How to install apks from .zip - Samsung Galaxy S (4G Model)

Sometimes I find helpful apps on the internet using my pc. When I download them, they come as an apk, which i put into the root of my sd card. I use a file manager to find it, click it, then install it. EASY.
Well, lately I've run into a few that only come as a .zip. Most of them look like they have the same stuff in them. Anyways, how would I install an apk that comes as a .zip? Do i do it like how I flash stuff, by going into recovery and installing zip from sd?

If it is a flashable zip you can flash it. Otherwise, extract the apk from the zip and install.

Can I delete apks and zips from my root folder that i have installed, to make space and keep it neat, without it hurting the functionality of the stuff? For example, I put a ROM's zip in the root, and flashed it. can i delete that zip now?

I cant install the zips from recovery! It starts the install, then goes to 'finding update blah bla" ... 'installing update blah blah" installation aborted

Wodensman said:
Can I delete apks and zips from my root folder that i have installed, to make space and keep it neat, without it hurting the functionality of the stuff? For example, I put a ROM's zip in the root, and flashed it. can i delete that zip now?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes you can and also those zipped apps some are cracked apps which I believe it's against rules to discuss but for the rest that do come zipped just extract them your pc and look for the apk and put it on your SD card and install
-sent from my POS i897
no camera, no power button but at least I got miui lol

Installing: /sdcard/"file that im trying to install"
Finding update package...
Opening update package...
Installing update...
Installation Aborted...
WTF?

erikmm said:
Yes you can and also those zipped apps some are cracked apps which I believe it's against rules to discuss but for the rest that do come zipped just extract them your pc and look for the apk and put it on your SD card and install
-sent from my POS i897
no camera, no power button but at least I got miui lol
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for chiming in, Erik. I'm talking about legit apps, no cracked. I cant find an apk file in any of the zips I have.

Wodensman said:
Can I delete apks and zips from my root folder that i have installed, to make space and keep it neat, without it hurting the functionality of the stuff? For example, I put a ROM's zip in the root, and flashed it. can i delete that zip now?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Could still use an answer for this.
Also, to give you guys an example of what I'm talking about:
I'm trying to test the security of my home network in various ways. I downloaded DroidSheep, which comes as a ZIP. There is no apk file in the zip. Trying to 'flash' it, isn't working. I'm getting the messages i posted earlier.

Wodensman said:
Could still use an answer for this.
Also, to give you guys an example of what I'm talking about:
I'm trying to test the security of my home network in various ways. I downloaded DroidSheep, which comes as a ZIP. There is no apk file in the zip. Trying to 'flash' it, isn't working. I'm getting the messages i posted earlier.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lol well I don't wanna "chime" anymore lol your flashing something that might not be for this phone get the zip unzip it open app folder and the apk should be there also make sure its for GB
-sent from my POS i897
no camera, no power button but at least I got miui lol

Alright, thanks. I'll look into it.
Can I delete Final-Fixed.zip off my SD card without it messing stuff up? Same with the install files for the kernel, and booster?

Wodensman said:
Alright, thanks. I'll look into it.
Can I delete Final-Fixed.zip off my SD card without it messing stuff up? Same with the install files for the kernel, and booster?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes once installed the zips aren't necessary
-sent from my POS i897
no camera, no power button but at least I got miui lol

BIG THANKS.
I finally figured out what to do, about the installing. If i download a zip file, that comes like these that i can't get to install..... it's because I was supposed to click the d/l link from my phone! It's all good now!

While you can delete zips after installation, it's always a good idea to keep your ROM zip on the SD card. That way if you decide to play around with stuff that you don't know alot about, and mess up your phones functionality, you can reflash without needing a computer.
Sent from my SGH-T959V using xda premium

I prefer to have a recovery backup. I never leave the ROM installation on my SD.
Sent from my SGH-T959V using xda premium

itzik2sh said:
I prefer to have a recovery backup. I never leave the ROM installation on my SD.
Sent from my SGH-T959V using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I do both. I like to keep 2 backups and at least the ROM I'm on.
I currently have 6 ROMs on my SD. Plus a few movies. And my music collection. A few kernels. Maybe 50-60 apps. Yeah, as you can see I put everything on there LOL and I still have 18.5GB free out of 29.7 available (32GB card).
Sent from my SGH-T959V using xda premium

sometimes you can just rename the file extension .zip to .apk then just install as normal.

Related

[Q] Can't see Zip files in recovery

after flashing several roms back and foward, I'm having this problem, if I go into recovery I can't see any zip file at all, folders are there, but no zip files, I can still install from Rom manager but not from recovery since i cant find them, Please help
Running Ginger Beast 2.1.2.
But regardless what rom I'm running Zip's are gone
Are they on root of SD card or in a folder? If in a folder, try them in the root. I have never tried with them in a folder, but instructions always say put them on the root so there must be a reason.
they are on root, just can't see them from recovery, but can see and flash from Rom Manager.
I place my ROMs in a folder along with another folder containing kernels and system tweaks, there really is no problem placing them in folders.
I will try that, will let you know
Well guest what I can see them when I place them under a folder! Weird but I guess is another way to do it, I will still like to know why I can't see them on the root.
dragonfuego said:
Well guest what I can see them when I place them under a folder! Weird but I guess is another way to do it, I will still like to know why I can't see them on the root.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try throwing a z in the file name and scroll all the way down while in CWR and see if it appears...maybee you couldnt decipher the right file out of a lot of others.
Folders make everything easier
Nope I always erase old roms from my phone, for some reason they just won't show
Hmm... Well thank you for that bit of info. I had a few roms j downloaded to play around with in folders never tried flashing! I always assumed since they stress placing them on a root there must be some reason! Well I guess the old saying about what happens when we assume holds true! I would thank now but can't from the app. Will do it soon!
Sent from my Inspire 4G using XDA App
I am not positive why Devs tell people to place them on the root of the SD card, but I have somewhat of an idea...
Many users simply do not know how to work there way around a file system and so they just infer every user doesn't understand and so placing on the root is just the easiest to do.
Yeah that's what I was thinking too... You'd think anybody who could root and use cwm would not be big enough noobs to fail with folder structures. Oh well. Thanks again!
Sent from my Inspire 4G using XDA App

[Q] newb problem How to rezip a rom

I have googled this alot and have not found any helpful results. I have unziped a rom I like to remove some .apks and add some of the ones I always find myself re-installing. I also have been playing with the build.prop, and the framework. I'm not trying to steal anyones work I just want to have a fresh version of this rom when I go back to it (which I do about once a week). my intent would be to flash, enter my wifi and google passwords, and start using it. I know I can just do a backup and reinstall that, but this has been helpful with my trying to understand how to build a rom and what makes it work. My question being what are the steps to rezip this rom into a flashable update. I have tried dsixda kitchen with no luck, just reziping it, and some other dumb methods. What am I missing here? plz help thank you.
also don't think it matters but this is for a o.g. evo
we got same problem, i edited a working rom for galaxy y (adding and removing some apk) then i was like huh??? what to do next, tried zipping it but doesnt work. hope.someone will reply here.
Sent from my Nokia 3310 running ICS
The problem is the signature verification of the ROM. We sign the ROMS when we create them.
No idea what custom recovery you might use but there should be an option to disable it before you try flashing.
I hope this helps.
No I have cwm and I disabled signature verification, it still starts fine says updating than immediately says its failed
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
I also just have it in the folders it unzips in then inside a folder and I just zip that folder is that not right I don't know lol hope someone can help
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
That's what's wrong. You can't zip an entire ROM as a folder then zip that folder. Doesn't work that way.
Open a ROM. See how its packed. You'll have a system folder, data, sdcard perhaps. But that's how you package it.
This isn't as easy as you think. You can't just hack stuff up and expect it to work if you don't do it properly.
MattCrystal said:
That's what's wrong. You can't zip an entire ROM as a folder then zip that folder. Doesn't work that way.
Open a ROM. See how its packed. You'll have a system folder, data, sdcard perhaps. But that's how you package it.
This isn't as easy as you think. You can't just hack stuff up and expect it to work if you don't do it properly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No I'm leaving the folders inside the ROM intact. everything is in a folder with all the folders ( data folder, META-INF folder, system folder ect..., and the boot image inside that single folder and then I am ziping all those items in the folder into a zip. I just can't get it to flash it starts then after a second of installation it says aborted.
sknight13602 said:
No I'm leaving the folders inside the ROM intact. everything is in a folder with all the folders ( data folder, META-INF folder, system folder ect..., and the boot image inside that single folder and then I am ziping all those items in the folder into a zip. I just can't get it to flash it starts then after a second of installation it says aborted.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Zip up the ROM you want. Take that ROM to the kitchen then build it again. Try that. Sign it and everything. If you want a walk through PM me and ill give you my gtalk address.
sknight13602 said:
No I'm leaving the folders inside the ROM intact. everything is in a folder with all the folders ( data folder, META-INF folder, system folder ect..., and the boot image inside that single folder and then I am ziping all those items in the folder into a zip. I just can't get it to flash it starts then after a second of installation it says aborted.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
After reading this more I'm still understanding that the data and meta, system folders are in a folder, then that folder is zipped.
This is incorrect way to package it. The data, meta, system etc needs to be zipped all together as one. Not in a folder that is zipped. Make sense? Hope this explains more.
I'll try that I guess Mabry them all being in a folder is the prob I hope thanks man
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
Yup. Let me know if you need anymore help and if that works for you.
MattCrystal said:
After reading this more I'm still understanding that the data and meta, system folders are in a folder, then that folder is zipped.
This is incorrect way to package it. The data, meta, system etc needs to be zipped all together as one. Not in a folder that is zipped. Make sense? Hope this explains more.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
lol so I find this funny but after some research I found that their were some commands in my update script I was leaving in that needed to be removed because I was removing the apk from the rom but it was looking for them and causing errors so after all my headaches it was something simple that'll teach me not to mess with something that aint broke
just tryed to flash it and now after it almost finished flashing I got
"update sdcard/romname/blah blah. failed"(status 6)
does that mean anything to you besides that I messed something up?
I playing with a sense 3.5 rom on a gb 2.3.5 base. Is their an easier rom to play with thats is more user freindly for a newb? mabey takeing the original ruu and tweaking that? I just want to start somewhere and develop my skills.
sknight13602 said:
just tryed to flash it and now after it almost finished flashing I got
"update sdcard/romname/blah blah. failed"(status 6)
does that mean anything to you besides that I messed something up?
I playing with a sense 3.5 rom on a gb 2.3.5 base. Is their an easier rom to play with thats is more user freindly for a newb? mabey takeing the original ruu and tweaking that? I just want to start somewhere and develop my skills.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
k I got it now thnx for your help MattCrystal
Your welcome. Every phone works a little differently but get used to having problems and fixing them. Part of the struggle. And to me the fun. I love troubleshooting.
i think just open the zip (not unzip it)..
when dialog box open,,you can choose the apk or the others you want to delete..
if you want add somthing to zip,,just open the folder location you want add that,,and than drag n drop the file(s)..
thats it..
than close the dialog box..
winrar will ask you to save the change or not,,choose,,save..
its work for me..
P.S.
use the rom by yourself..
as your personal rom..
if you want to publish it,,ask the permit from the devs..

[Q] HELP rooted Nexus S w/ Cyanogen mod 9

I rooted my phone (nexus s i9020a at&t) and have superuser and downloaded rom manager. I had no idea how to figure out how to flash a rom onto my device on my mac so I downloaded one of the many cyanogen mod 9's directly in rom manager. The rom loaded up perfectly and runs smoothly except there is no app market. When I try to go back into rom manager it force quits out.
I am very new to rooting and hacking into my phone and tried searching for hours and can't figure out what to do. If anyone knows how I can just flash a new updated version of cyanogen mod 9 without using rom manager that would be awesome. I really just need a step by step way to do it on the mac because every time someone posts a rom .zip file it downloads as a folder with random stuff in it and in recovery mode in my phone I don't know how to go about flashing it. So confused. Any help would be so appreciated.
Jess
Check your PM. I couldn't post links as it would have been my first post.
cm9 issue
thanks did you get my replies to your pm? i can't figure this out haha
download cm9 and the gapps add-on(with your phone) in the first post of the cm9 thread. boot into recovery, fimd your rom and gapps files, flash cm9 there, then flash the gapps(google apps), then reboot. you do not need rom manager.
Hmm cm9 does not come pre loaded with android app market so u will have to download the latest gapps from other posts in this forum... then copy it into ur phone from ur computer...then after going to cwm recovery use the volume up down buttons to scroll and the power button to choose...u will have to remember where u pasted the gapps file and u will have to navigate to it ...choose the gapps file and scroll down to yes to flash it then go back and reboot...that's it u will now have google apps in ur nexus s...Remember u do not need to open the downloaded gapps zip file as there is nothing u can do by opening it...good luck and happy flashing...
Sent from my Crespo using Tapatalk
Must not of searched that much if you overlooked that. Gapps is separate. Read the post fully, please.
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using XDA
okay so i downloaded the g apps file and its a folder on my desktop with a few other folders within with random files. i go to recovery on my phone mount my phone drag this folder to my mounted phone. then i go back and do i do instal zip from sdcard? or do i do apply update from sd card? this is where I'm stuck idk where to go from here. if i click install zip from sdcard it makes me navigate and i find the name of the folder but it just brings me to the smaller folders and little individual files it's not just one big file but a bunch of little ones so i can't choose the whole thing.
so im confused
edit: so i guess on my mac when i download the zip file it must unzip it during download and becomes a folder. so i tried compressing the folder back into zip format and go back into recovery and load it but it says installation aborted.
Jessicaa39 said:
okay so i downloaded the g apps file and its a folder on my desktop with a few other folders within with random files. i go to recovery on my phone mount my phone drag this folder to my mounted phone. then i go back and do i do instal zip from sdcard? or do i do apply update from sd card? this is where I'm stuck idk where to go from here. if i click install zip from sdcard it makes me navigate and i find the name of the folder but it just brings me to the smaller folders and little individual files it's not just one big file but a bunch of little ones so i can't choose the whole thing.
so im confused
edit: so i guess on my mac when i download the zip file it must unzip it during download and becomes a folder. so i tried compressing the folder back into zip format and go back into recovery and load it but it says installation aborted.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
use google chrome browser on your mac and it wont unzip your files
latest gapps http://t.co/LssQaFMj
alright it went through and it's rebooting now..... it worked. thanks everyone for all your help!! im such a noob but i'm learning.
Jess
Jessicaa39 said:
alright it went through and it's rebooting now..... it worked. thanks everyone for all your help!! im such a noob but i'm learning.
Jess
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
we were all noobs before. most important is the learning part.

.zip

noob here just learning the game, i used odin last night and put a rooted stock rom on my infuse,i want to put a custom rom on it now and was looking into the aeon 1.3.1 rom. ok i read up on how to do it and it said to put zip file on internal sd card. after downloading the file i see it isnt a zip file. mine was a rar file with 2 directories. can someone help me out a little . thx alot
cain308 said:
noob here just learning the game, i used odin last night and put a rooted stock rom on my infuse,i want to put a custom rom on it now and was looking into the aeon 1.3.1 rom. ok i read up on how to do it and it said to put zip file on internal sd card. after downloading the file i see it isnt a zip file. mine was a rar file with 2 directories. can someone help me out a little . thx alot
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thats strange...what are the two directories of the rar? it should download as a .zip...are you sure you downloaded the aeon rom? Did you use the link in the OP? what is the name of the .rar? Os it named aeon.rar or something like that?
also...i know your on a rooted stock rom, but do you have cwm recovery? That os also required for flashing roms...you cam easily get it by flashing qksters heimdall package of entropies latest kernel (heimdal is just like odin...except less steps involved...)
Also can you send me the link you downloaded from...either as a reply or pm doesnt matter...im curious what this rar is...
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I997 using XDA
Not sure where you went for the AEON rom.
This is the main thread for AEON. It has a correct download link that is definitely a zip file.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1545239
thats the xact page i got it from but the 1st one listed kept taking me to a goofle drive page so i went on down the page and downloaded the aeon black chrome one. right under the change log stuff. also the rooted rom i have on mine has cwm red on it and i can access it through the recovery mode. the two files are meta-inf and system and they downloaded in rar format. i unrared them to my desktop and put them in afolder and renamed it update.zip. but i havent done anything since. also what is the fix permissions talked about on the aeon install instructions. the first rom aeon 1.3.1 from 5/8/12 is the one that took me to google drive. also the file said it was a winrar zip archive.
That's not the rom... Its a theme...
Anyways yeah just click download on the Google drive... Should take you to a Page that says can't do a virus scan... Then click continue and download anyway...
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I997 using XDA
thx man, it was downloading while i was leaving for work. one more question. in the instructions on how to load it there is a fix permissions listed. i am not sure what that means, can you tell me anything about that.
mg2195 said:
also...i know your on a rooted stock rom, but do you have cwm recovery?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
He used Option C of the Odin packages I put together. That already has Entropy's latest daily driver kernel and CWM recovery. No need for Heimdall in this case.
Remove post didn't read past onea
Sent from my SGH-I997 using XDA

a little lost

ok i am trying to put the aeon rom on my infuse, it is rooted with cwm installed. i downloaded the rom from this site , went thru the whole google drive thing and all.ok it downloaded in winrar format , so i created a folder and renamed it zip and put on desktop and then transfered to internal memory on phone. ok i rebooted to cwm , did the wipes like it said then went to install zip from sd, it found the zip and when i selected it it showed all the files in the folder, data,meta-inf,scripts sd card,system ,updates and install busybox. now i am lost as to what to do . do i select these 1 by 1 or did i screw up somewhere before hand.
The file you downloaded should be a zip. Not sure about all the shuffling you did, but you should be able to place the zip you downloaded on your internal sd and flash from recovery. You should not have to do a single thing to the ROM when downloaded other than flash.
Edit...sounds like you were unable to flash the ROM because it was a folder, as opposed to a zip file. Don't pull stuff out of the package, just try changing it from..rar to .zip..then flash.
Sent from my SGH-I997 using xda premium
**** , it keeps downloading as a winrar file , anyway to fix that
ok i did away with my winrar and now have winzip, is that what your talking about or is zip file different, ok looks like i got it now thx alot for the help
Glad you got it. For future flashing, the package you download should be all you need to flash in recovery. No need to pull out files or recreate zips. The devs try to make it easy as possible.
Sent from my SGH-I997 using xda premium
I think your winrar/winzip is just the program.associated with he .zip...i think it was always a .zip...as winzip is not a file...winrar is not a file either...they are just two different programs...
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I997 using XDA
mg2195 said:
I think your winrar/winzip is just the program.associated with he .zip...i think it was always a .zip...as winzip is not a file...winrar is not a file either...they are just two different programs...
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I997 using XDA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes sir i pm him on that...but your correct...
Yes both are programs, however, you need either one if you want to unzip any file or folder!!!

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