sending & receiving apk files on android devices via bluetooth

As you may have realized, your android device will block certain file to be transfered via bluetooth, namely the apk files. You can send them via usb storage file transfer,  via wifi with airdroid or Samsung’s Kies, but nope, no bluetooth.

But what if bluetooth is the only thing that available to you? Well, there are several ways to do that:

Bluetooth File Transfer

You can get this app on the market. It’s free and ad supported, works very well with all of my android devices except the Galaxy Nexus. It uses the OBEX FTP profile and enable you to send and receive any files with your phone.  It will also let you browse, explore, transfer and manage files of any paired bluetooth devices.

Zip it

Simply store the apks on a zip file. On a ubuntu box, simply select “send packed in” on the transfer dialog window, and select “.zip” as the format, and send it

If you’re sending the file from another android device, you can use apps like ES File Explorer to store the apks in zip format, and send them via bluetooth like any other file. Just long press on the apk file, and select compress from the pop-up menu, then long press on the resulting zip file, select share, choose bluetooth as the method, and off you go 🙂