I have found several apps that almost do what I need, but not quite, so please read the entire post before making suggestions.
I am looking for an app that will provide a backup list of apps, either internal to the app (like App List Backup) or as a text file (like AppBak), which includes some indication of the install source. I don't need it to back up the apk files themselves (I use Titanium Backup for that), just a list, although the clickable list in App List Backup is a nice feature.
I use the Google Play Market, the F-Droid market, Amazon App Store, the Humble Bundle App, the Xposed Installer, and an occasional direct install. I would like an app that will help me keep track of both what apps I have and where I got them.
I suspect that the system only knows if an app was installed from the Play Market (or possibly the Amazon App store, for Kindles) or not, so perhaps the user could input other sources they use and check off which one applies to each "Unknown Source" app when they make the backup, instead of having to write it out by hand or remember when they are restoring.
The usefulness of this is that there are many apps that will continue to be available (so a caution backup is unnecessary), and where the ongoing data isn't desirable to transfer from one device or ROM install to another, so a full TB backup is unnecessary, but, especially when the app is available from multiple sources, it can be a pain to keep track of which apps came from where. There are various reasons to prefer one source over another for a particular app, and it is a waste to go through the whole decision process each time when the outcome will be the same.
Thus, an app that helps keep track of both the packages and their install sources would be very helpful.
Related
I downloaded an app called App quarantine from the market and put the following apps in the don't run bin , but before doing that I downloaded Go Launcher / Go Contacts / Go Sms Pro and did a ehh, conversion from the stock samsung apps to Go Stuff. Has anyone else done this or anything similar?
Apk's no longer running on boot
(See screen shots, i'm lazy today.)
jb0nd38372 said:
I downloaded an app called App quarantine from the market and put the following apps in the don't run bin , but before doing that I downloaded Go Launcher / Go Contacts / Go Sms Pro and did a ehh, conversion from the stock samsung apps to Go Stuff. Has anyone else done this or anything similar?
Apk's no longer running on boot
(See screen shots, i'm lazy today.)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are a number of apps that do the same type of thing, Titanium Backup will 'freeze' apps as well as a whole host of additional features.
Then of course, another option is to just rename the apps from *.apk to *.bpk and rebooting.
My personal preference is a third option called Autostarts which is similar to MSconfig in Windows but for Android. The reason being is, it gives you the ability to keep an app from ever running unless you actually tap the app to run it but still allows you to keep the app installed in the event you want to use it. Google Maps comes to mind, I want it installed, I dont want it running in the background.
I dont recommend removing any of the bloatware if you plan on staying on stock but, some of it for US Note users was able to be uninstalled without root via either Settings->Applications->Manage Applications->All Applications, then tap an app and see if uninstall was lit up, if so, sweet. Or, alternatively you could go thru the Market->(Menu Key)->My Apps but not all apps show up in this list. As a side note, I actually manually did a search for many of the apps on the phone and manually updated them because they were not showing up in the market 'My Apps' list.
One other side note, most of the Samsung apps are actually pretty decent, I usually dont touch them. Its the ATT software and the apps ATT took bribe money from third parties that bothers me (Yellow Pages for example).
Oh, and a little known feature of Go Launcher is the ability to hide apps.
Tap the App drawer icon to get to the list of apps on your phone, tap the menu button, tap hide apps. For those of us that havent bothered to root, this at least gives you the ability to not have to look at apps you dont want to see in the app drawer.
Wow thank you for all the info. As far as staying stock, I like making my devices unique to me, I did keep all spen related apps, but killed pretty much everything else. I doubt my phone will ever see an official release of anything, Xda all the way
littlewierdo said:
There are a number of apps that do the same type of thing, Titanium Backup will 'freeze' apps as well as a whole host of additional features.
Then of course, another option is to just rename the apps from *.apk to *.bpk and rebooting.
My personal preference is a third option called Autostarts which is similar to MSconfig in Windows but for Android. The reason being is, it gives you the ability to keep an app from ever running unless you actually tap the app to run it but still allows you to keep the app installed in the event you want to use it. Google Maps comes to mind, I want it installed, I dont want it running in the background.
I dont recommend removing any of the bloatware if you plan on staying on stock but, some of it for US Note users was able to be uninstalled without root via either Settings->Applications->Manage Applications->All Applications, then tap an app and see if uninstall was lit up, if so, sweet. Or, alternatively you could go thru the Market->(Menu Key)->My Apps but not all apps show up in this list. As a side note, I actually manually did a search for many of the apps on the phone and manually updated them because they were not showing up in the market 'My Apps' list.
One other side note, most of the Samsung apps are actually pretty decent, I usually dont touch them. Its the ATT software and the apps ATT took bribe money from third parties that bothers me (Yellow Pages for example).
Oh, and a little known feature of Go Launcher is the ability to hide apps.
Tap the App drawer icon to get to the list of apps on your phone, tap the menu button, tap hide apps. For those of us that havent bothered to root, this at least gives you the ability to not have to look at apps you dont want to see in the app drawer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just to add I guess a 'fourth' option, I like to use the app 'root toolbox' available on the market with both free and pro versions. Under the advanced menu you can remove any system apps you like but the nice thing is anything you remove is automatically backed up to the root toolbox folder on the internal sd. The backup is done automatically so you dont have to worry about removing something and forgetting to backup first and also gives you the option to restore any system apps you removed simply and easily. Ill be honest the restore feature has saved my bacon many times lol and is also a great way to experiment which apps are safe and unsafe to remove.
I've been using Android since 2009 and since the very beginning I have wondered why Google has done such a poor job developing their Marketplace store (since renamed to Google Play -- ridiculous name but that's a different topic). Specifically, the User Interface of the marketplace. The market HAS undergone a couple of changes to its appearance and has had the addition of music, movies, etc. But the basic user interface components for App Installation have seen practically no change at all.
Here's my incomplete list of severe shortcomings of Google Play:
1. There is NO WAY to see a short concise list of all the apps you have already purchased. You can choose between two tabs -- "Installed" and "All". The "Installed" list is just that -- apps already installed. The "All" list shows everything -- already installed, purchased but not installed, free and recently installed on a different device, etc. And this is big jumbled mess is listed in the order of apps most recently installed, which leads to:
2. There Is NO WAY to sort the list in the "All" tab by any criterion. It is what it is, you are stuck with the order everything is listed in and you cannot change it.
3. When you want to install an app, you first have to tap on the app name and then it jumps to the detailed page for that app, where you then press "Install" and then another screen to confirm. There is NO WAY to install the app directly from the app listing without jumping through multiple screens every time for every individual app. This wouldn't be so terrible, except:
4. The listing does not REMEMBER YOUR POSITION when you press back. I find myself scrolling down through the UNSORTABLE list on the "All" page, finding the app I want, which may be 150+ apps down, going to that app's detailed page and pressing install/confirm, then pressing back twice, and it returns me back to the TOP of the list again. So if I wanted to then install the next app that was right below the previous one, I have to SCROLL DOWN AGAIN.
5. Ultimately, what I WANT and NEED is a batch installer directly from the marketplace. Put some freaking CHECKBOXES next to every app on the main list and then put a big "Install All Checked" button at the top. What's so difficult about this concept?
6. You may say "Just use titanium backup, it will solve all your problems." Well I DO use Titanium backup where appropriate. But sometimes I just want to do a CLEAN install of every app, directly downloading from the marketplace again. App backups do get screwed up over time, and reinstalling from marketplace fixes those issues. Not to mention, TiBackup requires ROOT, which not everyone has/wants/needs/knows how to obtain. Or I might be installing all my required apps on a totally new device and I don't want to import incompatible data from some other device.
In my opinion this is a MAJOR shortcoming in Android. There absolutely NEEDS to be a way to easily batch-install many apps directly from the marketplace. Especially for people like me who have 100+ apps installed and regularly wipe my phone to install the latest ROM. And #1 is just insulting in my opinion. I can't see a list of only the apps I OWN? I might forget that I purchased something a long time ago and just forgot to reinstall it. And nobody has come up with a third party tool to batch-install from the market (or have they?)
Can someone please help me understand why Google has failed to improve their storefront for so long? Where is the suggestion box for me to voice all of these concerns?
christophocles said:
I've been using Android since 2009 and since the very beginning I have wondered why Google has done such a poor job developing their Marketplace store (since renamed to Google Play -- ridiculous name but that's a different topic). Specifically, the User Interface of the marketplace. The market HAS undergone a couple of changes to its appearance and has had the addition of music, movies, etc. But the basic user interface components for App Installation have seen practically no change at all.
Here's my incomplete list of severe shortcomings of Google Play:
1. There is NO WAY to see a short concise list of all the apps you have already purchased. You can choose between two tabs -- "Installed" and "All". The "Installed" list is just that -- apps already installed. The "All" list shows everything -- already installed, purchased but not installed, free and recently installed on a different device, etc. And this is big jumbled mess is listed in the order of apps most recently installed, which leads to:
2. There Is NO WAY to sort the list in the "All" tab by any criterion. It is what it is, you are stuck with the order everything is listed in and you cannot change it.
3. When you want to install an app, you first have to tap on the app name and then it jumps to the detailed page for that app, where you then press "Install" and then another screen to confirm. There is NO WAY to install the app directly from the app listing without jumping through multiple screens every time for every individual app. This wouldn't be so terrible, except:
4. The listing does not REMEMBER YOUR POSITION when you press back. I find myself scrolling down through the UNSORTABLE list on the "All" page, finding the app I want, which may be 150+ apps down, going to that app's detailed page and pressing install/confirm, then pressing back twice, and it returns me back to the TOP of the list again. So if I wanted to then install the next app that was right below the previous one, I have to SCROLL DOWN AGAIN.
5. Ultimately, what I WANT and NEED is a batch installer directly from the marketplace. Put some freaking CHECKBOXES next to every app on the main list and then put a big "Install All Checked" button at the top. What's so difficult about this concept?
6. You may say "Just use titanium backup, it will solve all your problems." Well I DO use Titanium backup where appropriate. But sometimes I just want to do a CLEAN install of every app, directly downloading from the marketplace again. App backups do get screwed up over time, and reinstalling from marketplace fixes those issues. Not to mention, TiBackup requires ROOT, which not everyone has/wants/needs/knows how to obtain. Or I might be installing all my required apps on a totally new device and I don't want to import incompatible data from some other device.
In my opinion this is a MAJOR shortcoming in Android. There absolutely NEEDS to be a way to easily batch-install many apps directly from the marketplace. Especially for people like me who have 100+ apps installed and regularly wipe my phone to install the latest ROM. And #1 is just insulting in my opinion. I can't see a list of only the apps I OWN? I might forget that I purchased something a long time ago and just forgot to reinstall it. And nobody has come up with a third party tool to batch-install from the market (or have they?)
Can someone please help me understand why Google has failed to improve their storefront for so long? Where is the suggestion box for me to voice all of these concerns?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm waiting for google to fix this too!
I agree with everything youve said - but the way I see it is that the Play store is a work in progress. There have been some pretty significant enhancements made in the last few years (I think I started using android in 2010).
Since then they have made 2 or 3 comprehensive UI updates, added books and movies support (which you mentioned), and the “ALL” apps list is also reasonably new (since Google Play was implemented).
I think within the next year or two you will start to see a lot of the features you mentioned.
Apple’s app store was pretty basic when it first started, now they have a lot of great sorting and display options.
Hopefully Google will step up.
Cheers.
Yeah, it will be nice if we can install multiple apps at the same time. Well, batch installer, that's what i mean.
Also, i wish i could delete some old apps (that I installed only to test them) from "Other apps in my library". There are lots of apps i never used, only tried them, and this, combined with the inability to sort the apps, make a real mess. I have to mine for every useful app that i need to install.
Or, at least, they should make a "Favorite" option.
I just went from Paranoid Android to CyanogenMod, and expected to have to re-add several apps. If I go from an AOSP ROM back to a TouchWiz ROM, it is treated as a different device, and I get an app list months old. I was pleased to see Android attempting to download my newest set of apps...
However, the sync failed like it does 50% of the time (every app individually fails). Now when I visit the Google Play store, I see my 'new' phone with only a couple of apps installed. I just lost the entire list. Since there's no way to batch install apps with the Play Store, I get to spend a looooong time looking up and reinstalling them by clicking around like an idiot.
Am I missing something? Every element of the story I just described seems like awful design. I'd really not like to resort to AppBrain or something like it. It's incredibly stupid that if the Play Store has some error syncing apps, it makes the new short list the new goal for syncing (so, it won't even try next time).
In short, it would be ideal to have my list of installed apps tied to my account, so that in the event of a problem, I could just push a large "Yes, download ****ing everything" button. Apps that aren't compatible with THIS device can just be skipped I guess. Why is this so hard? Instead I'm going down my 'All' list on my phone, tapping 5 times per app to install them one by ****ing one.
Why don't you just backup apps with titanium and then restore them when you flash a new rom? Titanium has batch commands so it's pretty much one click for each. You can also set up a back up schedule so things are always backed up
Aside from my hesitation to use another app to perform a function that is already supported...
Is Titanium storing the apps themselves, or a list of apps? I really really really do not want to store several MB/GB of data which may or may not be corrupted. If anything, I want to simply store a list of apps, which will all re-download upon restoring the backup.
AndrewZorn said:
Aside from my hesitation to use another app to perform a function that is already supported...
Is Titanium storing the apps themselves, or a list of apps? I really really really do not want to store several MB/GB of data which may or may not be corrupted. If anything, I want to simply store a list of apps, which will all re-download upon restoring the backup.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yea it will store all the apps. But if they are working, they probably aren't corrupt.
Also, I have had a few phones over the years linked to my Google account and the play store is never segmented by phone. All my apps that I have been using since my OG Droid show up on my note 2. The times I have let the play store sync my apps they all downloaded fine as long as your screen doesn't turn off which you can force to stay on in the dev settings
I have been using titanium for 5 years now. And have restored my apps literally hundreds of times. Never once did it not work. Never had a single failure. I also have only had the play store re install my apps once. That was the very first time time I flashed a rom back on my droid. That was the first and only time it did that.
Sent from my SCH-I605 using xda premium
Simply as a matter of principle, I am not concerned with storing the apps themselves. The entire point of the app sync is to keep track of what I have installed. Backing up the apps themselves strikes me as a different goal entirely.
I've had many successful restores myself, but just as many failures. It isn't that difficult of a task... and if it does fail, when every app for some reason (even if it is a legitimate one) isn't installed , there's no way to retry the process. Your new list of synced apps is now the tiny amount that succeeded, the rest are lost to needing to manually reselect. This is absurd.
Multiple phones are definitely treated as separate app lists. I have 5 devices on my Play Store account; each has its own list of associated apps.
This is because every time you flash your phone, or factory reset for that matter, your phone gets a new device ID. That makes it look like a new device to the play store. This will happen anytime you flash a ROM and wipe data. Dirty flashes do not change the ID.
If you use titanium back up, it automatically stores your device ID, so it will prompt you to revert it back the first time opening it after flashing the ROM. This will allow you to maybe reinstall apps through play store, or at least keep the "app list".
I personally think you are being petty about this. It's not Google's fault you are constantly flashing your phone and creating new app ID's.
Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk 2
I have had the play store fail upon sync before, but it has never failed to keep the list of all the apps I've installed on any device tied to my google account. Strange that said list got wiped for you.
I'd just install a backup app and call it a day. I use Ultimate Backup Pro, by Jrummy. The newest version will sync your apps (a list, or the data) to Dropbox, Box, or Google Drive.
^^^ +1 for this
nrfitchett4 said:
This is because every time you flash your phone, or factory reset for that matter, your phone gets a new device ID. That makes it look like a new device to the play store. This will happen anytime you flash a ROM and wipe data. Dirty flashes do not change the ID.
If you use titanium back up, it automatically stores your device ID, so it will prompt you to revert it back the first time opening it after flashing the ROM. This will allow you to maybe reinstall apps through play store, or at least keep the "app list".
I personally think you are being petty about this. It's not Google's fault you are constantly flashing your phone and creating new app ID's.
Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'd like to agree that it is petty, or believe the terms of the problem as you describe them.
It isn't petty that a feature is not working correctly. Flashing a phone gives a new device ID, but so does losing it, or replacing it. You're passing off the lack of harmony as my mistake.
The mere fact none of us can find a way to retry the app sync proves my point; this argument alone brings me a bit of closure, because at least I am not the only one with the issue. If you are all happy with backing up actual program data instead of realizing the power of a synced list, fine. To suggest this behavior is the intention of Google, however, is nonsense.
...and one last word: if it were as simple as getting a new device ID upon each flash, surely I'd be able to log in to the Play Store and view the list of apps on my 'old' device, right? How does Google know that device no longer exists? How are the two ideas of "syncing apps, but not across different devices" and "getting a new ID upon flash, then attempting to sync" both able to exist?
Perhaps I'm wrong about all of this, but can you really say using 3rd party software to remedy a failed sync is not noteworthy? I specifically remember myself mocking the idea of avoiding 3rd party software when a user wanted to solve a problem... this is much different. This is a legitimate issue with an existing feature.
AndrewZorn said:
If you are all happy with backing up actual program data instead of realizing the power of a synced list, fine.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No one said you should backup/restore app data, just the app itself. The app data is actually frowned upon for the most part. Although I have done it numerous times and have never had an issue, but that's a whole different can of worms
But in the end, you do what you want to do.
You are tilting at windmills.
There is a reason everyone uses an app backup program like Titanium or My Backup Pro (those are the two I use). It's the easiest/fastest way to restore apps. Google backup and restore was not intended for 'us' who root. No amount of believing its wrong the way it works is going to change that.
There are apps that will only backup the market link (to your storage) but the only one I know of does not have a one button restore. But it's called App List Backup if you want to check it out.
Sent from my SCH-I605 using xda premium
I love titanium backup. The fact that I can backup all of my apps and restore them plus restore data, such as the music that's already buffered on Google play music is great. Is a time saver! Imop
Sent from my SCH-I605 using xda app-developers app
I still feel like you guys are misunderstanding me (mostly, yes, I've tried App List Backup, and it's alright, "Google should already do this better" aside)...
Backing up programs themselves to create some huge file is a completely different thing than maintaining a list of installed apps on Google's servers. Completely different things. You may be willing to say they accomplish the same goal, something I disagree with. Let's stop talking about rooting and flashing, and start considering the idea of a lost/broken/corrupted phone. If the Google app sync worked better (in terms of reliability or feature set), it would be a painless task to have a new phone redownload all apps installed on the old one.
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AndrewZorn said:
I still feel like you guys are misunderstanding me (mostly, yes, I've tried App List Backup, and it's alright, "Google should already do this better" aside)...
Backing up programs themselves to create some huge file is a completely different thing than maintaining a list of installed apps on Google's servers. Completely different things. You may be willing to say they accomplish the same goal, something I disagree with. Let's stop talking about rooting and flashing, and start considering the idea of a lost/broken/corrupted phone. If the Google app sync worked better (in terms of reliability or feature set), it would be a painless task to have a new phone redownload all apps installed on the old one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You like to find problems instead of solutions. Sure it's a little bit of work to go down the Google Play list and install the one you want but how often are you planning to break/lose/corrupt your phone?
Backup file size. Backup to dropbox. Backup to your SDCard. Move your backup file to your PC.
Restoring a device to the way it was. Do a nandroid. Use your extSDCard. Root the new phone and restore. Boom exactly the way you left it.
I think you already mentioned that you didn't want to use AppBrain. But that is another potential solution.
I realize you want a perfect native Google solution but we are not the ones who can solve that for you. It would be a nice feature, but I still wouldn't use it. App backup gives me more control with really no downside. And nandroid is a perfect system restore with data intact.
Sent from my SCH-I605 using xda premium
I recently rooted my GS4 using the steps outlined in this thread:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2565758
First, a big THANKS to all those responsible for this latest root process. The vast majority of us have no idea the lengths in which you go in order to stay on top of the rooting process. My deepest respect.
Now, I would like to uninstall some of the bloatware installed on this phone. I understand there is a school of thought which dictates one should simply "freeze" an unwanted app instead of uninstalling it. In my opinion, as long as the app will never be used AND will not cause a system meltdown if uninstalled, it should be uninstalled. That being said, I would like some objective opinions on the following apps. The main app I would like removed is Knox. In addition...
- All Amazon related apps, save the main Amazon app
- Audible
- Caller Name ID
- Flipboard
- Google (appears at the bottom of the recent apps screen)
- Google+
- IMDb
- All Verizon related apps
- Optical Reader
- NFL Mobile
- All Google Play related apps save the Play Store
- Polaris 5
- TripAdvisor
- WatchON
Again, what is (are) the ramification(s) of uninstalling one or more of these apps? What is the best way to uninstall a bloatware type app? If using Titanium Backup to simply "freeze" the app is best, what are the steps in doing this?
senselessvictory said:
What is the best way to uninstall a bloatware type app? If using Titanium Backup to simply "freeze" the app is best, what are the steps in doing this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I do not know if this option was available before root but if you go to the list of apps and click the menu button (lower left of phone), you will see a "Hide Applications" option. Once clicked, a check box will appear next to each app. Once you select each application you want to hide and click Done, you will be left with only the applications you want to use. This includes Knox.
I do not know well this will work going forward but, for now, I am good. Does anyone know if this will permanently restrict Knox?
check this tool out just make sure you read and then re read lol http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2313341
I am currently looking for an app to bookmark apps I have installed at the present time with the ability to export a list of all installed apps or select specific apps for which I would like to be able to find later.
Nice to have items would be
* a persistent favorites list
* a long term list of all installed apps ever
(along with installation, update, and deletion dates)
* inclusion of installation details/app origins
(e.g. Play store, fdroid, manual (downloaded from xyz.com), manual (unknown), Magisk, etc.)
Hoping something like this exists. Titanium doesn't quite cut it, though it totally could have had those features built into it.
This thread has a suite of such programs, some of which are:
<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=de.onyxbits.listmyapps>
<https://raccoon.onyxbits.de/apk-downloader/>
<https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/tool-real-apk-leecher-download-apk-from-your-pc.1539375/>