You can download an apk file of any application and install it thru your app and all this you can do programmatically. Let's see how to do it:
1. First download the apk file programmatically and store it in external storage.
private void download(){
try {
URL url = new URL("url from apk file is to be downloaded");
HttpURLConnection urlConnection = (HttpURLConnection) url.openConnection();
urlConnection.setRequestMethod("GET");
urlConnection.setDoOutput(true);
urlConnection.connect();
File sdcard = Environment.getExternalStorageDirectory();
File file = new File(sdcard, "filename.ext");
FileOutputStream fileOutput = new FileOutputStream(file);
InputStream inputStream = urlConnection.getInputStream();
byte[] buffer = new byte[1024];
int bufferLength = 0;
while ( (bufferLength = inputStream.read(buffer)) > 0 ) {
fileOutput.write(buffer, 0, bufferLength);
}
fileOutput.close();
} catch (MalformedURLException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
} catch (IOException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
}
Permission: To write to external storage, you need to add this permission:
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE" />
Note: The above download method can be used to download any file and store the file to external storage.
2. Now initiate installing process.
private void initiateInstallation(){
Intent intent = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_VIEW);
Uri uri = Uri.fromFile(new File("/sdcard/filename.apk"));
intent.setDataAndType(uri, "application/vnd.android.package-archive");
startActivity(intent);
}