How to Manually Install SlimSocial via APK

SlimSocial is a lightweight and minimalistic Android app for accessing Facebook without ads, unnecessary garbage and tracking. It is not available on Google Play, so it is installed manually via APK. It’s safe if you download the file from the project’s official repository – it’s open, verified, and available on GitHub.

To get started, you need to go to the project page: https://github.com/renzonicoletto/SlimSocial-for-Facebook. On the “Releases” tab (at the top or via the direct link github.com/…/releases) choose the latest stable version and download the .apk file. Usually the file is named something like SlimSocial-vX.X.X.X.apk.

Before installing, you need to enable the ability to install applications from external sources on your device. To do this, open Settings → Applications or Security → Install unknown apps. In Android 8 and above, this parameter is set separately for each application – for example, you need to allow APK installation through the browser or file manager.

After downloading an APK, open it through any file manager or directly from the notification panel. The system will ask for confirmation – click “Install”. If everything was successful, SlimSocial will appear in the list of applications and you can launch it immediately.

The application does not require extra permissions, does not show ads and weighs less than 2 MB. The interface is as similar as possible to the mobile version of Facebook, but without pop-ups and trackers. SlimSocial works as a wrapper over the mobile site, while saving traffic and battery. The app is open source, with no in-app purchases and is updated by the community on GitHub.

For updates, you can simply download the new APK version and install over the top – the data will be preserved. And if you want to receive updates automatically, you can use F-Droid by adding SlimSocial via an external repository (the instructions on GitHub show how to do this).

Installing APKs manually is an easy way to use SlimSocial without Google Play. The main thing is to always download the file from an official source, check permissions and don’t install APKs from questionable places. This way, you get easy and private access to Facebook without any extra load or tracking.