ravisghosh

Some of the apps are not available in market for various reasons (e.g., swype, brut google maps, etc). However, they are widely available on sharing sites (hotfile, rapidshare, etc).

The question: How can we ensure safety when installing apk from unofficial sources? What preliminary things can be done to ensure the app has not been tinkered?

sitlet

The best thing you can do is to make sure you get the apk file directly from the source who made it. If you are getting the file from somewhere other than that, dont install it. The exception is if you find the file on a forum or message board. If other people install it just fine, you should be good too.