Installing Iridium Go!, Iridium Mail, Xgate, Xweb, XGate Phone Apps on Android without Play Store

Installing Iridium Go!, Iridium Mail, Xgate, Xweb, XGate Phone Apps on Android without Play Store

Having Trouble Installing the Iridium and/or Xgate apps on your Android Phone?


Unfortunately, neither Iridium nor Pivotel, seem particularly interested in maintaining the software apps they have for Iridium Go, Glow, Redport Optimizer, Xgate, and Repdort Glow users in a way that allows customers to actually use their products.  So we've run into issues where users of modern Android phones are unable to install apps for Iridium Phone, Go!, Redport Glow, and similar devices due to a supposed version incompatibility.  An example of the error here.    There is a workaround however, which is described below.

Yes I am calling out both Iridium and Pivotel on this, because they should do better and because I have submitted support requests about this already.  Incidentally, Pivotel actually develops the Iridium Mail app for Iridium, as it is basically a stripped down version of Xgate.  Pivotel should update the software and update the Play Store versions, and Iridium should demand that they do so.




Workaround: Sideloading the “Incompatible” App

Unlike iOS, Android allows you to install apps from outside the official Play Store. Therefore,  if you can’t get an app from the Play Store, you can download and install it from a third-party site. This process is referred to as sideloading.

To do this, you’ll first need to turn on an option in your device’s settings and then download your app from a site.

  1. Open the Settings app.
  2. Select Apps & notifications > Special app access > Install unknown apps in Settings.

  1. Select the browser you’ll use to download the app, and enable the Allow from this source option.

  1. Launch your browser and click on the links to download the installer APK files.
  2. ​(Note: These files are hosted by Sea-Tech Systems, and were captured/downloaded from the Google Play Store by Sea-Tech Systems, we are not referring you to any 3rd party service/server)



Xweb for Android (used with Xgate Mail and with Iridium Mail and Web)

Xgate Phone (typically used with Redport Glow)

  1. Download and save the app’s APK file. Then, tap this file to install the app on your device without using the official Play Store.