[Q] Catch APK before install - Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Hi there, I would like to know if it is possible to catch/save APK's before they install. (Not relating to Play Store)
For example, when I download an app off the Amazon Appstore, it says "downloading" before opening a prompt for me to scan the file before pening the apk. Does anyone know where the apps apk's are downloaded too when downloaded from these alternative markets, or where get stored before they get opened?
Maybe their is an app that appears in the prompt before the install, which allows me to save the apk?
Many Thanks

Related

[Q] Auto Update Off Market Apps?

Hello, I was wondering if it was possible to update an app that was not installed from the market through the market.
I've downloaded free apps from the market, unzipped them and swapped out some image files, signed and reinstalled, but these apps no longer show up in the play store--when I try, it says that the app was not signed correctly.
I've tried searching but the only thread I found was from 2010 and was essentially a thread about some person stealing a paid apk and trying to get it to update :|
Anyways thanks
Seems impossible
As the signature is different, so I think it is impossible.
Titanium Backup has an option to "Attach to market(forced)" might give that a try or fix permissions.
I had similar problems with games that I bought through the Android edition of the Humble Indie Bundle. Cannot update via Play Store.

[Q] How to install app not compatible with Bluestacks?

I was able to get my Google account sync'd and Gapps installed. Now the issue I'm having is installing some apps on Bluestacks. For instance the 'Call of Duty' app says that it's not compatible with my device. When I go to the Play store from a browser it shows that the 'device' is being listed as a T-Mobile Samsung GT-I9100 which isn't compatible. So do I need to change the device type within Bluestacks to get it to allow these sorts of apps to be installed and if I do this will it make some things unstable? Is there another way that I can install this? I assume I can locate an APK and load it that way but there was an update yesterday and I'm not able to find the most recent version (1.1.300) of that app. The ideal solution would be to install from the store to make updates cleaner.
Thoughts?

How can I install Google Play Services/Google Play Store on a phone with just AOSP?

I need to pair a watch with a phone that has just AOSP flashed on it and so I'm trying to figure out if/how I can install Google Play Services/Google Play Store onto the phone. (In order to pair the watch with the phone I need to install the Android Wear App, but I can't do that if the phone doesn't have Google Play Store/Google Play Services installed).
My phone is a Nexus 5 with the Lollipop AOSP installed, so I just tried installing the GSP apks using adb but I keep getting error messages that GPS has stopped running.
I'm an iOS developer and new to Android and have been searching for days how to solve my problem without success, so I'd be grateful if somebody could help me with the following questions:
1) If I get Google Play Services and Google Play Store apks from somewhere like apkmirror.com and install them will I be able to access the Android Wear app on Google play and download/install/run it?
2) If not then if I get the Android Wear app itself from somewhere like apkmirror.com and install it along with GPS will the Android Wear app run?
3) When I try to install GSP why do I get the error messages about it stopping? Are there other dependent components I need to also install to make it run?
4) Can I install it using adb or do I have to install it using a recovery? If so, then why does a recovery have to be used to install it, whats the difference between installing via a recovery and installing via adb?
Thanks for any insight, I'm getting nowhere and getting frustrated trying to work all this out.
I had exactly the same problem and could solve it.
I described my solution here:
https://code.google.com/p/aosp4nexus5/wiki/AOSPforNexus5
The documentation describes two alternatives:
1. Manual installation which is lost with every new flashing of the system image
2. Integration in the build process to create a system image including Google Play Store as vendor-specific prebuilt APKs
Thanks, I'll try it out
Do you have any ideas where I could get GoogleServicesFramework.apk from?
Places like apkmirror have GooglePlayStore.apk and GooglePlayServices.apk for Lollipop but not GoogleServicesFramework, (why would they have 2 of them but not all of them?).
I don't have a Nexus 10 device so can't obtain them as you did in your post.
mungbeans said:
Do you have any ideas where I could get GoogleServicesFramework.apk from?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can unzip the file gapps-lp-20141109-signed.zip from BasketBuild https://s.basketbuild.com/gapps
You find it under system/priv-app/GoogleServicesFramework.
The name of the APKs may differ. GooglePlayServices is named something like GsmCore or com.google.android.gsm.
The Play Store is named something like Phonesky or Vending.
Thanks very much

Question about Play Store download requirements

Hi all,
I have a Xiaolajiao LA2-S which is running Android 4.4.4 which is a Chinese phone that doesn't have the play store. I have managed to get it rooted and I have added the play store apk's as per some of the other posts. When I tried it out it wouldn't attempt to download apps at all. I noticed that the phone didn't have the download services installed, so i installed it into /system/app. Once i did this the apps tried to download but it failed with "Error downloading (insert app here) There is insufficient space on the device".
I was wondering if this was due to maybe a folder missing or incorrect permissions on a folder where the apps are temporarily downloaded to. The phone will install apps were the .apk file is copied to local storage so I was thinking that the standard location where the download services would copy the temporary files may be missing or have the wrong permissions. Can anyone provide me with any hints on what this might be?
Thanks in advance!
Oooh, that can be just about anything. I don't know about file permissions, but the typical cure for insufficient space errors is to clear the cache of the Play Store and Play Services. If you don't have Play Services installed, put that in /system/app too.
Beyond that, I can't help much. Make sure that you have a lot of space on your device. You need quite a bit of spare storage, not just how much is actually required for the app. It's like 5% of your total storage or something that has to be free.

[SUCCESS] Tackling 'Error -505" - Google QuickSearchBox fails to install

I found this "-505" error prevalent on two of my MediaTek MT6735 MKU82ZPZ/A devices, it's probably common with China Phones, which install a certain list of stock Google apps, the QuickSearch Box not being included.
I have found a solution for this, based on my issues with blocking forced updates with Google Play services and the Google Play Store:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=3091832
I figured since these two added folders in the system / data / app folder prevented Google Play services from updating:
system/data/app/com.google.android.gms-1.apk/
and
system/data/app/com.google.android.gms-2.apk/
And that adding the specific folder for the Play Store also prevents Play Store from unwanted updates, then I should be able to actually Force an app to install as if it were a stock app (but it will not really be installed as a system app, it will still be "user").
I chose, not the latest beta for the Google Search app, but one from a couple of days ago:
http://www.apkmirror.com/apk/google...gle-app-6-0-17-21-arm64-android-apk-download/
So that would be Google search v6.0.17.
Next, I renamed the APK file into the format that I used to block the Google play services update, and then I created a path in the proper system folder:
/data/app/com.google.android.googlequicksearchbox-1/
In this case, there was no need to add the dot-APK extension to the folder.
What's next? Okay basically you take the APK file that you had named "com.google.android.googlequicksearchbox-1" and then you place it in that folder.
After you have moved it in there, you're just going to have to rename it to "base.APK".
And then using the app "FX", install it using "root package installer". Basically, just tap the APK file and you'll see a popup, just choose "root package installer" and then install it. Then reboot your device and you will have Google search on your springboard or in your appdrawer when it comes back up.
Needless to say, you have to be rooted in order to do this. It works best with the "FX" explorer app as it allows installing an The APK as a root package, which allows it to be installed. Because if you try to install it manually, it just fails.
This is for specific Lollipop 5.1 MediaTek MT6735 systems, maybe some other systems do it too, whenever you come across the "-505 error" - I don't know if this error is specific for this particular package or if will occur with other Google apps.
Whatever happens, if this succeeds in installing quicksearch for you, leave the base.APK file in that folder otherwise the app will stop working.
Oh yes, I dictated all of this into my MTK device using the regular stock keyboard with its new dictation button provided by Google search.

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