Is there a way to "locally deploy" UE4 apks?

Hey there,

is there any way to like locally deploy apks built with Unreal Engine 4 without Google Play Store?
I would like to install my Game on the different devices I have at home (two phones, two tablets…) for testing purposes. However, if I package my project I have an apk and a .obb file which leads me to an error if trying to install the apk because Google Play tells me, there is no obb file.
If I choose to package all data in the apk file I somehow get an error while trying to package my game.

I know that I could plug all the devices into my PC one by one and “launch” the game on it, via the project launcher but I thought there might be an easier way like so simply send the apk to the device, install it and run it.
That leads me to another question: If I “launch” the game on my device via USB I am still able to play it, after I unplugged the USB cable. I can even quit the game, restart it etc. When doing so, the game only takes like 50MB on my phones storage. So why is it, that if I package the project for Android I got like 35MB apk plus nearly 1GB of OBB? Why is the game so much bigger than, though it is also playable after just hitting “launch”?

I’ve not tried this and it might not work for UE4. But you could look into setting up adb over the network and get your games on your devices via wifi.

Hi there, any updates on this? Would like this too, I’m interested in making Android games but sharing them outside the Google Play store. I can successfully package a single APK but that alone still isn’t enough to install if I open the APK from Android.

Sorry for necroing the thread, but I was looking for this as well. This is the correct procedure:

  1. Turn on device and enable developer mode (we can expand on this if necessary)
  2. Mount tablet on PC
  3. Copy .obb file to “This PC\Galaxy Tab A\Tablet\obb\com.MyCompany.MyProject” (com.MyCompany.MyProject is set in your project settings)
  4. Copy APK to “This PC\Galaxy Tab A\Download”
  5. Load app “Samsung/My Files”
  6. Tap “Internal Storage”
  7. Tap “Download”
  8. Tap “MyGame-armv7.apk”
  9. A warning will show. Tap “Settings” to allow the apk to be installed.
  10. Enable the option shown and continue.
  11. Tap “Open” on the next dialogue window.

After this process has been completed the app can also be found in the normal app screen.

In order for Install.bat that UE outputs on packaging to work the Android SDK has to be installed on the PC.