Ah… Android. The allure of a completely open system. You’re in control, unlike on iOS devices. Right? Right? Sometimes, not so much. Turns out, AT&T Android-touting users, for example, can only install applications in the Android Market.
Recently, Travis asked about installing non-Market applications on an AT&T Android smartphone, and Francis told him a few possible ways to do this. It’s definitely a source of frustration for users on carriers with such restrictions. Removing a standard feature of Android is simply an annoyance to users, and can be circumvented, as the Tested.com article How To Install Apps that are Filtered Out of Your Android Market App points out.
Some Android users are familiar with using AppBrain App Market for application discovery and web-based application installation, but the aforementioned article goes into more depth on other methods. This article is worth reading and bookmarking if you’re an Android user and having issues with non-Market application installation.
How To Install Apps that are Filtered Out of Your Android Market App (tested.com), via Lifehacker