How to open APK files on Mac with Commander One

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Updated on: November 6, 2024
Time to read: 6 minutes
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APK files are installation files for the Android OS and contain the program itself and all the files it needs to function. We all know that APK files are useless for macOS and you won’t be able to run them, however, in this article, we will tell you how to open APK files on Mac with the help of an archiver like Commander One, Android emulators, and web extensions.

Table of Contents:

User scenario:

I recently came across an old mobile game that I played a long time ago and I wanted to play it again for the sake of nostalgia. Does anyone know how I can run apk files on an m1 macbook?
— from Reddit

How to open APK files on Mac computer?

Despite the restrictions on the use of the extension, you can open APK files on Mac, Windows, and other operating systems using an emulator – a program that creates a virtual machine of the Android system on the user’s computer. The best examples of emulators are BlueStacks, Droid4X, and Genymotion.

Another program that allows you to run APK files on Mac and Windows computers which we will consider with you, will be ARC Welder. This application was developed by the notorious Google company. Its main feature is that in fact it is not an application at all, but an extension for the Google Chrome browser. This means that you do not have to download it and clutter your PC memory with unnecessary applications.

APK files

Besides that, you can open APK file on Mac, Windows or any other desktop operating system using the file extraction tool. There is a logical question – Why do you need to open APK file on Mac? The answer is simple – since APK files are just archives of several folders and files, you can view all the files of the installed application, and most importantly, make some edits to them.

You can unzip APK on Mac using a program like Commander One. An intuitive file manager that has combined lots of handy features and one of them is the ability to open APK on macOS as well as other popular archive formats.

Follow these simple steps to unzip files and open .apk on Mac within Commander One:

1. Download and run the program.

2. Navigate to the location of the APK file in one of the Commander One panes.

3. Right-click on the file and select “Extract File.

To unzip the selected files click on "Extract file" in the context menu

With its help you can search through the archive without extracting it, compress any files into different archive formats, encrypt the archive to add extra protection measures, etc. check it out to see what else it can offer.

What is APK file?

APK (Android Application) is the only extension for installing applications on the Android operating system. It is developed by Google to adapt custom software to smartphones. The APK file contains fully compiled and ready-to-install code. Since APK is not a cross-platform extension (there is no APK for Mac or Linux), it is only supported by Android, regardless of version and system modification. Files with this extension are stored in the official Google Play store.

The file itself has a clear structure and contains the following elements:

  • Metadata (META.INF) – manifest files and checksum definitions;
  • .LIB – libraries for working with different processors;
  • Assets and .RES – program resources;
  • .XML – program code (can be encrypted for security purposes);
  • .DEX is a set of compiled classes.

 

The user sees not the structure of the file, but only the final object, which is ready for installation.

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Conclusion

As mentioned earlier, all APK files are some kind of archives, and, therefore, they can be opened with a regular archiver. It is worth clarifying that while opening APK files with the help of the archiver you will still not be able to install and use the application that is stored in this archive.

Therefore, this method is more suitable for those who want to open APK on Mac and get exactly to the contents of the archive. Here Commander One can come to rescue. However, if you want to run APK files on Mac – Android emulators or ARC Welder is exactly what you need.

Frequently Asked Questions

There are many different ways that allow you to open APK files on Mac, these are special programs, browser extensions and Internet services. We can recommend you – Commander One – an easy-to-use APK Mac file opener and a great file manager.

Installing and running .apk file on Mac is possible due to specialized Android emulators like BlueStacks.

You can transfer .apk files from Android to Mac with the help of Android File transfer or Commander One that allows you to connect and deal with the data stored on your Android device the same way as with your local files. Besides that, it is possible to change the APK to ZIP or JAR files, and transfer it to Mac.

There are Android emulators for iOS. They are, however, slow and limited in functionality. Trust us, it will be nothing like simply using an app. Setting it up will probably be difficult.