If you know that you have parental controls installed on your smartphone, contact the person who installed them to unblock the installation of applications. However, in some cases, the same message may also appear in the scenarios described in the section above: if there are no parental controls, and you receive the message in question that the action is prohibited, try going through all the steps with disabling device administrators.
The installation of Android applications, both from the Play Store and in the form of a simple APK file downloaded from somewhere, can be blocked, and depending on the specific scenario, different reasons and messages are possible: that the installation of the application is blocked by the administrator, that the installation of applications from unknown sources, information from which implies that the action is prohibited or that the application was blocked by Play Protection.
In this instruction, we will look at all possible cases of blocking the installation of applications on an Android phone or tablet, how to correct the situation and install the desired APK file or something from the Play Store.
- For security reasons, installation of applications from unknown sources is blocked on the device.
- Application installation blocked by administrator
- Action prohibited. The function is disabled. Contact your administrator.
- Blocked by Play Protection
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Up to Android 7 inclusive
Launch the installation application.
You see a message about installation prohibited. Click “Settings”.
Enable installation of applications from unknown sources.
Read the information that you are responsible for possible damage caused by an installed application from an unknown source, and if you agree, tap OK.
Run the APK file for installation again and install by clicking on the button of the same name.
Just don’t forget to enable the ban on installing applications from unknown sources in the settings (Security section) - for your own safety.
After you disable the Unknown sources , it may take a few minutes before you can continue to use your Android device to access company or school data. After you turn off Unknown sources , it may take a few minutes before you can continue to use your Android device to access company or school data.
After you disable the Unknown sources , it may take a few minutes before you can continue to use your Android device to access company or school data. After you turn off Unknown sources , it may take a few minutes before you can continue to use your Android device to access company or school data.
Still need help? Still need help? Contact your company's support team. Contact your company support. His contact details are available on the company portal website. For contact information, check the Company Portal website.
The “Security” page will open in front of you. There is a line “Unknown sources” here, with the switch in the “Off” position.
In the example, we have an APK file that we want to install. First you will need a file manager with which you can open the file itself. The built-in Explorer or any other file manager will do.
The file needs to be opened by tapping on it.
You will see a message: “Installation blocked. For security reasons, the installation of applications from unknown sources is blocked on the device.” Click on the "Settings" button.
The “Security” page will open in front of you. There is a line “Unknown sources” here, with the switch in the “Off” position.
Click on the switch and a message will appear stating that you are solely responsible for any damage that is caused by this application. Click OK.
Installation of applications from unknown sources is enabled, as indicated by the switch in the “On” position.
We strongly advise you to disable installation from unknown sources after installing the application you need. For what? There are applications that are automatically installed on your smartphone (usually these are malicious APK files downloaded somewhere on the Internet). This function will not allow them to install automatically.
You can disable or enable the function through the settings, it is located in the “Privacy” section.
Install the application by clicking on the button of the same name.
By default, installing apps from sources other than Play Market is not possible on Android devices. And this is very good, because if such installation is allowed, then malicious files can do a lot of things on the smartphone... However, if you really need to install the apk application downloaded to the smartphone, you can temporarily disable the protection, although we do not recommend this .
We have an apk file.
When you click on it, a message pops up stating that installation of applications from unknown sources is blocked for security reasons. Click Settings.
Click on the switch next to “Unknown sources”.
Next, confirm your choice. Please note that in our Samsung Galaxy example, there is a checkmark next to the line “Allow only this installation”. This means that installation rules from an unknown source apply only to the current application. And that's great.
Install the application by clicking on the button of the same name.
You can unlock functionality before installing the application. To do this, go to “Settings”.
- Settings.
- Item "Security".
- "Administrators"
What is Google Play Protection
Play Protection is an antivirus on your phone. But, unlike other defenders, it is focused exclusively on recognizing threats from applications entering the Play Market. And, although all programs undergo multi-stage testing before being placed on the Play Market, the virus can be hidden deeply. In this situation, Play Protection comes to the rescue, recognizing the threat in real time. That is, even if the developer added a virus during an update, the security system will still recognize it.
Application installation is blocked by the device administrator on an Android phone or tablet
Second scenario: when running the installer, the system notifies the user that the administrator does not allow the installation of certain software. On smartphones with Android OS, this works differently than on a computer, where there are several accounts, and among them are administrators. Therefore, such a notification does not mean that the process is blocked by any person. This is done by an application that has certain rights in the operating system.
These include the following:
- built-in Google services (phone search, etc.);
- antiviruses;
- opposite to the previous one - viruses;
- programs that restrict access (parental controls).
The first two types of utilities will not give the owner any trouble. All you need to do is make a few settings. The last two groups can force you to tinker with settings and permissions. In the case of Google services and antiviruses:
- Settings.
- Item "Security".
- "Administrators"
On the ninth version of the OS:
- Go to the settings menu.
- Find the Biometrics and Security section.
- Select the option at the bottom - Other Security Settings.
- Find the Administrators tab.
You need to find a potential blocker in the list and disable its rights. You should be careful with antiviruses because they can block malware. Instead of disabling them, it's worth looking for a feature that allows you to allow specific files to install. If it does not exist, exclude the antivirus from the list of administrators. It is advisable to return the parameters later.
Once potential interfering programs have been disabled, you need to return to the installation. Try again.
Speaking of a more complex case, when the user knows which administrator prohibits the application from being installed on the internal memory, and the disable function is not available, then more time will have to be spent on settings. Here are some effective methods:
Bypassing these restrictions is only possible by jailbreaking - hacking iOS to gain access to the file system of Apple mobile devices. You can even jailbreak gadgets running iOS 13.3, the latest stable version of Apple’s mobile OS.
About the antivirus program in Google Chrome
The Chrome browser has built-in protection against malware and viruses, based on cloud scanning of all visited resources. The protection works autonomously, independently scans and deletes all suspicious files. In addition, the built-in Safe Browsing feature is used to protect your personal information from hacker attacks and viruses. This feature automatically scans all downloaded files for viruses. So even files downloaded from unverified sources are checked for viruses before they are opened. Also, if the user notices the suspicious activity of any file on the page, he can instantly delete it. As you can see, the Chrome browser has excellent functionality and high security, as a result of which it has gained popularity among users around the world.
Built-in antivirus in Google Chrome
Tracing paper for iOS
Google's innovation will make Android more similar to iOS, Apple's competing mobile platform. Installing applications from third-party sources has been prohibited since the very first days of the App Store, Apple’s proprietary marketplace launched in the summer of 2008.
Bypassing these restrictions is only possible by jailbreaking - hacking iOS to gain access to the file system of Apple mobile devices. You can even jailbreak gadgets running iOS 13.3, the latest stable version of Apple’s mobile OS.
After hacking, it becomes possible to install applications on iPhone and iPad from third-party stores, including the most famous - Cydia. It was scheduled to close at the end of 2022, but is still in operation as of March 2022.
With the release of Android 8 Oreo, the function of installing applications from unknown sources (installing an application from an APK file) has changed. We have already looked at installing applications from unknown sources in Android 8, today we will look at this process in Android 9.
