This walkthrough is for educational purposes only. Please do not abuse this knowledge.
To get apps directly from Google Play for free, we need a few things first:
- root access (with Busybox installed)
- Cracked Google Play
- root browser
- a credit card we'll be using to purchase apps
Cracked Google Play from ChelpuS is a modyfied version of Google Play that has a few little improvements over the stock one.
With the modded Play Store, you can : Use protected apps with Google LVL (License Verification Library) without cracking them, verify license in offline mode, disable self update, and more.
One of the features we'll be exploting is that with Cracked google Play is refunds. Refunds work like this: You buy an app and you decide that you don't wont it (let's say it's crashing on your device). What you do, is that you hit refund and bom, your money is back. Of course the app you've bought gets uninstall. Well, not with cracked version.
In the modified GPlay version, the app stays on your device even when you refunded it. This way, you've just gotten it for free. However, you'll have to buy it first.
Install cracked Google Play
First you need to install this modified version. You can't install it as a classic APK file because GPlay is a system app, not a user app. So for installing you'll have to replace it in /system directory.
- Download root browser
- Download cracked Google Play apk
- Open the root browser, navigate to /system directory and find the Google Play app there. Note the directory may vary in different Android versions. In older ones it's probably somewhere in /system/app directory, if you're running newer versions it might be in /system/priv-app/Phonesky/Phonesky.apk - I'll be using this example.
- Rename the downloaded file (cracked version of Google Play) to Phonesky.apk (i.e to the same name as the stock GPlay version) and replace it in the directory. It is recommended to backup the stock GPlay version in case the cracked one doesn't work.
- Change the permissions of the app. Hold your finger on the APK file, hit change permissions and change it to rw-r-r-
- Reboot.
Now you have the cracked Google Play version installed on your device. What next?
Simply buy the app. Everything will go as expected, your money will be sent to the developer. We're halfway done.
Refund the app
Next step? Refund. Go to Google Play, find the app and hit refund button right next to Open button. Your money will be refunded but the app you bought stays. boom!
Well, that's pretty much it. Please note that this walkthrough is for educational purposes only - support developers by giving them money. Only this way they can produce better applications for all.
