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[Q] Is copying an .apk into /{system, data}/app sufficient to install an Android app?

If not, what else is done under the covers?
Also, what are the differences when installing applications
•From the android market
•sideloaded from web download
•sideloaded using adb install
•sideloaded using adb push
I copied this question from another place (I cannot put link here because I am new here) because I also have the same question and want to know more about this.

oldyoungguy said:
If not, what else is done under the covers?
Also, what are the differences when installing applications
•From the android market
•sideloaded from web download
•sideloaded using adb install
•sideloaded using adb push
I copied this question from another place (I cannot put link here because I am new here) because I also have the same question and want to know more about this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Some .Apk's can be placed in system/data/app while others can't , make sure the .apk you're trying to place in system/data/app is supported or you may end up restoring your device. if the apk can run from the system /data/app then yes with the right permissions ...
Apk's from the market will give you detailed info from the apk like permission needed , supported devices ect, even the developers contact info ( in other word they are approved by Google.
while "sideloaded" apk or web apk (not coming from Google) are pirates apk,modified apk ect. who knows what permissions it needs or what info you are sharing with whoever modified the apk...
So be careful what you get into your device and where is placed on your device
Sent from my SPH-M930BST using Tapatalk 2

oldyoungguy said:
If not, what else is done under the covers?
Also, what are the differences when installing applications
•From the android market
•sideloaded from web download
•sideloaded using adb install
•sideloaded using adb push
I copied this question from another place (I cannot put link here because I am new here) because I also have the same question and want to know more about this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Simply placing the apk into the correct folder is not enough. You will also need to set the permissions to the same as the other apps in that folder (I can't remember the permissions off the top of my head). This can easily be done using Root explorer, or using an adb shell and the chmod command.
Play Store installs and sideloaded installs achieve the same result, however you will want to be careful where you download apk files from. Apps from the Play Store are less likely to be malicious in nature, and , of course, you should never be pirating paid apps.
Adb push would not be enough as you would still need to set permissions. Unless you are installing a system app, it is better just to use adb install.

rootedVette said:
Adb push would not be enough as you would still need to set permissions. Unless you are installing a system app, it is better just to use adb install.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you saying the "adb push" will only copy file into the target location but "adb install" will copy the file into the target location AND also set the proper permission for you?

With all of the usual warnings about the source/safety of "side-loaded" apps aside. . .
I simply put the .apk file onto the SD card (anywhere), and then use a file manager like Astro to "open" it (root access not required). You will be prompted to see if you really wanted to install the app. Then let Android do its thing. The app will be installed where it belongs, with all the permissions it needs.
For this to work, you must first tell the device to allow installation of apps from unknown sources. Go to Settings | Security, and check Unknown Sources.

Copy Samsung apps to other devices

Hello, is there a way to copy a Samsung app (e.g. Email in Galaxy Ace 2) to another device of different brand?

bomberb17 said:
Hello, is there a way to copy a Samsung app (e.g. Email in Galaxy Ace 2) to another device of different brand?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes you can. If you can identify the .apk file of a certain application, you can simply copy it to
another device and install there.
This is something I used to do whenever I see my friends mobiles. I will checkout if they have any cool
App. If I like any, I will find out the installation file (.apk extension) and I will Bluetooth/superbeam it to my mobile
and install...as simple as that...
And my easiest way to find the apk file is "just search for 'apk' in file explorer"....

appviz said:
Yes you can. If you can identify the .apk file of a certain application, you can simply copy it to
another device and install there.
This is something I used to do whenever I see my friends mobiles. I will checkout if they have any cool
App. If I like any, I will find out the installation file (.apk extension) and I will Bluetooth/superbeam it to my mobile
and install...as simple as that...
And my easiest way to find the apk file is "just search for 'apk' in file explorer"....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This simply does not work for the Sammy apps they are kinda rigged to the framework .
One must heavily modify the apps to make them work on non Sammy ROMs
This is the reason why non of the sense apps are ported to CM ROMs
sorry for any ty¶°s

professor_proton said:
This simply does not work for the Sammy apps they are kinda rigged to the framework .
One must heavily modify the apps to make them work on non Sammy ROMs
This is the reason why non of the sense apps are ported to CM ROMs
sorry for any ty¶°s
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's what I was afraid of.. Because I've tried copying the samsung mail app in different ways to my ZTE (apk copy, titanium backup etc) and none of them did work. I also tried copying the exchange app but no luck either.

bomberb17 said:
That's what I was afraid of.. Because I've tried copying the samsung mail app in different ways to my ZTE (apk copy, titanium backup etc) and none of them did work. I also tried copying the exchange app but no luck either.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And another reason is that the system apps present in stock roms are odexed .
One simply isn't able to port Sammy apps without going full retard
sorry for any ty¶°s

Have you tried direct copy inside system? Since you said you've tried Titanium Backup, it means your device has been rooted right?
Enter your system and change its permission to copy the application there into your memory card... hope it works...

[Q] How to share apk/iso files over bluetooth

Ok when I want to send a jpg or txt or whatever over bluetooth is easy but when I try to send an apk or iso file the bluetooth option isn't even there. After searching the net the options are change the extension to .txt or something that it allows or use an app.
My question is is there a way like a MOD or a custom ROM like CM to allow the sharing of these files natively like you go to your favorite file manager (I use Astro file manager) select the file and share it.

There's this app.
And there's also an explanation here that explains why we can't send too much big files over BT.

Change the name in a file explorer to .txt and send. Then change back to .apk after
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Guys I want to do it without using an app and without changing the extension.
And the file I tried to send was like 4 mb.

fleen said:
Guys I want to do it without using an app and without changing the extension.
And the file I tried to send was like 4 mb.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dude what they're telling you is it can't be done the way you want.

jd1639 said:
Dude what they're telling you is it can't be done the way you want.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
:crying: what the hell is wrong with google for not allowing that to happen.

Blame the people who shared mp3s on their phones over Bluetooth like 5 years ago.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using xda app-developers app

can be done
So this can be done. Many Roms modify the bluetooth.apk to allow receiving of any file type. All you need to do is find a modified Bluetooth.apk and then replace the existing one in /system/app and then set the perms to RW r r with owner root root.
Cm11 allows sending and receiving any file type so I tried the Bluetooth.apk from the hammerhead image. Unfortunately cm11 is too different from stock so Bluetooth kept crashing.
The other option is for someone to modify the stock app for us and repost it. The following thread gives an example of what to do. Essentially you have to recompile the bluetooth.apk from source code of the aosp. Before doing this you must modify constants.java in the bluetooth source.
I'm not sure how to do this so any help would be much appreciated.

[Q] "google play services" requirement without gapps

Hi,
I run OmniRom without gapps (with NOGAPPS actually) and there's an app that refuses to start with the error "google play services is not installed, contact the device manufacturer".
Is there anything I can do to "fool" the app in thinking GSF is installed? I don't care about the push notifications the app is using.
Thank you.

wkwkwk said:
Hi,
I run OmniRom without gapps (with NOGAPPS actually) and there's an app that refuses to start with the error "google play services is not installed, contact the device manufacturer".
Is there anything I can do to "fool" the app in thinking GSF is installed? I don't care about the push notifications the app is using.
Thank you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What is this problematic app?

thenookieforlife3 said:
What is this problematic app?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello. Thanks for your reply. It's:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=nz.co.asb.asbmobile
I tried using apktool to decompress it, remove the dependencies from AndroidManifest.xml but I couldn't compile it back.
Thoughts?
Thank you

wkwkwk said:
Hello. Thanks for your reply. It's:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=nz.co.asb.asbmobile
I tried using apktool to decompress it, remove the dependencies from AndroidManifest.xml but I couldn't compile it back.
Thoughts?
Thank you
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The hard thing about decompressing, editing, and recompiling apps is that when you recompile it you also have to resign it. See, when you take apart an app the signature is stripped, and the signature is what allows the app to install properly.
Fortunately, there are several utilities out there that will help you do this.

thenookieforlife3 said:
The hard thing about decompressing, editing, and recompiling apps is that when you recompile it you also have to resign it. See, when you take apart an app the signature is stripped, and the signature is what allows the app to install properly.
Fortunately, there are several utilities out there that will help you do this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The problem wasn't the signing part, I wasn't reaching that step since the apk wasn't building anymore afterwards, it was giving out errors about not finding some files (I don't recall exactly as I haven't tried lately).
Would you recommend a particular app (ideally to run under linux but can manage with Windows if need be) to decompile and compile an apk?
Thank you

wkwkwk said:
The problem wasn't the signing part, I wasn't reaching that step since the apk wasn't building anymore afterwards, it was giving out errors about not finding some files (I don't recall exactly as I haven't tried lately).
Would you recommend a particular app (ideally to run under linux but can manage with Windows if need be) to decompile and compile an apk?
Thank you
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What I meant to say was, don't actually decompile the app and then try to recompile it! It will give you errors, as you've seen.
Instead, try the following steps:
1. Copy the .apk file to a safe, secure place as a backup.
2. Download and/or open up an archive management program, i.e. 7zip or WinRAR.
3. Navigate to the directory where the .apk you want to mod is located. Not the backup one, of course!
4. Extract the .apk to a folder of your choice. Folder name example - "[name_of_app] modding" (without quotes).
5. Open up your regular file manager and navigate to that folder you just extracted to. Modify the files you want to modify.
6. Now, pay close attention to this part - In your archive manager, go into the acual .apk file you want to modify. It will just open right up as if it was a .zip.
7. Navigate to the directory in the .apk where the files you modded belong.
8. Now, back to your file explorer, click-and-drag the file(s) you modified from the file explorer window to the archive manager window. Drop the file in the archive manager window. It will ask you if you're sure that you want to overwrite, hit "Yes".
9. Once the file's in place, close the archive manager to finalize the change.
10. Now, all you have to do is put the modified app back on your device, use a tool like ZipSigner (find on Google Play) to resign it, and install!
Please do give me a few post thanks if the above instructions helped you. :good:

thenookieforlife3 said:
What I meant to say was, don't actually decompile the app and then try to recompile it! It will give you errors, as you've seen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the detailed instructions, however, to modify AndroidManifest.xml (where the GSF requirement is put) you need to decompile the apk using apktool or similar.
Simply unzipping the APK will not allow you to change AndroidManifest.xml.
I wish it were that simple

wkwkwk said:
Thanks for the detailed instructions, however, to modify AndroidManifest.xml (where the GSF requirement is put) you need to decompile the apk using apktool or similar.
Simply unzipping the APK will not allow you to change AndroidManifest.xml.
I wish it were that simple
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's odd, because that method is what has consistently worked for me!

how to find apks on my device

Hi everyone,
There is a way to find the .apk of apps downloaded from playstore. ull need root and root browser, we will use here esfile explorer. open esfile explorer and press top left-->tools enable root explorer and show hidden files, then go to local-->device now go to file data-->app and thats it, to find system apps u can go to device-->system-->app.
Wiked dudes production

Pull Apk in Non-Rooted Device.
There is no need of a rooted device,
you can pull the apk by using following techniques.
//_______________________________________________________
A) Using ADB
1) Determine the package name of the app, e.g. "com.whatsapp" (WhatsApp).
if you don't know the package name, you have 2 options to get the package name
i) Visit play store and search for the desired application, The link of the app contains the package name. "https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.whatsapp" (WhatsApp) where com.whatsapp is the package name
ii) use command "adb shell pm list packages" , this will list the package name of all application installed.
2) Once you know the package name, get the apk installed path by using command "adb shell pm path com.whatsapp"
it will return the apk path of the application, like this
package:/data/app/com.whatsapp-2/base.apk
3) Now to pull apk, by using command "adb pull /data/app/com.whatsapp-2/base.apk"
Apk will be extracted to the same folder where adb is present
//_______________________________________________________
B) Using ESFileExplorer
1) Open ESFileExplorer and navigate to User Apps either by (swiping left to right twice) or (goto APP under Library in Navigation Drawer)
2) Select App you want to pull, and click on Share.
3) Share the Apk to another device via Bluetooth or to desktop via AirDroid,

shanrais said:
There is no need of a rooted device,
you can pull the apk by using following techniques.
//_______________________________________________________
A) Using ADB
1) Determine the package name of the app, e.g. "com.whatsapp" (WhatsApp).
if you don't know the package name, you have 2 options to get the package name
i) Visit play store and search for the desired application, The link of the app contains the package name. "https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.whatsapp" (WhatsApp) where com.whatsapp is the package name
ii) use command "adb shell pm list packages" , this will list the package name of all application installed.
2) Once you know the package name, get the apk installed path by using command "adb shell pm path com.whatsapp"
it will return the apk path of the application, like this
package:/data/app/com.whatsapp-2/base.apk
3) Now to pull apk, by using command "adb pull /data/app/com.whatsapp-2/base.apk"
Apk will be extracted to the same folder where adb is present
//_______________________________________________________
B) Using ESFileExplorer
1) Open ESFileExplorer and navigate to User Apps either by (swiping left to right twice) or (goto APP under Library in Navigation Drawer)
2) Select App you want to pull, and click on Share.
3) Share the Apk to another device via Bluetooth or to desktop via AirDroid,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ur right however, not all system apps are present using the second way, and first way is complicated for some people and might confuse them. if someone would want to change something he saw on google, that is connected to system apps or other stuff"like systemui" i think rooting and copying the apk from its directory is best. btw thanks for ur concern about this, believe it or not for the first 7 month i posted this it posted in android wear, and no one was commenting, i made it with the xda app, i think it has alot of bugs.

Lord_of_Death said:
ur right however, not all system apps are present using the second way, and first way is complicated for some people and might confuse them. if someone would want to change something he saw on google, that is connected to system apps or other stuff"like systemui" i think rooting and copying the apk from its directory is best. btw thanks for ur concern about this, believe it or not for the first 7 month i posted this it posted in android wear, and no one was commenting, i made it with the xda app, i think it has alot of bugs.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
IMO, if one is able to root the phone, then he will certainly not find any complication in pulling apk using first way.

shanrais said:
IMO, if one is able to root the phone, then he will certainly not find any complication in pulling apk using first way.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
u might be right bro but rooting is only downloading a file and flashing it through odin.