The next time you hit the Home button on your Android device, you’ll get the option to use the Launcher3 app as the default. If you agree, then your phone will behave as if it’s running Oreo.

If you’ve got a shiny new phone or tablet running Android 14, it’s true that you can’t download and install these older apps on your device itself.

Well, if that app’s APK was extracted and uploaded to an Android APK website, you can still sideload it to your phone. There are tons of old apps on different sites and storefronts.

However, there are other methods to install user apps as system apps without paying fees. Check out this guide for methods of installing ordinary user apps as system apps.

In general, you should install apps outside of your phone's app store only if you have a very good reason to.