The SHA of a file is a digital signature that can be used to verify its authenticity. To ensure that the APKs you download are secure and reliable, it is important to thoroughly examine them and make sure that the source is trustworthy. You can grab previous versions of each application, view information extracted from Google Play, and access a list of related applications. If an application that you install from APKMirror receives an update from Google Play after you have installed it on your device, it will be updated to the latest version automatically.
APKMirror's main competitor is APKPure, which was launched around the same time. Like APKMirror, this APK downloader complies with rigorous security practices to ensure that all the APKs you save are safe and virus-free. APKPure verifies the legitimacy of all applications before publishing them using SHA1 to ensure that the certificate is secure. The cryptographic signatures of the new versions of the applications must match the previously published versions, and completely new applications are compared to other software from the same developer.
Both APKMirror and APKPure are reliable sources for downloading APKs safely. However, if you want to double-check the security of an APK file, you can use Hash Droid to compare its SHA with that of others. This is what you can call the fingerprint of the file you're trying to download. If both SHAs match, it means that the file can be safely downloaded.
You can also use apksigner to verify an APK file by checking its checksum. Your Android phone is vulnerable to viruses and malware if you download apk files from untrusted websites. Even though APKPure is virus-free, there is no 100% guarantee that apk applications are also virus-free. Therefore, it is important to take security measures or at least scan the downloaded APK file with VirusTotal before installing it on your device.
VirusTotal allows you to upload your APK files to check for viruses and other problems. ApkHere is another great option for downloading foreign-language APKs that aren't available in your local default Google Play Store. On this page you can see all the other APK files from the Google Play Store that are signed with the same certificate. I always recommend downloading from official stores such as Google Play Store or Apple App Store instead of APKPure or any other third-party app store. Some are better than others, so keep reading if you want to discover the best sites to download APKs safely.
