Every build published on GTA 4 APK passes the same routine before the download button goes live. This page describes that routine plainly, so you know what checked means when we say it.
Step one: source check
We start from the game itself. The build must match Grand Theft Auto IV in story, city, characters and systems. If a file disagrees with the real game in any visible way, it stops here.
Step two: install on real phones
The APK is installed on our own Android test phones, not emulators alone. We follow the same steps a visitor follows: download, allow the install, open the game and reach the opening drive from the docks.
Step three: play the city
We play story missions in Broker, Dukes, Bohan, Algonquin and Alderney, test the phone, friends and save systems, push the wanted level, and open both episodes, The Lost and Damned and The Ballad of Gay Tony. Controls are checked in live traffic, not menus.
Step four: publish and recheck
Only a build that clears all three steps is published, with its verified details recorded in the APK table. Builds are rechecked when a new version appears, and the guides are updated when the game changes.