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up vote 3 down vote favorite

I have just got a Nexus 7, and I am trying to send an app that i made into my Nexus, neither sending it with my phone using bluetooth or directly from my laptop using bluetooth works: on my phone it says "the file couldn't be sent" while on my laptop is says: "the request couldn't be honored".

I have tried sending an image and it worked.

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Maybe you could clarify on your bluetooth manufacturer of your laptop, which OS, etc. Also in my experience bluetooth ever worked well for transferring files for me. – varunyellina Nov 21 '12 at 22:03
Did any of the answers help solve you issue, so you could accept them? If not, what is missing? – ndsmyter Dec 31 '12 at 8:33
Same issue here. Rename extension name may also work. – liuyanghejerry Jan 17 at 12:39

5 Answers

up vote 0 down vote

Make sure you have the option to install apps from unknown sources checked in settings. On 4.0 (ICS), it's under the "Security & Screen Lock" menu; your Nexus 7 is running Jelly Bean, it may be in a different place.

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up vote 2 down vote

I have experienced this with Nexus devices. I think Nexus doesn't allow receiving APK files over Bluetooth.

The easiest workaround I've found is to ZIP the file and then send it to your device. The ZIP can be then uncompressed on your phone / tablet and the APK can be used to install the app. (To install the app, make sure you have enabled 'Install apps from Unknown Sources' from Security Settings)

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up vote 0 down vote

You can use Airdroid app to copy the apk file into your mobile (it has a web interface), once copied, you can start the install from within the web interface on your computer.

Bluetooth has been a hit and miss for me too on my Nexus devices, I find that it works really well with some ROMs (usually stock-based, mostly with fixes for bluetooth) and terribly on some others (usually nightlies or pre-final releases of heavily tweaked or custom ROMs like CM).

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up vote 1 down vote

The reason why this isn't supported, is exactly the same as why you cannot send an .exe attached to an email. This is to prevent people from sending malicious software to phones that are not protected. That is why most Android phones will not allow sending APK's over Bluetooth.

If you still want to send APKs over Bluetooth, it is best to hide the extension (APK) from the application and phone (eg. by zipping or changing the extension). That way you can trick the phone in still accepting the application. You have to then unzip or rename the package to retrieve the APK.

Another way, as mentioned by other people already, is to use an 3rd party application (like AirDroid). This will allow you to transfer the APK.

If you want to install the application, you have to be sure to have "Install apps from unknown sources" enabled. Because if you don't enable this, only apps from Google Play will be accepted.

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up vote 0 down vote

Just rename the extension .apk to. .mp3.

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This is at best a work-around, but not a real solution. It requires to rename the file at least two times: Before sending and after receiving (plus most likely after sending on the original device). – Izzy Mar 13 at 9:59

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