How to download applications in Cuba, WITHOUT internet

July 18, 2017, by Santiago Comment

Cuba is a very limited country in terms of Internet and technologies. Most mainstream citizens do not have access to the Internet. And those who have this privilege are restricted to visiting Cuban sites and with a terrible connection speed. Just in 2015, the government inaugurated the first WiFi access points in the country. Unfortunately, the cost per hour to use these hotspots (1.5 Cuban pesos) is prohibitive based on the average salary in the country (20 Cuban pesos per month).

Offline application stores in Cuba

Obviously, the Internet there is too limited and expensive to use it to download applications or games for the cell phone. F-Droid is an application store for Android cell phones, which can contribute enormously in these circumstances. And in fact it has already begun to do so, through a cell phone store called DroidT (droid-tech.com), in the center of Cuba, in the city of Sancti Spiritus.

What this place has done is download 2000 applications from the F-Droid store on the Internet, to a computer. They have connected a WiFi access point so that anyone nearby can connect, search among those 2000 applications and download the ones they want to their Android device. Totally free and without requiring Internet access. The person will only need to install the client that will manage the downloads, installed apps and updates on their cell phone, and be within the coverage of that hotspot.

People can even download updates when they are near that WiFi hotspot. The F-Droid app will notify you if there are updates to your applications so that you can download them. Similarly, free and without the need for Internet.

In the F-Droid support you can find all the necessary information and tools (1, 2) so that anyone can create their local Android application store, just as DroidT has done in Cuba.

Normally this is how apps are installed in Cuba

Unfortunately, only in this DroidT location is this new service offered to people nearby. If you do not live nearby, it will be necessary to go to those typical cell phone stores to choose the applications and games that you like on a printed paper and pay a certain amount to have them installed. Or also continue exchanging applications between friends, with utilities such as Zapya. (Source)