How to download APK files from Google Play Store on Linux

Do you know how to download APK (Android packaging kit) files from Google Play store on Linux? One of the easiest way is to install APK on Android mobile for downloading APK files from Google Play Store to Hard Disk and install them on the Android device manually.

There are several ways to download APK file(s) on Linux. One of the most used ways is via an open-source Linux software called GooglePlayDownloader. It works on python based GUI. It enables you to search and download APK files from Google play store. This article gives information about, how to install GooglePlayDownloader and download the APK files from it.

Python Dependencies

GooglePlayDownloader requires Python with SNI (Server Name Indication) support for SSL/TLS communication. This feature comes with Python 2.7.9 or higher. So before installing Googleplaydownloader,install python packages.

Method 1 – Auto install dependencies

Step 1 –  Install all dependencies for GooglePlayDownloader

Before installing GooglePlayDownloader, download python-ndg-httpsclient deb package for installing any missing dependencies on older Ubuntu distributions. To install python deb packages, use the following command –

$ wget http://mirrors.kernel.org/ubuntu/pool/main/n/ndg-httpsclient/python-ndg-httpsclient_0.3.2-1ubuntu4_all.deb

The output should be like this –

tp@linux:~$ wget http://mirrors.kernel.org/ubuntu/pool/main/n/ndg-httpsclient/python-ndg-httpsclient_0.3.2-1ubuntu4_all.deb
--2016-02-11 15:07:01-- http://mirrors.kernel.org/ubuntu/pool/main/n/ndg-httpsclient/python-ndg-httpsclient_0.3.2-1ubuntu4_all.deb
Resolving mirrors.kernel.org (mirrors.kernel.org)... 198.145.20.143, 149.20.37.36, 2620:3:c000:a:0:1994:3:14, ...
Connecting to mirrors.kernel.org (mirrors.kernel.org)|198.145.20.143|:80... connected.
HTTP request sent, awaiting response... 200 OK
Length: 20814 (20K) [application/octet-stream]
Saving to: ‘python-ndg-httpsclient_0.3.2-1ubuntu4_all.deb’

100%[======================================>] 20,814 73.2KB/s in 0.3s

2016-02-11 15:07:02 (73.2 KB/s) - ‘python-ndg-httpsclient_0.3.2-1ubuntu4_all.deb’ saved [20814/20814]

Step 2 – To install GooglePlayDownloader, use the following command –

$ wget http://codingteam.net/project/googleplaydownloader/download/file/googleplaydownloader_1.7-1_all.deb

The output should be like this –

$ wget http://codingteam.net/project/googleplaydownloader/download/file/googleplaydownloader_1.7-1_all.deb
--2016-02-11 15:08:54-- http://codingteam.net/project/googleplaydownloader/download/file/googleplaydownloader_1.7-1_all.deb
Resolving codingteam.net (codingteam.net)... 212.83.148.207
Connecting to codingteam.net (codingteam.net)|212.83.148.207|:80... connected.
HTTP request sent, awaiting response... 302 Found
Location: http://codingteam.net/project/googleplaydownloader/upload/releases/googleplaydownloader_1.7-1_all.deb [following]
--2016-02-11 15:08:54-- http://codingteam.net/project/googleplaydownloader/upload/releases/googleplaydownloader_1.7-1_all.deb
Reusing existing connection to codingteam.net:80.
HTTP request sent, awaiting response... 200 OK
Length: 148458 (145K) [application/x-debian-package]
Saving to: ‘googleplaydownloader_1.7-1_all.deb’

100%[======================================>] 1,48,458 197KB/s in 0.7s

2016-02-11 15:08:55 (197 KB/s) - ‘googleplaydownloader_1.7-1_all.deb’ saved [148458/148458]

Method 2 – Manually install dependencies

Step 1 – Install gdebi Packages

Usegdebi command that will automatically handle all other commands. To install gdebi package, use the following command –

$ sudo apt-get install gdebi-core

The output should be like this –

Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
The following NEW packages will be installed:
gdebi-core
0 upgraded, 1 newly installed, 0 to remove and 275 not upgraded.
Need to get 9,772 B of archives.
After this operation, 135 kB of additional disk space will be used.
Get:1 http://in.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ trusty-updates/main gdebi-core all 0.9.5.3ubuntu2 [9,772 B]
Fetched 9,772 B in 5s (1,757 B/s)
Selecting previously unselected package gdebi-core.
.....

Step 2 – Install python-ndg-httpsclient

To install python-ndg-httpsclient, use the following command –

$ sudo gdebi python-ndg-httpsclient_0.3.2-1ubuntu4_all.deb

The output should be like this –

Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
Building data structures... Done
Building data structures... Done

enhanced HTTPS support for httplib and urllib2 using PyOpenSSL
ndg-httpsclient is a HTTPS client implementation for httplib and
urllib2 based on PyOpenSSL. PyOpenSSL provides a more fully featured SSL
implementation over the default provided with Python and importantly
enables full verification of the SSL peer.
Do you want to install the software package? [y/N]:y
Selecting previously unselected package python-ndg-httpsclient.
(Reading database ... 204828 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to unpack python-ndg-httpsclient_0.3.2-1ubuntu4_all.deb ...
Unpacking python-ndg-httpsclient (0.3.2-1ubuntu4) ...
Setting up python-ndg-httpsclient (0.3.2-1ubuntu4) ...
....

Step 3 – Install GooglePlayDownloader

To install GoogleplayDownloader, Use the following command –

$ sudo gdebi googleplaydownloader_1.7-1_all.deb

The output should be like this –

Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
Building data structures... Done
Building data structures... Done
Requires the installation of the following packages: libjs-jquery libjs-sphinxdoc libjs-underscore libwxbase2.8-0 libwxgtk-media2.8-0 libwxgtk2.8-0 python-configparser python-protobuf python-pyasn1 python-wxgtk2.8 python-wxversion

Google Play Downloader
Download Android application APK from Google Play Store
without any personal Google account.
Do you want to install the software package? [y/N]:y
Get:1 http://in.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ trusty/universe libwxbase2.8-0 amd64 2.8.12.1+dfsg-2ubuntu2 [460 kB]
Get:2 http://in.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ trusty/universe libwxgtk2.8-0 amd64 2.8.12.1+dfsg-2ubuntu2 [2371 kB]
Get:3 http://in.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ trusty/universe libwxgtk-media2.8-0 amd64 2.8.12.1+dfsg-2ubuntu2 [28.6 kB]
Get:4 http://in.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ trusty/main libjs-jquery all 1.7.2+dfsg-2ubuntu1 [78.8 kB]
Get:5 http://in.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ trusty/main libjs-underscore all 1.4.4-2ubuntu1 [45.6 kB]
.....

Open GooglePlayDownloader

To open GooglePlayDownloader, use the following command –

$ googleplaydownloader

The output should be like this –

At search bar, Type the name of the APK file that you want to download. Suppose, I have searched for tutorialspoint. The output should be like this –

Click on theDownload selected Apk(s) button. It shows the output should be like this –

Finally, you will get a selected APK file on Hard disk.

Congratulations! Now, you know “How to download APK files from Google Play Store on Linux”. We’ll learn more about these types of commands in our next Linux post. Keep reading!