save .apk - Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

hello
a question from a beginner, to install an application it must be in .apk,
once installed and configured, and is it possible to save the software and its Data (configuration) in an .apk file
thank you

Related

[Q] Renaming APKs

I usually download my apks in my computer and send them to my phone so I could archive them or send them to friends easily. The problem is, their file names are very long and hard to read in the phone. If I rename the apk files, would it affect installation-wise, ie it will install as another 'version' of that app. So let say if i installed a renamed apk and update it with another version of the same app, would it interfere?

[Q] Location of Market apks ?

I have a rooted X10 mini pro. I just got a net connection on my mini pro and downloaded apps from Market.
Can anyone please tell me where the applications downloaded from market are stored ? ie- location of the .apk files.
I dont want to back up applications. I just want the base .apk file.
Any help will be appreciated. Thanks.
Amey006 said:
I have a rooted X10 mini pro. I just got a net connection on my mini pro and downloaded apps from Market.
Can anyone please tell me where the applications downloaded from market are stored ? ie- location of the .apk files.
I dont want to back up applications. I just want the base .apk file.
Any help will be appreciated. Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Market installs the apps in /data/app and after installation it removes the temp installation files..
So is there no way to copy those .apk files before they are deleted ????
The apk is in /data/app just backup that one if you have to. The apk in that directory can be used over and over again to install on any phone you want.
I searched through astro but nothing is there in that directory ??????????????
The folder needs to be accessed with root permissions.
Via ADB shell or i believe there is an application called root explorer which does it with UI.
Astro, tools, backup - works for me
Thanks very much.....
One problem with this is, you only get common file names like
downloadfile-1.apk and so on. you wont get the app name on the file name. so everytime you copy it you have to run it and see what app that is.
That is one down matter. other than that its ok!

ok some help understnading apk files

please help this windows guy/android noob figure this out. ok i'm thinking an apk file is equivalent to an msi file.
i download an app from the android store...
it downloads as apk file to /data/app...
ok so is that the final home for the apk file or does this extract and "install" files and folder in other locations on the internal memory or sdcard?
does the app run from this location? when uninstalled, is it removed entirely or are there orphan files that can be left behind? where is the data associated with that app saved? same folder /data/app/?
when titantium backs up an app, does it just copy the apk files from /data/app?
thanks
mark
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/APK_(file_format)
thanks, i already saw your link. doesn't really address my questions though. and yeah i do google questions prior to posting.
markkal123 said:
please help this windows guy/android noob figure this out. ok i'm thinking an apk file is equivalent to an msi file.
i download an app from the android store...
it downloads as apk file to /data/app...
ok so is that the final home for the apk file or does this extract and "install" files and folder in other locations on the internal memory or sdcard?
does the app run from this location? when uninstalled, is it removed entirely or are there orphan files that can be left behind? where is the data associated with that app saved? same folder /data/app/?
when titantium backs up an app, does it just copy the apk files from /data/app?
thanks
mark
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was in a hurry when I posted the link and that was the best I could do at the time.
apk is more like a java jar file (in fact you can sign your apk with jarsigner in java) or self extracting zip. Don't quote me on it, but you need both the files in /data/app and /data/data to run the application. Some gets left inside the container, and files that get modified a lot are extracted to /data/data (along with data that personalizes the app for you, such as settings and profiles).
The xml manifest file in the apk tells it what permissions to ask for and what systems it can run on and such. If you get this http://code.google.com/p/android-apktool/ you can reverse the apk so you can make sense of the files inside of it.
Titanium backup takes both the app and the data and stores them on the sdcard (unless you only tell it to backup the app, then it only takes from /data/app). The files located under /data/app are the entire application itself though and that will run if you give it to someone else as if you downloaded it from the market.
thanks for the great response.

Edit Custom Rom (help to remove apk's)

Does anyone know an idiot's guide/tool for unpacking a rom, removing unwanted apk's and then repackaging it suitably for install. I can unzip and remove the apk's from the system/app but the problem I have is zipping the package up suitably for install, I understand that the package needs to be signed and I have seen a few guides using openssl and SignAPK but couldn't get a package that would install.
I know I can uninstall some of these apps using an uninstaller app but I would prefer they just weren't in my rom in the first place so I have a relatively clean rom - my phone is basically a glorified mp3 player that occasionally makes some calls and send the odd text so there are a fair few things I just don't need to be installed on the phone.
On my mini pro I'm using the SonyStyle GB rom
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1151499
Any help will be appreciated.
stikkki said:
Does anyone know an idiot's guide/tool for unpacking a rom, removing unwanted apk's and then repackaging it suitably for install. I can unzip and remove the apk's from the system/app but the problem I have is zipping the package up suitably for install, I understand that the package needs to be signed and I have seen a few guides using openssl and SignAPK but couldn't get a package that would install.
I know I can uninstall some of these apps using an uninstaller app but I would prefer they just weren't in my rom in the first place so I have a relatively clean rom - my phone is basically a glorified mp3 player that occasionally makes some calls and send the odd text so there are a fair few things I just don't need to be installed on the phone.
On my mini pro I'm using the SonyStyle GB rom
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1151499
Any help will be appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Open the zip in something like 7-Zip or WinZip or windows or whatever the default archive manager is on linux, delete the files you want and close it then install. that's it, signing is done on creation by the dev and isn't like a MD5 so it doesn't matter if you modify it
X10man
what i do is i have winrar and i just double click the rom zip file then go to system then go to app then delete the app (and the odex file if it has one) that simple and if you want to add an app just hit add (provided your still on system>app folder) browse to the apk file you want to add then hit hit ok. hope that helps
Cheers guys - from what I had read I thought I had to re-sign the package once I had edited it.

Is there a way to install a .APK manually?

Hi,
My original post was this: http://forum.xda-developers.com/general/xda-assist/question-to-install-apk-manually-t3183357. I was advised to put it here.
In linux we can extract a .DEB file and manually put each of its contents in its relative system directory, then it works just fine after a reboot (or logout-login process). Is there a way to do the same for the .APK files?
Thanks in advance,
Multimann2
It seems that if you have system restricted phone it's impossible for an user without any connections and experience to install system software

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