Database Info

[Q] Safe-to-remove apps

Hi guys
Need some space in my phone. I wonder which apps are safe to remove?

I go to system/app and I remove:
email.apk since I only use gmail.
imetutorial.apk
wireless tether...apk since i don't use it, I use pdanet.
todaybriefingwidget.apk
There are others you can remove. Maybe someone else can chime in?

Thanks Rev.!
I do not need a bunch of apps like google maps, twitter, facebook, email etc.
I am worried if I would mess the phone up if i deleted them.

spectacle said:
Thanks Rev.!
I do not need a bunch of apps like google maps, twitter, facebook, email etc.
I am worried if I would mess the phone up if i deleted them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
twitter! That's another one I get rid of.

I always remove Email, Gestures, LatinIme Tuttorial, Launcher (I replacee it with Launcer Pro), MagicSmokeWallpaper, MilestoneOverclock, MotAccuWeatherWidget, MotoCarDock, MotoGAL (Corporate Directory or Calendar I forget which), MyNet, OpenRecovery, Protips, QuickOffice, Talk, VisualizationWallpapers and WorldClockWidget when ever I flash a new ROM. I would think the removal of Maps Facebook & Twitter wouldn't cause any problems either.
BTW which ROM are you running?

I am on the awesome Khal's ROM
Oh another noob question: How do I got about totally removing the apps? Remove just the apk and the dalvik cache using root explorer? Would that suffice

There are also entries in /data/data. Another option would be Titanium Backup, wipe data & then uninstall.

Thank you so much. Will try the titanium backup way

Hi removed some apps like maps, 3g hotspot etc.
But I don't see my available memory space going up.
Am I doing something wrongly? Used titanium backup pro

spectacle said:
Hi removed some apps like maps, 3g hotspot etc.
But I don't see my available memory space going up.
Am I doing something wrongly? Used titanium backup pro
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You shouldn't expect your available memory go up much when you remove system apps. The builtin apps are on /system which is a different partition from /data (internal memory). You probably also should wipe dalvik-cache, but that also won't increase free space on recent 2.2 ROMs (khalpowers and dexter+bugfix3) because the dalvik-cache has been moved from /data to /cache. The only stuff you will gain is whatever was saved in /data/data (which won't be much if you never used those apps)

Oh that made it much clearer. Thanks Mio!

hi, how do i delete these system apps? like using a special app, or using root explorer to delete? and can i delete them (e.g. twitter/facebook) from the system and get it from the market and use apps2sd? thanks

You can use Root Explore to remove apks but you'll have to tick the mount r/w button to do so.
Why would you want to delete Facebook and Twitter, they are already in there. If you still want to, go into /system and delete the apks, REBOOT and then download from market (they will no longer be themed, but will be the generic colors). Should download into your ext folder. If using native app2sd, you can use Move2sd from the market to move onto card that way.
Good luck and make a nandroid backup before you do anything with /system or /data.
And always remember, even a broken clock is right twice a day.

eejin2 said:
hi, how do i delete these system apps? like using a special app, or using root explorer to delete? and can i delete them (e.g. twitter/facebook) from the system and get it from the market and use apps2sd? thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
have you partition your sd card?

You can use several different methods. GParted, Minitool Partion Wizard (that is what I use b/c you won't loose any data unless you wipe it yourself). Just google and download them.
Make sure you set your partions in this order (#1 and biggest) Fat32, (#2 whatever size you want**anything over 1gb is usually too unstable I have found) ext 3/4, (#3 is smallest and usually 2x your RAM) swap and make sure none are labeled as Logical. All primary.
Search the App2sd (or Link2sd**They are different and have different methods of set up) thread here and it will explain how to put it into action.
App2sd http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=742126
Link2sd http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=923628

I'm going off the deep end and seeing how many apps I can delete. Right now this is all I have left in /system/app:
Code:
Music.apk
ContactsProvider.apk
CalendarProvider.apk
Calendar.apk
MessagingProvider.apk
Usb.apk
DrmProvider.apk
MediaGallery.apk
DefaultContainerService.apk
TelephonyProvider.apk
Stk.apk
Bluetooth.apk
ApplicationsProvider.apk
TaskManagerActivity.apk
Gallery3D.apk
PackageInstaller.apk
Superuser.apk
CameraMoto.apk
HTMLViewer.apk
DownloadProvider.apk
OverlayProvider.apk
AccountAndSyncSettings.apk
Settings.apk
Location.apk
Calculator.apk
VideoPlayerMoto.apk
WapPushSI.apk
ProgramMenuSystem.apk
Phone.apk
Secclkd.apk
Browser.apk
MotorolaSettingsProvider.apk
Contacts.apk
MediaProvider.apk
Mms.apk
MediaSync.apk
ProgramMenu.apk
ADWLauncher.apk
This does survive a system reset. Of course, I don't have much functionality left (google apps etc gone, no market, can't seem to get to dialer but can answer calls, etc). But I do have 94MB free RAM. lol

SKYICS UCLF6 2.7B won't flash

Hey,
For the longest time I was running 1.9A and today I decided to update my way to 2.8B. All was going fine until 2.7B. I flashed up to 2.6.1B and then when I flashed 2.7B, it didn't take as long as the other ones to flash. When I checked the settings and the about phone, it was still 2.6.1B. I tried to flash 2.7B twice already, both times still ending up with 2.6.1B. Any suggestions on how to finish up the updates without doing a wipe?
thanks

samtruong200 said:
Hey,
For the longest time I was running 1.9A and today I decided to update my way to 2.8B. All was going fine until 2.7B. I flashed up to 2.6.1B and then when I flashed 2.7B, it didn't take as long as the other ones to flash. When I checked the settings and the about phone, it was still 2.6.1B. I tried to flash 2.7B twice already, both times still ending up with 2.6.1B. Any suggestions on how to finish up the updates without doing a wipe?
thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What base are you on (Safe Base-R2, Safe Base-R3, Dragon-R2, or Dragon-R3)? If on Safe Base-R2, right around 2.6.1B is when you will run out of room on your system partition. Using TiBu, "Overview" tab, see what your System ROM "free" space is. If on SafeBase-R2, you will need to free up space on system partition (/system/app) by deleting/uninstalling apps (start with S-Voice... it's 30mb) to allow updates to write to your system partition. I would recommend starting over with 2.8 and flash the new Dragon-R3.. then 2.8A... then your addons (follow the OP instructions). Gives you plenty of headroom on system partition, all the functionality you need, and very smooth/fast. I started with safebaseR2 1.7... and progressed to 2.6.1 when I ran out of room... started over with the DragonR3 flash, and couldn't be happier.

DoctorQMM said:
What base are you on (Safe Base-R2, Safe Base-R3, Dragon-R2, or Dragon-R3)? If on Safe Base-R2, right around 2.6.1B is when you will run out of room on your system partition. Using TiBu, "Overview" tab, see what your System ROM "free" space is. If on SafeBase-R2, you will need to free up space on system partition (/system/app) by deleting/uninstalling apps (start with S-Voice... it's 30mb) to allow updates to write to your system partition. I would recommend starting over with 2.8 and flash the new Dragon-R3.. then 2.8A... then your addons (follow the OP instructions). Gives you plenty of headroom on system partition, all the functionality you need, and very smooth/fast. I started with safebaseR2 1.7... and progressed to 2.6.1 when I ran out of room... started over with the DragonR3 flash, and couldn't be happier.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey thanks for the quick reply, I think I am using the Safebase, but not sure if it's R2 or R3. I also see that I am indeed out of space. I don't really want to do a clean flash again, because it's kind of a pain in a butt haha. But what apps could I delete/remove to free up space? Is it just any apps that's installed on my phone?
Thanks

Just go to system/app folder and see what apps you really don't need. You could back them up just in case. you could also do it from tibu, I think everything red is a system app. And believe me you got enough to delete, even on the dragon base I had some hefty number of apps I could get rid of.

samtruong200 said:
Hey thanks for the quick reply, I think I am using the Safebase, but not sure if it's R2 or R3. I also see that I am indeed out of space. I don't really want to do a clean flash again, because it's kind of a pain in a butt haha. But what apps could I delete/remove to free up space? Is it just any apps that's installed on my phone?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
SafebaseR3 took out 2 apks: voicetalk.apk and GoogleQuickSearchBox.apk. (Sean added GoogleNow in 2.6.1 which maxed out the system partition). Voicetalk.apk (S-Voice) is 30mb. Use your favorite file explorer (i.e., RootExplorer, etc), navigate to /system/app, and sort by descending file size. If voicetalk.apk is there, you are on Safebase R2. If you don't plan on using S-Voice, then use TiBu to uninstall it (that will remove voicetalk.apk from your /system/app folder... and immediately free-up 30mb of space on the system partition). If you want to trim more, review the next few largest apks in /system/app folder and determine if you want/need them.. if not, uninstall with TiBu (google the apk to get the app name.. for example: SevenEngine.apk is the SocialHub app).

DoctorQMM said:
SafebaseR3 took out 2 apks: voicetalk.apk and GoogleQuickSearchBox.apk. (Sean added GoogleNow in 2.6.1 which maxed out the system partition). Voicetalk.apk (S-Voice) is 30mb. Use your favorite file explorer (i.e., RootExplorer, etc), navigate to /system/app, and sort by descending file size. If voicetalk.apk is there, you are on Safebase R2. If you don't plan on using S-Voice, then use TiBu to uninstall it (that will remove voicetalk.apk from your /system/app folder... and immediately free-up 30mb of space on the system partition). If you want to trim more, review the next few largest apks in /system/app folder and determine if you want/need them.. if not, uninstall with TiBu (google the apk to get the app name.. for example: SevenEngine.apk is the SocialHub app).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i've been trying to find this /system/app....but i can't seem to find it..... I know I'm not crazy, but it doesn't seem to be there haha. Also, my S-voice got removed by itself somehow while going through the updates.

You need to use a root explorer in order to view it. You could download rom toolbox it has tons of nice features and one of them is a root explorer, if you download ES file explorer you have to mark in the settings view as root.

kishke said:
You need to use a root explorer in order to view it. You could download rom toolbox it has tons of nice features and one of them is a root explorer, if you download ES file explorer you have to mark in the settings view as root.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ohh, so that's what I was missing. How much space do I need to clear up to have enough for 2.7B and 2.8B files? just as big as the zip themselves?

You can try deleting a few stuff and then trying to flash, the build.prop is the last files to flash so if you had enough room it should change if not delete some more and try to flash again.

[Q] Why can't I install this app? TwoDots, error -506

I've just moved from 4.4.2 to 5.0 on my Nexus 5 and used Ti to restore all my apps. It kept hanging on restoring TwoDots so I skipped it and installed everything else. Now I can't restore TwoDots from Ti and I can't install it from the Play Store (error -506).
I'm thinking I must have some kind of corrupt partial restore of the app but I don't know how to go about solving that. Have wiped cache/dalvik to no avail.

Having the same issue with Google Keep.
Came from 4.4.4 and onto 5.0 on my Moto G LTE. Restoring via Titanium Backup gives me the insufficient space error which is weird, because I have a lot of space for apps. Tried via Play Store and it returned a rare 506 error. Still looking for a solution.
Edit: Just solved this from my side by deleting the data folder of said application. In my case, it was com.google.android.keep which I got rid of via an app called System Cleanup. Hope this helps.

Zyquil said:
Having the same issue with Google Keep.
Came from 4.4.4 and onto 5.0 on my Moto G LTE. Restoring via Titanium Backup gives me the insufficient space error which is weird, because I have a lot of space for apps. Tried via Play Store and it returned a rare 506 error. Still looking for a solution.
Edit: Just solved this from my side by deleting the data folder of said application. In my case, it was com.google.android.keep which I got rid of via an app called System Cleanup. Hope this helps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey Zyquil. I still have this problem n cant delete com.instagram.android while using System Cleanup. Any ideas how I can solve this?

Error 506
Same problem. I have tried all the above suggestions, including reboots, to no avail. It's happening for Titanium, GoSMS, Roboform & FxExplorer, while others of similar sizes install ok. All of them have been installed and working previously. Sometimes Play Store just crashes with these, or I get 'insufficient storage, manage apps to free space' when sideloading.
Go figure!

Error 506
sytauro said:
Same problem. I have tried all the above suggestions, including reboots, to no avail. It's happening for Titanium, GoSMS, Roboform & FxExplorer, while others of similar sizes install ok. All of them have been installed and working previously. Sometimes Play Store just crashes with these, or I get 'insufficient storage, manage apps to free space' when sideloading.
Go figure!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I reckon my problems were caused by using the Link2Sd app. I moved too many apps to sdcard. A factory reset and reflashing my ROM sorted the problem. Link2Sd is still an excellent app manager app and allows (amongst other things) linking phone storage apps to the sdcard to save memory space. Just use it cautiously.

If you use a root explorer, goto data/data, there are dead files in there under google music, or talk, delete them , then try to reinstall from play store, worked perfectly for me and killed the 506 error, these are from past error installs and Android thinks the app is still installed. I personally use root explorer and within all the actual blue file folders under data/data, the corrupt ones showed as white unknown files, if I helped hit thanks.... These are actually like leftover residual file fragments from a prior intall, that for some reason Android 5.0+ doesn't clean out, tombstones

thankz ...working (data/data/ com.whatsapp - deleted)
Thunder Droid said:
If you use a root explorer, goto data/data, there are dead files in there under google music, or talk, delete them , then try to reinstall from play store, worked perfectly for me and killed the 506 error, these are from past error installs and Android thinks the app is still installed. I personally use root explorer and within all the actual blue file folders under data/data, the corrupt ones showed as white unknown files, if I helped hit thanks.... These are actually like leftover residual file fragments from a prior intall, that for some reason Android 5.0+ doesn't clean out, tombstones
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Thunder Droid said:
If you use a root explorer, goto data/data, there are dead files in there under google music, or talk, delete them , then try to reinstall from play store, worked perfectly for me and killed the 506 error, these are from past error installs and Android thinks the app is still installed. I personally use root explorer and within all the actual blue file folders under data/data, the corrupt ones showed as white unknown files, if I helped hit thanks.... These are actually like leftover residual file fragments from a prior intall, that for some reason Android 5.0+ doesn't clean out, tombstones
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You sir, deserves a medal !

It worked
Thunder Droid said:
If you use a root explorer, goto data/data, there are dead files in there under google music, or talk, delete them , then try to reinstall from play store, worked perfectly for me and killed the 506 error, these are from past error installs and Android thinks the app is still installed. I personally use root explorer and within all the actual blue file folders under data/data, the corrupt ones showed as white unknown files, if I helped hit thanks.... These are actually like leftover residual file fragments from a prior intall, that for some reason Android 5.0+ doesn't clean out, tombstones
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Simply funciounou me, just having to delete files corrupted by Link2SD worth it

I fixed it with sd maid, running the corps cleaner. I'm on lolipop.

I used this fix and it worked perfectly.
I too use link2sd and after a crash I could not reinstall several of my Apps.
I used root explorer as described and when I deleted the non-blue files in data\data folder I could install all my apps.
Thanks to Thunder Droid
Wayne

Thank you but...
rahmannek said:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It works for me to reinstall the app, but now I can't move this apps to SD Card, do you know how to solve it, please?
And when I try to move the app to SD card with Link2SD card I got the following error:
"[INSTALL_FAILED-DEXOPT] "
Can you help me, please?

great
Aventura5 said:
I fixed it with sd maid, running the corps cleaner. I'm on lolipop.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you so much. This really saved me from resetting my phone!!! I spent the whole damn night last night ;(
Update: Some apps are still nasty and come up with the same error like: CF.lumen, Google Gesture, Tangram.

sytauro said:
I reckon my problems were caused by using the Link2Sd app. I moved too many apps to sdcard. A factory reset and reflashing my ROM sorted the problem. Link2Sd is still an excellent app manager app and allows (amongst other things) linking phone storage apps to the sdcard to save memory space. Just use it cautiously.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exactly that!
I had Link2SD installed and had moved a lot of apps to the ext4 partition of my SGS4 with CM12.1. Now I changed my SD-card from 64 GB to 128 GB. I had backuped all these apps with Titanium, well, but I didnt delete all those links.
Effect was that restore with Titanium was not possible (forever the MsgBox "....blabla restore...". With Google Play I had this Error Code -506, which is nowhere described I guess.
After I deleted all those dead symlinks I could reinstall or restore the apps, only thing now: Titanium did the restore not to the internal system but to the external sd-card, at least told me so. Now I could move them through the systems app management to the internal system but I think this was not the most elegant way to manage.

same problem for me with few apps.
here my exprerience:
system cleanup do nothing
root explorer free edition can't browse data folder; pro version not buyed
es file explorer free edition has a root explorer but show an empty folder when browsing data
sd maid work great!
thanks @Aventura5

Thank you brother.

Thunder Droid said:
If you use a root explorer, goto data/data, there are dead files in there under google music, or talk, delete them , then try to reinstall from play store, worked perfectly for me and killed the 506 error, these are from past error installs and Android thinks the app is still installed. I personally use root explorer and within all the actual blue file folders under data/data, the corrupt ones showed as white unknown files, if I helped hit thanks.... These are actually like leftover residual file fragments from a prior intall, that for some reason Android 5.0+ doesn't clean out, tombstones
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you! After trying multiple solutions this is what finally worked.

Thunder Droid said:
If you use a root explorer, goto data/data, there are dead files in there under google music, or talk, delete them , then try to reinstall from play store, worked perfectly for me and killed the 506 error, these are from past error installs and Android thinks the app is still installed. I personally use root explorer and within all the actual blue file folders under data/data, the corrupt ones showed as white unknown files, if I helped hit thanks.... These are actually like leftover residual file fragments from a prior intall, that for some reason Android 5.0+ doesn't clean out, tombstones
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow! It worked like a charm! Thaaaaaank you! ??

FIXED. Got the same problem here. Trying to install new apps but it kept saying error 506. I'm a link2sd user and i was guessing that the problem came from this app. Just go to the settings>install location>select internal. It worked for me.

I found an easier way to fix this issue. If you have titanium backup installed, run batch mode and remove orphan data.
After that, install from playstore was a breeze.
Hit thanks if this helped you.
Sent from my SM-G900P using XDA Free mobile app

Resize the system partition?

I am running a stock image on my N5 with root and need to add an apk into the system partition but the problem is that I have only 4mb left on there and the apk does not fit. Is it possible to resize the partitions and:
Still keep your data
and/or
Allow for OTA installations down the road?

Short answer is no. And you certainly can't do it without wiping everything else. Repartitioning Android partitions is not for the faint of heart. It takes a lot of knowledge and can easily brick your device.
Sent from my Nexus 9 using XDA Free mobile app

psychephylax said:
I am running a stock image on my N5 with root and need to add an apk into the system partition but the problem is that I have only 4mb left on there and the apk does not fit. Is it possible to resize the partitions and:
Still keep your data
and/or
Allow for OTA installations down the road?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why don't you just simply delete some unused pre-installed apps from /system?

xnormskix said:
Why don't you just simply delete some unused pre-installed apps from /system?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
He will need to revert changes in order to run the OTA process.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Plus, with a nexus image there really isn't much stuff to delete as there is on a carrier image
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

What i am really trying to do is get the droid circle widget working which should live in priv-app in system. I wonder if I can symlink from the user data partition

psychephylax said:
What i am really trying to do is get the droid circle widget working which should live in priv-app in system. I wonder if I can symlink from the user data partition
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Stock Google OS comes with a ton of crap on /system that really belongs on /data. You delete all those apps, then download them from the playstore. 300ish MB free on /system.
I wrote a script to do this here, or you could use @vomer CleanRom that gets rid of some crap. My script (from memory) keeps stock keyboard, stock camera, and a stock launcher. Everything else is gone and can be reacquired through the playstore, the way it should have been from the beginning.
If it bothers you, could could use TiBu to back up that app data before you delete them, then restore after playstore install.
Who cares about OTA? Really not of concern.

Thank you for putting me on the right track. What I wound up doing was converting a couple of the apps that are baked into the stock ROM from system to user apps with TiBu. Worked like a charm!

awesome ...
Aerowinder said:
Stock Google OS comes with a ton of crap on /system that really belongs on /data. You delete all those apps, then download them from the playstore. 300ish MB free on /system.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your awesome and simple script - great idea!
Worked on my Nexus 5, 6 and 7. Boosted free space by 360 MB.
Regards.
Update : your script also worked on my Nexus 6 running Stock Marshmallow Version "mra58r" now that I have 863 MB free on /system.
:: TWRP 2.8.7.1 + ElementalX-N6-3.06 Kernel + SuperSU BETA 2.52

Same issue with CM13
I'm facing low system space when installing CM13.
The ROM installs correctly. However, when I go to flash GAPPS, I get a low system error.
How can I fix this?

Flash back to stock, perform a factory wipe, flash twrp, flash cm and gapps. Hopefully, those fixes the issue.

Aerowinder said:
Stock Google OS comes with a ton of crap on /system that really belongs on /data. You delete all those apps, then download them from the playstore. 300ish MB free on /system.
I wrote a script to do this here, or you could use @vomer CleanRom that gets rid of some crap. My script (from memory) keeps stock keyboard, stock camera, and a stock launcher. Everything else is gone and can be reacquired through the playstore, the way it should have been from the beginning.
If it bothers you, could could use TiBu to back up that app data before you delete them, then restore after playstore install.
Who cares about OTA? Really not of concern.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Original link to script above is dead. Any chance we could still get the script, particularly if it would still work okay on Android 6 (Marshmallow) or 7 (Nougat)? Thanks.

Galaxy S7 SM-G930F (6.0.1) - System Partition Size

Hi All
I am hoping someone can help... I have the Galaxy S7 (SM-G930F / 6.0.1 / UK / EE) and have come up with an issue.
I use Cerberus Apps in case my phone is lost - you are able to install this into the system to avoid someone wiping the phone and removing the software. To do this the phone must be rooted and then I usually use Link2SD to transfer the app to make it a system app. This has always worked on my old phones - but alas not this time.
The problem is that the system partition (4Gb) is full!! I have deleted all the language packs to try and clear some space - but it is still full! Strangely enough I also uninstalled an "Amazon" app which was listed as being a system app and quite large (from memory I think it was just under 100Mb)... but when I removed it and rebooted the system partition free space remained unchanged! It's possible that Amazon was a user app and I mis-read it... but anyway - I thought that the only way to clear some space was to resize the system partition - so I installed TWRP (3.0.2), have done a complete backup (system/efs/etc) apart from \data as this showed 0Mb and "failed to mount" when I tried to back it up originally.
So, my question is - can anyone help me to free some space from the system partition to allow Cerberus App to be stored there? I did think about uninstalling the VR Gear files as I dont have a VR device and assumed I could re-load these from Google Play if needed - but I do have the Galaxy Gear watch - so decided not to remove these files in case it screwed this up. Not sure which Google Apps I can remove and re-install if needed... so if anyone knows this, then that would be a help too
I thought you could resize the partition in TWRP but cant find any clear details on how to do this, so thought I'd ask here before I screw the phone up :silly:
Any ideas/help greatly received.

TWRP doesn't support encryption so that's likely why /data won't mount. Resizing partitions is typically done via Odin with PIT files, but it's very dangerous, so I wouldn't recommend it.
Luxembourg ROMs have around 130mb free system space, so there must be a ton of carrier bloat in yours. This doesn't sound right though, it's required that there is some space for expansion. Could you run the following command in a root terminal and post the results please?
df -k | grep system

CurtisMJ said:
df -k | grep system
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks Curtis - I left my phone at home today, so will try this tonight and post results. After deleting all the unwanted language files I have about 40Mb space free, but this still doesnt seem to be enough as when I run Link2SD and reboot the phone, Cerberus has vanished and has to be re-installed... although when it re-installs it shows it as an "update" which would indicate that it is installed already - just 'lost' ???
Will update tonight when I get a moment.
Thanks

That's interesting actually. It seems to be indicative of permission issues. The app was successfully moved to the system, but the permissions on its files were wrong and the system refuses to load it(Link2SD's fault, essentially) . It's still acknowledged by the app manager though, which is why it can be "updated". Can you try move it with something apart from Link2SD? I recommend titanium backup.

CurtisMJ said:
Can you try move it with something apart from Link2SD? I recommend titanium backup.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks Curtis - I have Titanium Backup (free version) installed already so can give it a go - I have only used it for backups (a long while ago) and have never used it to relocate an app... is it fairly self explanatory how to do it?
Will look tonight when I get in
Thanks

Just tried with titanium myself and it fails in a similar manner. Seems Marshmallow is a little fiddly and Link2SD puts out a generic message when it has issues. Titanium just freezes. You'll have to do it manually
First you'll need to clear the system of failed attempts. Look in the /system/app and /system/priv-app with a root Explorer for Cerberus apks or folders. Next, look in the /data/app folder and find the Cerberus folder. Take note of this path.
Next, fire up a root terminal and enter the following commands. In my case I was moving Greenify.
mount -o remount,rw /system
cp - a /data/app/com.oasisfeng.greenify-1 /system/app/Greenify
Replace the data folder with your noted path. The system path can be anything.
Then reboot and the app should be system.

Hi Curtis
Thanks for spending so much time on this.
OK, I skipped straight to the manual relocation method that you said. Whilst the app is Cerberus the APK etc is called System Framework as I have installed the 'hidden' version rather than the one which shows as Cerberus on the phone. However using OI File Manager, when I look in /system/app and /system/priv-app folders there is nothing called Cerberus or System Framework... so I am assuming that there are no orphaned APKs or other files.
But, this is where the strange thing starts, when I look in the /data/app folder, it is empty... so I am guessing I am looking in the wrong place as there are loads of apps! I am looking from home then selecting data, etc... any thoughts?
Oh, I have checked that hidden files are shown too!
Thanks again

i used to install the same app on my S7
please follow this guide & let me know the result.
1- uninstall Cerberus App, Link2SD, TTb, etc. and reboot
2- install SystemCleanup.
3- from the app SystemCleanup swip to tab apps and remove some bloatware like Google books, music, games, google TTS.
4- Reboot & install Cerberus App, do not run it.
5- from the app SystemCleanup go to apps tab and move Cerberus App to system/app & reboot again.
6- That's all.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Hi Abuzar
Thanks for the help... I tried using System Cleanup and initially it didn't work... it didn't show System Framework after cleaning up which made me think it was uninstalled properly. But when I tried to re-install it I got a message asking if I wanted to update the the built in application... so I said yes and re-checked in System Cleanup and it was visible, so I tried uninstalling it and after a couple of attempts it succeeded.
Then I re-installed and it installed it as a new app and it was visible in System Cleanup as installed in /data. So, I moved it to /system and configured it. It now lists in System Cleanup as being installed @auto system+data... so I am assuming it has installed properly... but not 100% sure as it lists some of it in data - so not sure if after a reset it will wipe the user profile from Cerberus or not.
I took a backup in TWRP and thought I would do a factory reset and test it... but on the S7 using factory reset in O/S it asks for my samsung password etc so looks like it may delete my Samsung/Google account's so didn't proceed as I didn't want to delete any online info. So... I tried factory wipe in TWRP but it just said failed "could not mount /data and unable to find crypto footer" and a few more "failed to mount /data" errors... so I gave up and will have to assume its installed properly as a system app
Thanks for all your help.

Just as a final note, the system+data combo sounds normal. Under regular conditions, the system partition is read only, so in order to install any updates to system apps, Android actually installs them as data apps, but cross-references them to system apps and gives them the relevant permissions. You can remove the data part by selecting "Uninstall Updates" in the app info page.