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The Flappy Bird Effect: get the Flappy Bird APK here

FlappyBirdDeath
© nextpit

Flappy Bird enjoyed a meteoric rise to both iOS and Android super stardom, reportedly earning its creator, Vietnamese developer Dong Nguyen, $50,000 a day in ad revenue. The game was installed over ten million times in less than two weeks and instantly generated a rabid following practically as passionate as Star Wars fans. Freeze dried fan, just add flap. The game's popularity, however, caused so many issues for its creator, that he removed the game from both Apple and Android's app stores. Never fear though, we have the APK below.

FlappyBirdDeath
It's game over for Flappy Bird, but not for the Flappy Bird Effect. / © NextPit

The Flappy Bird Effect

A bird flaps its wings in Vietnam and causes a tidal wave across the world. In this case the tidal wave was support and a mixture of fandom and hatred. Sadly, both contributed to the demise of the game. Nguyen tweeted recently that the game is for sure a success, but that has ruined his simple life, concluding that he now hates it. There's plenty of us that hate it too, and yet I installed it no less than three times on my Android in two weeks: once on day one, again for an article (I uninstalled it after that first day) and then again when I knew the game was to be taken down – just in case).

apps spiele flappy bird
Yep, this was pretty much everyone's first attempt at Flappy Bird. / © .GEARS Studios

There are dozens of Flappy Bird clones in the Play Store already, and now that the king is dead there will be even more pretenders to the throne. Many of those clones have cleverly added 'not Flappy Bird' to their title simply to cash in by association (not to mention blatantly ripping off the 'original'). As several commentators have noted on Twitter, Nguyen is either a PR genius or a fool. One commenter noted that by ditching the game he has bought himself something invaluable: attention to his next act. Plus the free publicity for his existing games. And the fact that now, the whole world knows his name, not just Flappy Bird's.

The life span of the game, which strangely mirrored the experience of the game itself, is over. It came, we obsessed, we laughed, we cried, we uninstalled, we reinstalled. And then the honeymoon ended. As Marques Brownlee stated in response to its removal: 'Global productivity up 800%'. Perhaps Flappy Bird was only ever going to be popular for a short time: a flash in the pan, a flap of a Hummingbird's wings. But its legacy will carry on in the dozens of clones it spawned, the internet furore over its impact and removal, and the fascinating awareness of what I will forever now call the Flappy Bird Effect.

Install Flappy Bird v1.3 APK

Did you get caught up in the Flappy Bird effect? Why do you think the game was so popular, so fast?

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Kris Carlon

Kris Carlon
Senior Editor

Kris is a former AndroidPIT Editor who came to the team via a lengthy period spent traveling and relying on technology to keep him in touch with the outside world. He can usually be found juggling three phones at once and poring over G+ posts, Reddit and RSS feeds.

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16 comments
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  • You Suck 2
    You Suck Jul 23, 2016 Link to comment

    This is a terrible article. The link to the flappy bird APK is not a reputable one. APKmirror should have been linked, but instead we're linked to an independent BLOGspot which is run by who-knows and is littered with fake download button advertisements, and could easily be giving us a hacked Flappy Bird apk that spies on us. Truly horrific "journalism" from a website that I thought had higher standards.


  • 7
    Ram SIngh Jun 26, 2016 Link to comment

    Nice post mate even i used to play this game at first i always got out within few seconds but after few tries we start to get hang of it.


  • Adrian Coli 1
    Adrian Coli Aug 30, 2015 Link to comment

    Best Hidden Android Secret Codes 2015 - - > topcellsmartphone.com/best-hidden-android-secret-codes/


  • 2
    James Halsey Aug 10, 2014 Link to comment

    This is horrible. I don't believe this is the game everyone is making a fuss over. I don't believe how simple some people must be and/or low expectations. I guess it's not about simple people though. That would be too..erm, well, simple lol. Easy game to learn and can be played for minutes at a time...*shrug


  • 2
    Lucy Ford Apr 9, 2014 Link to comment

    Moni Mihailov


  • 1
    jenm Feb 26, 2014 Link to comment

    everytime I try to download apk on astro it comes up parseing error, what does this mean? why wont it let me download?


    • Kris Carlon 35
      Kris Carlon Mar 5, 2014 Link to comment

      Hey @jenm, a parsing error usually means you are attempting to install an APK that is set for a different API than the one you are currently running. Which means, you might be attempting to install a game built on API 19 (KitKat) on a device running API 15 or something like that. You just need to match the API level of the app to what you're running on your device (or something that is at least compatible with your device API level)

      Moni Mihailov


  • 2
    bloodiekarma Feb 10, 2014 Link to comment

    i have, now what?? i see nothing :(


    • Kris Carlon 35
      Kris Carlon Feb 11, 2014 Link to comment

      Two things: do you have Unknown Sources enabled in Security settings? And if so, either pull down the notifications shade and tap the download successful notification, or launch the APK from a file manager (it'll be in your Downloads folder). Then it's the same as if you got it from the Play Store.

      If for some reason it still doesn't work, you can re-download it and try again, or save it to your computer and then transfer it to your phone via a USB cable. Sometimes APKs downloaded direct to your phone don't install. The USB/PC solution usually sorts that out.


  • 2
    bloodiekarma Feb 10, 2014 Link to comment

    thanx, ill try, my son had it on tablet, i deleted it w/o knowing :/


  • 2
    bloodiekarma Feb 10, 2014 Link to comment

    how do i get it on my cell?


    • Kris Carlon 35
      Kris Carlon Feb 10, 2014 Link to comment

      Hi @bloodiekarma, see my previous comment. Just access this page on your phone and follow the APK download link at the bottom of the article.


  • Bojan M. 23
    Bojan M. Feb 10, 2014 Link to comment

    Unknown sources are in Security not in Developer Options.

    Moni Mihailov


    • Kris Carlon 35
      Kris Carlon Feb 10, 2014 Link to comment

      You the man, @ Bojan. I was clearly thinking about USB Debugging (for some odd reason) when I wrote that comment. Amended.

      Moni Mihailov


      • Bojan M. 23
        Bojan M. Feb 11, 2014 Link to comment

        Yeah, I figured that out ;-) no worries, no kittens were hurt in the process.

        Moni Mihailov


  • Kris Carlon 35
    Kris Carlon Feb 10, 2014 Link to comment

    In case anyone hasn't installed an APK directly before, just go to your Settings menu, then go into Security and check Unknown Sources. Then access this page on your phone or tablet, follow the download link above and open the APK in your notifications shade or via a file manager and proceed as normal. That's it. Don't forget to uncheck Unknown Sources once you're done.

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