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Share apps with another Android phone owner

Takeaway: Recommending apps to your contacts who have Android devices is easy with Share Apps and Bump. Jack Wallen explains how to use these free tools to share Android apps.

You want to share all of your must-have Android apps with a colleague who just purchased an Android phone, but how do you proceed? You could email her the list of your favorite apps and then tell her to find the apps from the Android Market, but that doesn’t seem very efficient. It would be nice if there was a way to beam apps to your colleague, but that could create some major security issues. After searching around the Android Market, I found two solutions — Share Apps and Bump — that are sure to please.

Share Apps

A free application called Share Apps, written by Theron Rogers, allows you to recommend an application installed on your phone and send that recommendation to a friend via email or text. The email and/or text message contains a link that will take the user directly to the app in the Android Market.

Installing Share Apps
Follow these steps to install Share Apps:

1. Open the Android Market application on your phone.

2. Search for “share apps” (no quotes).

3. Click the Install button associated with Share Apps.

Now you’ll see the Share Apps icon in the Application Drawer on your phone.

Using Share Apps
Tap the Share Apps icon and the application will open (Figure A).

Figure A

Share Apps will list every application on your phone. There are no settings available for this application.

Sharing an application
Scroll through your application listing until you find the application you want to share. When you find the target app, tap it to open up the Share With… dialog window (Figure B). You can even share your app with all of your Tumblr followers if you choose.

Figure B

To share an app via text message, tap the Messaging entry, which will open the specified sharing method (Figure C). Enter the contact you want to share with and tap Send.

Figure C

The specified sharing method in my case is the messaging app.

The contact you are sharing the app with will receive the message in the form of a link, which, when tapped, will prompt them to continue with the action (Figure D). This security step prevents anyone from opening the wrong link.

Figure D

After the security measure for app share link is OK’d, the targeted user will be taken to the Android Market page for the application, where she can install the application if they want (Figure E).

Figure E

Bump

Bump is a free tool that allows you to share more than just apps. With the simple “fist bumping” of Android phones, you can share apps, contacts, and photos.

Installing Bump
Follow these steps to install Bump:

1. Open the Android Market application on your phone.

2. Search for “bump” (no quotes).

3. Click the Install button associated with Bump.

Using Bump
Open Bump, tap the Apps tab (Figure F), and then Attach an App to share.

Figure F

When you tap the Attach App button, the entire list of installed apps will pop up. From the list of applications on your phone, scroll until you find the app you want to add and tap it. Bump will return to the Apps tab with your application attached. Now all you have to do is a “fist bump” with another Android phone and accept the transfer. When the transfer is complete, the user you “bumped” will be prompted to download, which really only downloads the link. After accepting the download, the “bumped app” will open to its install page. Install the app, and it’s ready to go!

Summary

There are a number of ways to share apps on an Android phone, but these two methods are the easiest I’ve found. Good luck with your file sharing and fist bumping!

Tell us what method you prefer for sharing apps with fellow Android phone users.

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Jack Wallen

About Jack Wallen

A writer for over 12 years, Jack's primary focus is on the Linux operating system and its effects on the open source and non-open source communities.

Jack Wallen

Jack Wallen

Jack Wallen is an award-winning writer for Techrepublic and Linux.com. As an avid promoter/user of the Linux OS, Jack tries to convert as many users to open source as possible. His current favorite flavor of Linux is Bodhi Linux (a melding of Ubuntu and Enlightenment).

When Jack isn't writing about Linux he is hard at work on his other writing career -- writing about zombies, various killers, super heroes, and just about everything else he can manipulate between the folds of reality. You can find Jack's books on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Smashwords.

Outnumbered in his house one male to two females and three humans to six felines, Jack maintains his sanity by riding his mountain bike and working on his next books. For more news about Jack Wallen, visit his website Get Jack'd.

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