# Can i install regular android apps on an android go?



## spectatorx (Aug 11, 2019)

I'm just googling that for last few minutes and i can't find clear answer to that question. Recently i had to order any budget phone, i'm not a big fan of "smart"phones so i was wondering which phone should i choose: cat b25 or xiaomi redmi go and decided to give it a go to a "smart"phone. Yes, i am aware cat b25 is not a smartphone.

Probably i'm not going to hugely utilize smartphone features and i do not care much about performance of a phone as to me phone most importantly has to be able to do phonecalls, support sms and mms. If it would be still in production i would instantly buy new nokia e51 as this was to me perfect definition of a phone and perfect balance between phone and internet/"smart" features. I see this xiaomi comes not with standard android but with something called "android go". From what i've read so far main difference is go has light versions of apps and is more optimized towards devices with slower hardware and here comes my main concern: can it install regular android apps too or is it locked just to these light "go" versions? Can i do this from play store or, if that's an option at all, can i install from .apk files? Obviously .apk is the last thing i would want to deal with.


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## flmatter (Aug 12, 2019)

Well I think the answer is, if you just want a phone for calls and text -sms/mms. Then buy that one, the Cat is a good choice. If you are going to get a smartphone then jump into a full fledged one not one that has gimped hardware and OS. If you are in the States look at craigslist. With all the new smartphones released recently you can pick up a cheap S8 or Note8 or LG. Motorola Z4 is a good low cost option. My wife and daughter each have one and they are happy with them.


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## spectatorx (Aug 12, 2019)

Ok, i got the phone already so i can answer this question myself.

Yes, android go can install regular, normal applications from google play store. I just installed few of them and they are working as expected.


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## Ramo1203 (Aug 12, 2019)

Indeed you can, however some apps might run quite "meh" because Android Go devices are low-end devices. 
(Source : I have a Nokia 2.1 as a backup device)
Also you can install Android Go apps on regular Android, some are pretty light and simple.


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## spectatorx (Aug 12, 2019)

I can confirm. Redmi go is at some things kinda slow but i do not care much about it. If app starts in 1 second or in 3 seconds it doesn't make much difference to me as main purpose of phone is something extraordinary as making phone calls and writing sms. I'm using this phone for few hours and one thing i'm surprised with is i can nicely type on it and overall use it with single hand.


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## lexluthermiester (Aug 12, 2019)

spectatorx said:


> I'm just googling that for last few minutes and i can't find clear answer to that question.


That's because it's a known answer. Android "Go" is fully compatible with all apps on Google Play. Normal apps will install and run perfectly. No worries.


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## spectatorx (Aug 17, 2019)

After first full discharge of battery i can give my first impressions "mini-review" of redmi go. This is basically my first android device, in the past i owned htc chacha and this device was bad on so many levels that at that time i still preferred to use nokia e51 over it. I'm fully aware redmi go is a cheap phone and i do not expect much from it. With my normal usage it fully discharged after 4 days. If i am correct in terms of smartphones this is pretty decent, in terms of actual phones that would be laughably short time. This came also because i did a bit of optimization like dimming screen to 10% which to me is still a bit too bright and i may dim it even lower. Another optimization i decided to do was to enable gpu acceleration for menu and other things.

Android go is not that much different from regular android (i'm able to compare them as my gf is using honor 10) and i was able to install normal apps from play store without issues. What i did install are apps for public transportation, moomin valley which i did use to discharge last 3% of battery faster and surprisingly game is running decent smooth. As a webbrowser initially i chose opera mini but it has problems with proper rendering of some websites so i ended up with opera touch which also feels much smoother than mini. And the most important app: notepad. Specifically one by some russian developer does exactly what i needed: lets me write down a note and just save it and have stored few of such notes. I may look for something to create settings profiles so i could use one profile for home and other profile for outside usage and so on. I will take a look at recommendations if someone will post here any.

Overall i'm satisfied with that phone. Works decent, doesn't annoy me too much, does its job and battery life is acceptable to me, just acceptable but on the other hand i'm used to phones which had battery life of one week or more. For example nokia e51 when new was lasting for 7-8 days on one charge, when phone was about to die after 4-5 yeas of constant use battery was lasting "just" 5 days. Xiaomi released for redmi go phone only android go 8.1, i hope some day they will bring 9 anyway but maybe hardware limitations doesn't allow them to do that.

To physically secure that phone i ordered wallet-like cover for it and some glass for screen. I hope i will be able to install that glass by myself, will need to read and watch some guides on this. As i like to cycling on bicycle to fulfill this phone i also ordered headset with buttons for phone calls. These 3 gadgets are about to be delivered right after weekend.


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## rudy135 (Dec 17, 2019)

Hi, I'm wondering if Android Go phones can install external apps (.apk files)?

Thanks.


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## spectatorx (Dec 17, 2019)

Android go installs normal apps from normal google play store so i assume the same goes for apk files.


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## lexluthermiester (Dec 17, 2019)

rudy135 said:


> Hi, I'm wondering if Android Go phones can install external apps (.apk files)?
> 
> Thanks.


Hey, welcome to the TPU forums! And yes you can. Android Go is a slimmed down version of the full experience. Apps can still be sideloaded from APK files.


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## birdie (Mar 2, 2020)

I wouldn't recommend buying any Android phone with less than 3GB of RAM.

If you have little money go buy something like Redmi 8 4/64GB (global version!) which can be purchased for as little as $118 from Ali Express.


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## lexluthermiester (Mar 2, 2020)

birdie said:


> I wouldn't recommend buying any Android phone with less than 3GB of RAM.


2GB phones are just fine. I have several phones/tablets in my home that have only 1GB and they still run perfectly.


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## birdie (Mar 2, 2020)

lexluthermiester said:


> 2GB phones are just fine. I have several phones/tablets in my home that have only 1GB and they still run fine.



I have Nexus 5 still lying around - in short it's unusable. Load 2GIS (a Russian made offline maps) and after it the phone starts lagging like hell. So, no, 2GB are not enough by any stretch of imagination unless you use your phone only to check the weather and set the alarm clock.


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## lexluthermiester (Mar 2, 2020)

birdie said:


> I have Nexus 5 still lying around - in short it's unusable.


You're doing something wrong or unusual then...


birdie said:


> Load 2GIS (a Russian made offline maps) and after it the phone starts lagging like hell.


...like this. This is not a normal usage scenario. That is a memory intensive app. MOST(read vast majority) people don't use apps like that.


birdie said:


> So, no, 2GB are not enough by any stretch of imagination unless you use your phone only to check the weather and set the alarm clock.


For you, that might be true. For most other people, 2GB phones are fine and will be for several years to come.


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## the54thvoid (Mar 2, 2020)

Memory usage requirements depends on each user scenario. I'd not pay a lot of money for a 2GB phone but it will still serve its basic purpose.


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## birdie (Mar 2, 2020)

lexluthermiester said:


> You're doing something wrong or unusual then...
> 
> ...like this. This is not a normal usage scenario. That is a memory intensive app. MOST(read vast majority) people don't use apps like that.
> 
> For you, that might be true. For most other people, 2GB phones are fine and will be for several years to come.


2GIS is considered a "normal" app for all kinds of phones. Don't know why you're arguing with me when you've never tried it or even read its description. 

Also, just to be sure, is Mozilla Firefox also an abnormal app? Open a few tabs in it and Nexus 5 again starts lagging like hell. I'm quite sure the most you did on your Nexus 5 was opening a website or two in built-in Google Chrome which also unloads tabs from RAM once free memory is low. That's not indicative of its real performance.

I now have a smartphone with 8GB of RAM and here's memory use for the past 3 hours:

```
Android OS           1.6GB
OnePlus launcher     324MB
Android System       246MB
Google Play Services 243MB
System UI            151MB
```




We are looking at 2.5GB just for the OS itself. And you cannot compare Nexus 5 memory use (Android 7.0) with the one on modern phones (Android 10).


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## lexluthermiester (Mar 2, 2020)

birdie said:


> 2GIS is considered a "normal" app for all kinds of phones. Don't know why you're arguing with me when you've never tried it or even read its description.


I don't need to read about it, you described it well enough. Your opinion is very subjective. There are plenty of great Android devices available that have 2GB of ram.


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## the54thvoid (Mar 2, 2020)

Past 3 hours:

Android OS .93GB
Android System 294 MB
System UI 294MB

and it gets lower from there on.

Undoubtedly, power users need more but Joe Schmo needs very little. Most folk use their advanced technology as little more than a primitive entertainment device.


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## birdie (Mar 2, 2020)

the54thvoid said:


> Past 3 hours:
> 
> Android OS .93GB
> Android System 294 MB
> ...



I quoted my Android memory use *without* running any apps. I can reboot it for you just in case. I'm not obsessed with running dozens of apps simultaneously and playing PUBG all day long. In fact I've never run it. I have the absolute minimum number of apps in background (let me check: it's a very simple weather applet and a very basic sunrise/sunset applet which no network access, so it barely consumes any memory) to make my phone last as long as humanly possible.

Again, you guys, don't really say what you mean by "2GB are enough for running Android". Running what exactly? Its shell and one tab in Google Chrome? Yeah, that'll be enough.

Again, 2GIS is not something memory heavy but it brings any Android phone with 2GB of RAM to its knees.


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## spectatorx (Mar 2, 2020)

Personally i did buy this phone only to have a device for what it supposed to be made for: phone calls and sms, internet features are far aside thing for me. I do not even know how much ram this device has, simply i do not care.
Anyway i have few applications installed on it: opera touch, vivaldi browser, steam, messenger and some local things like city transport, etc.

P.S.
This thread was brought back by some spam bot. Since i figured out answer to my question further discussion here doesn't make much sense but if you want to compare who has longe... i mean more ram in their pocket it is up to you.


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## the54thvoid (Mar 2, 2020)

spectatorx said:


> Personally i did buy this phone only to have a device for what it supposed to be made for: phone calls and sms, internet features are far aside thing for me. I do not even know how much ram this device has, simply i do not care.
> Anyway i have few applications installed on it: opera touch, vivaldi browser, steam, messenger and some local things like city transport, etc.
> 
> P.S.
> ...



I've asked for the thread to be closed as per OP's sentiments.


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## birdie (Mar 2, 2020)

spectatorx said:


> P.S.2
> Birdie, your private message wasn't needed. You can post the same thing here. This way you became probably first person to be blocked from communication with me, congrats on that achievement.



Oh, thanks. Hopefully I won't see your posts either 'cause I gave you a good piece of advice and now you're exposing me as if I said something very bad. And never in in your initial post here you specified that you needed very basic things from your phone and "smart", i.e. decent, was not what you were looking for. What happened to people I've no idea. You give them data, you prove it with facts, they are blocking you. Why did you ask this question here then anyways?  Just to block people based on how you "feel"? OMG.


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## Kursah (Mar 2, 2020)

Gonna go ahead and lock this up since some of you can't seem to play nice and OP has stated they got what they wanted from this topic.


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