload them to Dropbox. Then I simply download them back to my Nexus 7, and it asks me if I want to install the downloaded apps. I say Yes, and then it installs, and that’s basically it.
I’m actually thrown by how easy it is, but it seems to work. Most of the time, anyway. Some of them get stuck in some non-functioning netherworld, like the Nexus Media Importer, or Splashtop 2, but on the whole they usually work. I like to think I’m “evaluating” them for an indefinite period.
I only get those I can’t live without, like the Swiftkey Keyboard, Apex Launcher Pro, Plex, Instapaper, Tapatalk and a couple of others, but I don’t make it a habit. I don’t abuse the privilege. I usually stick to the freebies on the Play Store, and that’s basically my Nexus app existence. I’ve barely hit half of my 32gb storage capacity, and I think I’ve already hit my app threshold. I’ve cased out the Play store and downloaded my fill of apps, and I don’t think I’ll get anything more.
But its nice to know that I have the means to get to “evaluate” some of the otherwise paid-for apps.
Don’t tell on me now.
February 8th, 2013 at 6:46 pm
you can pay by using a Smart Money card. You can get it for free since you’re a Smart subscriber and top-up 500 pesos over the counter (Smart Wireless Centers) or at least a 100 pesos at any BDO Branches. i’ve used mine for both the App Store and Google Play to purchase apps.