How To Install Fortnite on Your Android Phone

Ready to play some Fortnite on your Android phone? Of course you are. Everyone one is!

Fortnite Android beta coming to Galaxy phones first

The free-to-play game that's taken the world by storm is finally available for Android users, but the installation process is a bit… wonky. Before diving into the instructions below, make sure your device is on the compatibility list.
Epic Games, the makers of Fortnite, has opted not to list the game in the Play Store for reasons I'll avoid getting into here. What you need to know is that in order to get Fortnite on your Android device, you'll have to sideload it. If that's an intimidating term, good, it should be. Sideloading apps on an Android device is inherently dangerous, but with a little bit of extra work, you should be alright.

Invites

If you don't own a Samsung Galaxy device, you'll have to wait a bit before you can start playing. Epic will begin sending out invites after a short exclusivity period for Samsung users expires. Visit Fortnite.com/Android on your phone to request an invite to the beta.

If not from the Play Store, then where?

You'll need to download the Fortnite Installer, which then installs and keeps Fortnite up to date. To grab the APK (fancy term for Android app file), open your device's browser and enter Fortnite.com into the address bar.

Samsung Galaxy users can exclusively install Fortnite for the next few days and are given the choice to install the Fortnite Installer directly from Epic Games or through Samsung's Galaxy Store.

I suggest using the Galaxy Store option, as it's safer and easier to manage. Tap on the Galaxy Store button, then follow the prompts. Eventually, you'll need to grant Fortnite Installer storage permissions in order for it to actually download the game itself.
Once the process is complete, you can launch Fortnite and let the game download more assets before you can play. It's important to leave the Fortnite Installer on your phone, as that's how the game itself will receive updates in the future.
A note about using the Epic Games installer

Downloading the installer directly from Epic Games requires you to grant permission for Chrome to install apps from unknown sources. Leaving this permission enabled can open up your phone to potential bad actors down the road, so be sure to go back and disable this permission after the Fortnite Installer is installed.
On Samsung devices, you can revoke this permission in Settings > Lock Screen and Security > Install Unknown apps. If you used Chrome to download the APK, select Chrome from the list of apps and slide the switch next to All from this source to the Off position. The same process can be followed if you used Samsung Internet to download the APK.
The process will differ based on your phone manufacturer and any proprietary Android skins used. We will update this post once the Samsung exclusivity has ended with instructions for non-Samsung devices.