Hello everyone,

I am have been using Graphene OS on my new pixel 6a phone for about 2 weeks now, I love it and am very appreciative of all the work that has gone into the development.

My biggest struggle is to activate the paid apps I previously purchased on the Google Play Store. There is one app in particular where I reached out to the developer with my struggles and after I proved my purchase he gave me a version of his app that does not require validation. The odd thing is this is the first time an .apk file won't install on my phone. When I tap the file in downloads nothing happens, all my other .apk downloads will install with just a tap but not this one. I have tried to re-download it and put it in a different folder other than the default downloads but nothing works.

Any suggestions?

The easiest way for you to quickly and reliably access your paid apps would be to use Sandboxed Google Play. If you worry about privacy towards Google, you can set up a user profile specifically for your paid apps and only use Play Services there.

I really recommend to go that route, but if you demand an alternative way without Play Services, you can try installing the app in Aurora Store (logged in to your Google account). For me this used to work for apps I bought directly in Play Store, but not for in app purchases. You might need Play Services to use the app anyway though...

Regarding the APK file: That sounds to me like the file is corrupted, but I can't really judge that with the given information. The recommendation applies: Save yourself the trouble of manually installing (and updating) APK files and use Sandboxed Google Play instead. It's a marvelous feature!

I've had the same problem where an APK wasn't installing and that was because some other profile had the same app installed from the Play Store vs APK file and after logging into the user profile that had the app installed from Google Play store and uninstalling it, the APK version then worked fine and installed without any issues. I hope this solves your problem.

Thanks for the replies! I tried to install the .apk on a different android device that never had this app with no success. I am now learning how to sandbox google play.

    • [deleted]

    saskguy I am now learning how to sandbox google play.

    You don't "sandbox" apps yourself, They are already sandboxed.

    • [deleted]

    I had that "problem" before. I think in graphene, only the app that downloaded the apk file can install it. For example you download it with vanadium, only vanadium can install it. I copied an apk file from pc to phone with usb and I couln't install it because no app was "responsible" for it (thats how I understand it). I think this is meant as a security feature of graphene.

    But as a workaround you can download another file manager and install the apk with no problem. Then you can uninstall the file manager.