Installing Android App Without SD Card

Question

I uploaded an apk file to a web server and attempted to access the link from the browser on the phone. When I attempt to download from that link I receive an error message that reads "An SD card is required to download." I do not have an SD card installed, but the internal memory is not full, so I would expect the app to install to internal memory.

The obvious solution is to install an SD Card. Putting an SD card in the device does allow the app to install. So, the question is why is this necessary?

Nowhere in my app do I specify that this needs to be installed on an SD Card. I've tried leaving the installLocation blank and setting it to "auto" and "internalOnly". I've scoured the forums and not found a reason for this.

Answer 1

You can install apk files on your phone's internal memory(even if an SD card is not present) using adb(Android Debug Bridge).

First enable USB debugging and connect phone to your computer. Open terminal and type:

adb install [path to apk file]/app_file.apk

You will get a response as below:

1516 KB/s (190984 bytes in 0.123s)
pkg: /data/local/tmp/app_file.apk
Success

Your apk file will be installed on phone's internal memory.

Answer 2

It's not about where the application is installed, but rather where the downloaded .apk file is stored. Before the application can be installed, the package has to be downloaded and stored somewhere first, typically on the SD card. Once the downloaded file is stored, it can then be installed, but with no SD card, the browser has nowhere to put the file.