How To Use Kik without Installing the App

We received an intriguing reader question in the TechJunkie office this week. It was; ‘I live with someone with trust issues. Can you use Kik without installing the app on your phone?’ This is a question we have been asked a few times before and it’s high time we answered.

You can use Kik without installing the app on your phone but you will still need an installation. It will just be on your PC instead. Depending on your situation, this may work or it may not but if you want to use Kik, you’re going to need it installed somewhere.

Kik doesn’t have a web interface like many other chat applications. It doesn’t even have a web extension like WhatsApp does. It is all contained within the app itself and works completely within it. If you’re not in a position to run it on your phone, you will need to install an Android emulator on your PC and run Kik from there. It’s an inelegant solution but it does work.

You will need to initially install Kik onto your phone in order to register and set it up. Once you install a copy onto your emulator and register it, you can delete it from your phone. It’s a necessary and unavoidable step.

1. Install and open Kik on your phone.
2. Open it and sign up for an account if you don’t already have one.
3. Log into Kik and make sure everything works.

Then we need to install the emulator and Kik on your computer, make sure everything works and then we can delete it from your phone.

Use Kik without installing it on your phone

We need to use an Android emulator to get Kik working on your computer. I use a Windows 10 PC but the emulator I use has a Mac version too. The same principles apply to both except the initial installation.

I use Nox as my emulator of choice. It’s very stable, continually updated and free. It doesn’t have all the features of Bluestacks but doesn’t cost money either. It doesn’t quite have the same popularity as Andy but neither does it have rumors of bitcoin mining on your PC while using it.

You don’t have to use Nox as there are plenty of other Android emulators out there but these instructions will use it. Just adapt them to your emulator if you use something different.

1. Download Nox from here and install it onto your computer.
2. Open Nox and enter your Google details so it can work with Android and Google Play.
3. Open Google Play and find then download Kik.
4. Allow the installation to complete.

Android in Nox works exactly the same as it does on any mobile device. Nox is middleware that acts as an Android simulator. It fools any app into thinking it is running on Android while using PC resources. They are nothing new and have been around for decades in various forms but they are more powerful and much more stable than before.

Once you have installed Kik, you will need to register the app using the same details you use in the mobile version. You cannot log into two apps at once with the same details so log out of your mobile version of Kik and log into the emulator version.

1. Log into Kik on Nox and make sure everything works.
2. Send a test message if you can to make sure.
3. Uninstall Kik from your phone and say yes to deleting any data.
4. Use Kik from within your emulator as you normally would.

As I said at the top, this isn’t the most elegant solution to use Kik without installing the app on your phone but it works. Until Kik gets around to releasing a web version or a desktop app, this is what we have to play with right now.

As quick note about other alternatives. There are a couple of websites out there that offer a Kik PC app. To the best of my knowledge and research, Kik does not offer such an app so this is either going to be a fake or a homemade program. It might work, it might not but I wouldn’t trust it on my computer. If you know different or know of an app that works, let us know about it in the comments. I for one would love to be able to use one!

You can use Kik without installing the app on your phone but it takes a little work and still leaves an install on your computer. This may or may not work depending on what you’re trying to achieve but this is our only option right now. Hope it works for you!