Tired of waiting for the newest, shiniest version of Android? It only has limited availability, so you might as well install Oreo on your Android phone yourself.

If you’ve got a shiny new phone or tablet running Android 14, it’s true that you can’t download and install these older apps on your device itself.

If you want to know how to sideload apps on your Android phone, here's a handy guide. We'll also explain some safety tips.

However, there are other methods to install user apps as system apps without paying fees. Check out this guide for methods of installing ordinary user apps as system apps.

In general, you should install apps outside of your phone's app store only if you have a very good reason to.