In 2000, i-drive applied for a trademark on the term. The term 'sideload' was coined in the late 1990s by online storage service i-drive as an alternative means of transferring and storing computer files virtually instead of physically. Sideloading is not allowed by Apple except for internal testing and development of apps using the official SDKs. On modern versions of iOS, the sources of the apps must be trusted by both Apple and the user in 'profiles and device management' in settings except when using jailbreak methods of sideloading apps. When referring to iOS apps, 'sideloading' means installing an app in IPA format onto an Apple device, usually through the use of a computer program such as Cydia Impactor, Xcode, on the actual device using a jailbreak method or using a signing service instead of through Apple's App Store. For Android users sideloading of apps is only possible if the user has allowed 'Unknown Sources' in their Security Settings.

Such packages are usually downloaded from websites other than the official app store Google Play. When referring to Android apps, 'sideloading' typically means installing an application package in APK format onto an Android device. Sideloading typically refers to media file transfer to a mobile device via USB, Bluetooth, WiFi or by writing to a memory card for insertion into the mobile device, but also applies to the transfer of apps from web sources that are not vendor-approved. Sideloading describes the process of transferring files between two local devices, in particular between a personal computer and a mobile device such as a mobile phone, smartphone, PDA, tablet, portable media player or e-reader. ( August 2022) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message) Several templates and tools are available to assist in formatting, such as Reflinks ( documentation), reFill ( documentation) and Citation bot ( documentation). Please consider converting them to full citations to ensure the article remains verifiable and maintains a consistent citation style. This article uses bare URLs, which are uninformative and vulnerable to link rot.

Bluetooth file transfer