I have built my app into a signed SDK. I would like for beta testers to be able to install this on their devices without having to install and use the android sdk tools (I realize the apk can be installed with command line tools, but would prefer that not be necessary).
I tried manually installing it, but it failed. I have an android tablet that I am using for testing. I copied the apk to my device's sdcard, and clicked on it. Which gave the option to install it with the App Manager. Unfortunately the install fails with message "Application not installed".
Is there a way to manually install an apk, without using the command line tools?
Upload it to a Web site that is configured with .apk for the right MIME type (application/vnd.android.package-archive). Anyone clicking the link to your APK in their browser will be able to install it.
Some services have this built in. Dropbox, for example, knows about APK files, as I understand it.
You can put the apk file on a server. On the device/emulator open the browser and download the apk and now u can tap on the downloaded apk and install it.
Not sure if you still need it, but I just found an other easy way of installing .apk files. This might also work for your .apk Your device does need a QR code reader and camera. Have a look at www.apkinstall.com
In addition to the methods that require enabling non-market applications (which users of some AT&T phones can't do), the same installation method utilized by the SDK is available on windows without the SDK in the form of the "sideload wonder machine"
A great, modern alternative is Crashlytics Beta.
Simply send beta testers an e-mail invitation, and by installing the Crashlytics Beta app, everything magically works. Your testers will even get notifications of when you publish a new beta version into the Crashlytics IDE integration.
来源：https://stackoverflow.com/questions/4390518/android-how-to-install-apk-on-device-without-using-android-sdk-tools