this post was submitted on 27 Oct 2023
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APKPure is no good btw. Most of the packages you get from there are in their own proprietary XAPK format, requiring you to install their extremely sketchy, filled with ads package installer to make any use of them, not to mention you probably can't guarantee the app itself is unaltered by that point. (yes, that is for stuff APKMirror often/always has in standard APK).
I guess I could still use APKMirror with a proper adblock if I really have to (I probably would pay for that damn subscription if a) it wasn't that expensive for something I use maybe once in two months and b) they didn't start forcing it LIKE THIS), but, you know, all this really makes for a feel of internet literally being a dying star.
AFAIK xapk is not proprietary to APKpure and its safe. Its just a way to ease the installation of packages that require additional data (OBB) not contained in the apk to run. If you installed the same app from APKMirror (as an plain apk) you would need to then hunt for the obb files and "install" them manually for it to run. Packages that dont require this additional data are distributed as plain apk's in APKpure, its only those that do that come in xapk format.
As for the sketchy installers, I've seen a couple of them and they suck, I agree. Fortunatelly I discovered the other day that an app called ZArchiver (a file browser developed mainly to manage compressed files) can install xapk's without problem, its a quite competent file browser and its free, without ads.
Now if you still dont trust them you can try with the sites listed in FMHY
Edit: Just remembered a site called apk.support They too use xapk but they also offer downloads as zip files containig both apk and data or the option to download them separately directly from google servers. I've used it a couple of times without issues.
Oh, pardon my ignorance! I've had no idea these are plain archives and ZArchiver could handle them - still, I don't get why APKPure would provide XAPKs for apps under 100 MB in size with no OBBs inside (example: Textra), other than to promote their installer.
edit: I guess this may be to distribute additional config APKs (language, architecture) in one file with the main app, so perhaps APKPure isn't that guilty here.
That FMHY link is also incredibly helpful, thank you!