Why You Shouldn’t Install Fortnite APKs on Android
Android: Fortnite Battle Royale, one of the most popular games Battle Royale, finally came to Android. And you get the first beta if you own a Samsung device – a list that includes its flagship Galaxy S9 / S9 Plus (and its predecessors, the S8 / S8 Plus); The Note 8 (and the just-announced Galaxy Note 9 coming later this month) as well as the Galaxy S7, S7 Edge, and Tab S3.
If your device isn’t on this list, but you’re itching to get yourself into Battle Royale on your Android device, you might be tempted to download one of the many modified Fortnite .APKs that have been circling around right now. And I don’t blame you. Videos like the one shown above show how close you get to playing a great third-person shooter on your tiny device.
This is where the problem is. You have absolutely no idea what is in the modified .APK file. At its best, you can end up with something like this: a customized APK that does a good enough job of bypassing Epic Games’ silly exclusivity restrictions so that you can get into the game, like this:
But that .APK is still not enough to bypass Epic Games’ comprehensive security checks. You will jump out of the battle bus with a big smile on your face, get so close to shooting the first unsuspecting player you see, and end the game a few seconds after landing on the ground. Oh, epic; temptress, you.
If you want to keep playing the big cat-and-mouse game where modders try to find workarounds to Epic’s limitations (when looking at published .APK files getting DMCA removal), this is for you. You will find many places where you can diligently check to get the modified .APK on your device and your character into the game before Epic closes any workarounds. (And we hope they don’t ban your account either .)
And I understand, I understand. The first thing I did today when the beta version of Fortnite was launched for Samsung users was to look for a hack so I could play it on my Pixel 2. Although Epic claims it will take “a few days “. shoot Fortnite , the wait is annoying.
What gets really frustrating is if you (or I) download some malware disguised as a modified Fortnite .APK. It’s easy to compare checksums to confirm that the .APK file is the official Epic file for Fortnite , of course , but you don’t know what anyone included when configuring the .APK to bypass Epic security measures: some piece of code that, oh , logs your login credentials to any server or spam request to fill out a bogus survey .
My advice? Wait a few days until you can really play the game on whatever Android device you have. If you’re really impatient, try Magisk on your Android smartphone to root it without modifying system files and wait for someone to find a workaround that makes Fortnite think your smartphone is a beta compatible Samsung smartphone. And then play the unmodified APK of Fortnite , not the modified one. (Isn’t exclusivity fun?)