Now that you have completed the design of your mobile app too, you can proceed to generate its APK file.

What is an APK File?

APK (Android Package File) is the name of the installation file that is created for devices that run Android. Apps are installed on the device through these files. You can use the APK files that you have downloaded without Google Play or other app markets.

How do I generate APK?

If you have used the wizard feature when creating your app,

Create APK button will be readily available to click, and you can proceed by clicking it.

If you have created your app from blank,

You need to navigate to the Dashboard tab on the left panel and have completed the five steps there to create your APK. Since you have completed the other steps, you will need to complete the Step 1, so click on it.

Profile Information

Fill in the profile data in the screen that will greet you, and then click the save button.

Generate APK

Now that you have completed the five steps on the dashboard, the Generate APK button has finally been activated for you.

Click it to proceed.

The APK wizard will be guiding you, click the YES button to begin the process.

In the next step, the APK Wizard will automatically set your package name, but if you want to assign it manually, click the checkbox below, and enter the new name into the New Package Name field. You can read the What is a Package Name article for more details on this subject.

After editing the name of the package, clicking the Generate APK button will add your APK to the queue to be generated. The building of the APK package takes an average time of 20 minutes, though this is subject to change according to the load on the queue.

Manage APK

Now your APK is generated, and Manage Your APK button is activated on your dashboard.

When you click it, a screen will greet you with controls to manage your APKs. Here, you can update your APK using the Generate a New APK button or use the Download APK button to download the latest version of your APK to your computer. Below the buttons, you will find a list displaying the details of the APK files like their version number, generation date, and status.

Using the download button, you can get the APK file on your computer, and then to your Android device using E-mail, USB cable or any other file transfer method.

Once you get it on your device, tap the file, and then the Install button.

Your mobile app will be installed on your device.

Depending on the features of the modules you have used, your app will ask various permissions, after granting them you can click the Open button;

And then open your app. Because this is the first time, you will be greeted with a message saying that “App is running for the first time, the configuration may take a while, please wait…” That is because the app is running for the first time in the device, it will need to do some configuration work, you will not see that message again in further uses of the app.

Now that you have completed the APK generation, and loading it on an Android device, you may proceed to next step: Step 5: Send Push Notifications.