APKS, XAPK, and OBB files can’t be opened by Android’s built-in installer. Pick one of the free installer apps below from the Google Play Store to install them in a couple of taps — or take one of the routes that doesn’t need the Play Store at all.
These are real, free apps on the Play Store that install split-APK bundles. Any of them will do the job — install one, then hand it your downloaded file. If you have no reason to prefer another, take the first.
by APK Mirror · Best for: Most people
From the APKMirror team. Handles APKM, APKS, and XAPK bundles, verifies signatures, and picks the right splits for your device automatically. It also reports the exact reason when an install fails, which most installers swallow.
View on Google Playby TarrySoft · Best for: Games with OBB data
A long-running, widely used installer that unpacks XAPK archives and drops OBB expansion data in the right folder on its own. Ad-supported, but it does the unpacking step reliably.
View on Google Playby Uptodown Technologies SL · Best for: Backing apps up too
Uptodown's installer works in both directions: it installs split bundles, and it can also extract the apps already on your phone back out to files you can keep.
View on Google Playby sunilpaulmathew · Best for: Power users
Open source, and the only pick here that lets you choose exactly which splits get installed. Doubles as a manager for apps already on the device; some of its extras want root or Shizuku, but installing does not.
View on Google PlayAn installer app is the easy path, but it isn’t the only one. These work when the Play Store isn’t available to you, when a managed device blocks installer apps, or when you’d rather not trust one.
The best-known open-source split installer. It was pulled from the Play Store years ago and is now published on F-Droid and GitHub, so you install it the same way you’d install any sideloaded app. Beware of Play Store apps borrowing the SAI name — the original is by Aefyr, and these two links are it.
XAPK and APKS files are zip archives. An archive manager such as ZArchiver will open one on the phone. This gets you a plain APK plus, for games, an OBB file you move to Android/obb/<package.name>/ by hand. Worth knowing, but it only works for bundles whose base APK runs on its own — true split bundles still need a real installer, because Android has to receive the splits together.
If you want the app on a PC rather than a phone, most Android emulators install a file you drag onto their window, and the better ones handle XAPK bundles too.
An APKS file is a bundle of split APKs— the base app plus separate pieces for your device’s screen density, CPU architecture, and language. It’s how Google’s Android App Bundle format is distributed outside the Play Store. A closely related format, XAPK, wraps the same splits (and any OBB expansion data) in one file. Because both contain multiple APKs, Android’s stock installer can’t open them — that’s what the installer apps above are for.
No Play Store on the device? See other ways to install.
Installing apps outside the Play Store is straightforward, but a few practical hurdles surprise first-timers.
Android/obb/<package.name>/ or the game won’t find its data. A good installer app places them automatically.