Database Info

Re-installing apps after new rom install

Because I'm a new member I couldn't find a proper place to put this info due to new member posting limitations. Mods feel free to move this if needed...
This may or may not have been mentioned on here yet but I thought I'd still pass it along anyway's just in case some of you aren't aware of it.
With the new Google Play store under "My Apps" if you swipe to the left you will get an "All" listing of all apps you have ever downloaded. Personally myself I really like this feature because when flashing a new rom as long as Google Market/Play store is on your device it will eventually update to the latest version which I believe at this time is v3.5.16 and at that point you can proceed with re-installing any app you had previously installed and also keeping in mind that whatever app you do decide to install, it will be the latest version as it's grabbing it directly from the Play store! It's like a reserved container for all your apps!
In my opinion, there's really no need to install gapps after a flash.
Hope this bit of info been somewhat useful to you.
Cheers.

I remember seeing this earlier too, just that instead of a swipe it was a scroll down the list.

You are right this is very helpful.
Sent from my Emancipated SAMSUNG-SGH-I997 using XDA

I agree; For a first timer in the flashing world, I found this to be an excellent way to get my phone back up to speed with my preferred apps.
(Also my tenth post )

Glad I can help!
Like I said, I wasn't sure if this was previously mentioned (didn't really see it anywhere on here unless it was deeply embedded in one of the threads) thought I'd still post just in case.... But yeah, I never noticed this feature before with the old Market Place but than again I never really looked for it.... however recently I had to re-flash a rom, did the whole wipe cache, factory reset thing which is when I stumbled across this feature with Google Play Store. In the end, I didn't have to touch the gapps re-installer package....

[Q] Google Now "Phone Search" not working anymore ? HELP !

Hello ;0)
I noticed a strange behaviour on my Nexus 5 (or maybe Google changed something?):
On my Nexus 4 I had an option in the settings of Google Now to activate some apps that I could search "within" the Google Search. All I had to do was to activate them and then, on the bottom of the search results, I would swipe the small bar to the right till I got to the phone entry and it would show me search results from the specified apps and I could open the app from there and it would take me to the result within the app.
For example: A search for "Sarah Miche" would pop up as "Sarah Michelle Gellar" with an imdb and a wikipedia icon, I clicked that and the wikipedia/imdb app would start and open the page about Sarah Michelle Gellar.
I quite liked that and used it a lot...
On my Nexus 5 however the option is gone. The settings are still there. In Google Now under settings-phone search but it just enables me to search apps/Chrome Beta/Contacts/Play Movies. And "apps" will just allow me to search for apps I installed on my phone not to search "inside" those apps. (See screenshots)
So I thought "Meeehhhhh, f****. They removed a feature I really liked. Guess I have to live with that..."
Now for the strange part:
I installed google search and GEL on my tablet (running Android 4.3) an the option is still there (but it´s called "tablet-search" and "tablet")
AND IT´S WORKING... (See screenshots) Same freaking Google-Search build, same freaking GEL-build....
Am I doing something wrong ?!?!? Does my phone hate me ? What´s up with that ?
Any help would be appreciated ;0)
Thanks ...
P.s.: Sorry my phone and my tablet are in german but you should get the picture ;0)

Same here, I don't even have "Chrome Beta" in the list.
But therein probably lies the answer: Google changed the way how Apps can "apply" to be shown in this list and not even the latest stock Chrome version has this feature yet (but the newer Beta does).
Also it seems to be a problem for the new GEL only, the list still works properly on my N10 with Google Search 3.1.8.x.

I've read mention of a new API for this functionality and that devs need to apply it to their apps. Just weird that Google itself hasn't applied it to all their apps.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using xda app-developers app

And that it still works on my tablet... ;0(
Gesendet von meinem Nexus 5 mit Tapatalk

patrickem said:
I've read mention of a new API for this functionality and that devs need to apply it to their apps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Think you can find more info on that? As a developer I'd like to know, as my app uses the global search feature and it stopped working recently.
Daniel.Stevens said:
And that it still works on my tablet... ;0(
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Any news on this?
On a side note, I created a question on Stackoverflow with the same issue.

On my nexus 7 2012 I installed the 3.1 from the Nexus 5 a few weeks ago. After a reset of Google Search data the tablet search broke like on your Nexus 5...but I only noticed it when I upgraded to kitkat. I obviously thought it was kitkat the problem until today.
The problem is how Google Search 3.x handles the list. There must be a bug of some sort.
Here's why:
On my htc one s with cm10.2 (4.3) I reset the data of Search 3.1.8 to try something only to discover that the Phone Search list was almost empty like on my tablet!
I uninstalled it and the 2.6.7 version was restored from /system/app. The phone search list was full now, even after I updated to 3.1.8.
So, basically, if you open Google Search 2.x and then you update to 3.x the list will be there like it always did.
Who updated to kitkat without resetting the data won't have any problems (or whoever update to 3.1.8 on any phone\tablet without data reset)

lbrfabio said:
On my nexus 7 2012 I installed the 3.1 from the Nexus 5 a few weeks ago. After a reset of Google Search data the tablet search broke like on your Nexus 5...but I only noticed it when I upgraded to kitkat. I obviously thought it was kitkat the problem until today.
The problem is how Google Search 3.x handles the list. There must be a bug of some sort.
Here's why:
On my htc one s with cm10.2 (4.3) I reset the data of Search 3.1.8 to try something only to discover that the Phone Search list was almost empty like on my tablet!
I uninstalled it and the 2.6.7 version was restored from /system/app. The phone search list was full now, even after I updated to 3.1.8.
So, basically, if you open Google Search 2.x and then you update to 3.x the list will be there like it always did.
Who updated to kitkat without resetting the data won't have any problems (or whoever update to 3.1.8 on any phone\tablet without data reset)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I found this commit in AOSP, which might be related:
https : // android.googlesource.com/platform/packages/apps/QuickSearchBox/+/ecf356c15143ab0583c64682de16d94a57f7dd1c
The commit message tells us that this feature was removed due to performance reasons (which might or might not be true, given that it references an internal ticket id and I didn't find a public issue here about this).
Since this part of the quicksearchbox is included in the ROM and released with Android 4.4, it doesn't matter which version of Google-Search you have installed. As long as you have updated to Android Kitkat 4.4 or newer, you won't be able to search the contentproviders of installed apps.
Nevertheless, I found this nifty, but ugly and ad-driven little app, which mimics device-search:
https : // play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.startapp.quicksearchbox
You should decline the initial request and ignore its Android 2.x-ugliness, though.
It takes some getting used to, but it works.

StingerAJ said:
I found this commit in AOSP, which might be related:
https : // android.googlesource.com/platform/packages/apps/QuickSearchBox/+/ecf356c15143ab0583c64682de16d94a57f7dd1c
The commit message tells us that this feature was removed due to performance reasons (which might or might not be true, given that it references an internal ticket id and I didn't find a public issue here about this).
Since this part of the quicksearchbox is included in the ROM and released with Android 4.4, it doesn't matter which version of Google-Search you have installed. As long as you have updated to Android Kitkat 4.4 or newer, you won't be able to search the contentproviders of installed apps.
Nevertheless, I found this nifty, but ugly and ad-driven little app, which mimics device-search:
https : // play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.startapp.quicksearchbox
You should decline the initial request and ignore its Android 2.x-ugliness, though.
It takes some getting used to, but it works.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
was a very usefull option :crying::crying::crying:

Hello I have installed Archidroid 2.5 ROM, but I have a problem with the research on the phone.
When I enter in the settings of google and now I open the page "search on the phone" there is no app is completely empty.
So I can not look in the app Email.
I think this problem is related to the app Google now.
So there is no way to make it work on the Cyano rom based?

Possible solution
Try to uninstall Google Search and do a update from Google Play. Worked for me.

[Q] n00b with 2 new/ Tmobile Avants - rudimentary questions about custom roms

Hi ... I'm a n00b when it comes to phone hacks but not technology so please don't dumb your answers down on account of me.
We bought two Tmobile Samsung Avants a cpl days ago (one to use and one as a spare) because the price was right and I'm leaving a WM device for Android. HOWEVER I don't like the idea that Google, who has no personal or business relationship with me, has access to all my personal information just because I'm using a phone they've branded. So I'm looking for an Android ROM that doesn't have Google tentacles in it.
I've been researching this since we got the phones but I'm not clear on what ROMS are avail for my phone ... it doesn't look like cyanogenmod has one (although they have one for my gf's old Exhibit T599!! ) - is there a repository, website or thread I haven't found that has a list of what's out there? am I stuck rooting the phone and MANUALLY removing everything? The phones have Kitkat installed.
I saw a youtube vid where they've ported Lollipop to the Avant - would that come de-Googled?
Do Android ROMs from Android come without a Google footprint? Some users have posted that Android as an independent company is not necessarily Google and their OS is NOT a Google product so my thoughts are you can have one without the other.
Any help / info is appreciated. thanks!

master-richie said:
Hi ... I'm a n00b when it comes to phone hacks but not technology so please don't dumb your answers down on account of me.
We bought two Tmobile Samsung Avants a cpl days ago (one to use and one as a spare) because the price was right and I'm leaving a WM device for Android. HOWEVER I don't like the idea that Google, who has no personal or business relationship with me, has access to all my personal information just because I'm using a phone they've branded. So I'm looking for an Android ROM that doesn't have Google tentacles in it.
I've been researching this since we got the phones but I'm not clear on what ROMS are avail for my phone ... it doesn't look like cyanogenmod has one (although they have one for my gf's old Exhibit T599!! ) - is there a repository, website or thread I haven't found that has a list of what's out there? am I stuck rooting the phone and MANUALLY removing everything? The phones have Kitkat installed.
I saw a youtube vid where they've ported Lollipop to the Avant - would that come de-Googled?
Do Android ROMs from Android come without a Google footprint? Some users have posted that Android as an independent company is not necessarily Google and their OS is NOT a Google product so my thoughts are you can have one without the other.
Any help / info is appreciated. thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is a project that doesnt have google stuff but you lose alot. Like no app store and things like that. Also Android is a google project. Like WP is by microsoft.
No there is no site like you are looking for.
Android is not a company but an OS like IOS, Windows, Linux and such.
The issue is mainly that if your device is not widely used then there may not be anything available for it. You also need to find out if the bootloader is locked or not and if kernel source is available for the device.
Google doesnt brand phones persay. The android operating system is theirs.

master-richie said:
Hi ... I'm a n00b when it comes to phone hacks but not technology so please don't dumb your answers down on account of me.
We bought two Tmobile Samsung Avants a cpl days ago (one to use and one as a spare) because the price was right and I'm leaving a WM device for Android. HOWEVER I don't like the idea that Google, who has no personal or business relationship with me, has access to all my personal information just because I'm using a phone they've branded. So I'm looking for an Android ROM that doesn't have Google tentacles in it.
I've been researching this since we got the phones but I'm not clear on what ROMS are avail for my phone ... it doesn't look like cyanogenmod has one (although they have one for my gf's old Exhibit T599!! ) - is there a repository, website or thread I haven't found that has a list of what's out there? am I stuck rooting the phone and MANUALLY removing everything? The phones have Kitkat installed.
I saw a youtube vid where they've ported Lollipop to the Avant - would that come de-Googled?
Do Android ROMs from Android come without a Google footprint? Some users have posted that Android as an independent company is not necessarily Google and their OS is NOT a Google product so my thoughts are you can have one without the other.
Any help / info is appreciated. thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Google has not shown itself to be a malicious company. Is it a little creepy that they know everything about you? Yes. Will it make your user experience better? Probably. When you flash a custom ROM it removes all of the Google apps but the Google apps are really useful. Play Store, Maps, Gmail (can store all your contacts so if you get a new phone you can just import them), etc. are all very useful in my opinion. I don't personally need Google Music for example so I deleted that. All of my music comes through Spotify and Bandcamp downloads. But I can't imagine my phone without the Play Store and Gmail. It would make the experience very annoying. Cyanogen Inc. is looking into pushing their ROMs on to retail Android phones so the phone would come with Cyanogenmod and have their own equivalent to GApps. But, that won't happen for a while. The best bet to get Google out of your hair is to root it and delete the apps you don't need, or use SlimRom.
Edit: Make sure your phone is the same model as the ones that SlimRom is created for.

dictatorkara said:
Google has not shown itself to be a malicious company. Is it a little creepy that they know everything about you? Yes. Will it make your user experience better? Probably. When you flash a custom ROM it removes all of the Google apps but the Google apps are really useful. Play Store, Maps, Gmail (can store all your contacts so if you get a new phone you can just import them), etc. are all very useful in my opinion. I don't personally need Google Music for example so I deleted that. All of my music comes through Spotify and Bandcamp downloads. But I can't imagine my phone without the Play Store and Gmail. It would make the experience very annoying. Cyanogen Inc. is looking into pushing their ROMs on to retail Android phones so the phone would come with Cyanogenmod and have their own equivalent to GApps. But, that won't happen for a while. The best bet to get Google out of your hair is to root it and delete the apps you don't need, or use SlimRom.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is not true. Even without gapps there are still many google base system files that are built into the system. There is only one Google-less project that is being worked on but they do have issues as the OS is not built to run without them. Even Slim Rom still use alot of googles stuff.

zelendel said:
This is not true. Even without gapps there are still many google base system files that are built into the system. There is only one Google-less project that is being worked on but they do have issues as the OS is not built to run without them. Even Slim Rom still use alot of googles stuff.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I didn't say you can completely de-Google an Android device. But, you can make it appear to be de-Googled, although the system files you mentioned will still be there. But you can completely opt out of Gmail and the like.

dictatorkara said:
I didn't say you can completely de-Google an Android device. But, you can make it appear to be de-Googled, although the system files you mentioned will still be there. But you can completely opt out of Gmail and the like.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I used to have an IT company not too long ago and I run a bunch of commercial grade servers in my house - My needs aren't the same as the typical phone user with respect to data redundancy, cloud computing, etc - I have that capability already. I pretty much use my phone to snap photos, internet browsing, texting, making calls and sometimes use the gps when driving. What I don't need is a copy of all my activity, contacts, calls, texts and browsing history stored on google servers to be sold or given to entities that I a. wouldn't consent to b. have no clue it's happening.
I don't really care if there is a Google footprint left in the phone, I just want to remove Google's ability to mine my personal data from my phone which also includes registering my device via a google+ account.
With respect to playstore, isn't Aptoid a suitable alternative?
What is SlimROM? where can I get more info on it? I saw the post you had linked to originally which prompted me to post my OP because I couldn't find any other info on it

master-richie said:
I used to have an IT company not too long ago and I run a bunch of commercial grade servers in my house - My needs aren't the same as the typical phone user with respect to data redundancy, cloud computing, etc - I have that capability already. I pretty much use my phone to snap photos, internet browsing, texting, making calls and sometimes use the gps when driving. What I don't need is a copy of all my activity, contacts, calls, texts and browsing history stored on google servers to be sold or given to entities that I a. wouldn't consent to b. have no clue it's happening.
I don't really care if there is a Google footprint left in the phone, I just want to remove Google's ability to mine my personal data from my phone which also includes registering my device via a google+ account.
With respect to playstore, isn't Aptoid a suitable alternative?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No Dont use that. They are all warez and are known for including data miners, Keyloggers and screen recorders.
Ill be honest. You picked the wrong OS for that then. GPS itself uses google software to connect to the satalites.
This is your best option
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1715375

The status of Android without a Google Account

Hi everyone,
I have been researching and I've compiled a list of all the options available to use an Android device with Cyanogenmod without a Google account and I was wondering if anyone has a better solution considering the options I've found are all lacking.
Here is what I found including the issues for each option:
- Amazon web store (Not every app is available)
- Third party repositories, like apkmirror (Security implications of running apk that anyone can upload)
- F-Droid (Not every app is available)
- Getting the apps I need from the play store once and then backup the apks with a file manager (No updates) or I am going to need a different phone with a Google account and the play store.
Moral of the story, it's not easy to run an android phone without a google account.
Ps. A solution that I think could work (but I wasn't able to find a project that works) is an open source apk downloader (maybe on github) that get the apps straight from google via command line but all the projects I've seen are either out of date or not working...
Any suggestion is really appreciated! Thank you all!

Keep an android device with google play installed, then move the apks of things i really want, or bought already.
But honestly, after some choices I've made (running my own dropbox-like service on my server) I could definitely live with just F-Droid. Of course I'm not using some stuff like facebook or snapchat, so my needs in terms of apps isn't as extensive as others. Sometimes it does feel like i'm hamstrung when the next new fad comes and goes, but I'll live without them.

surfinpika said:
Keep an android device with google play installed, then move the apks of things i really want, or bought already.
But honestly, after some choices I've made (running my own dropbox-like service on my server) I could definitely live with just F-Droid. Of course I'm not using some stuff like facebook or snapchat, so my needs in terms of apps isn't as extensive as others. Sometimes it does feel like i'm hamstrung when the next new fad comes and goes, but I'll live without them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi surfinpika,
thanks for your input, I am starting to feel like your solution (of having a separate device with just the google account setup) is the cleanest option.
I am not into facebook or snapchat or the next fad either... but f-droid wouldn't cut it for me, stuff like keepass2android or some of the other apps I use are definitely not there. I wonder what are the security implications of using F-Droid compared to getting the apks from apkmirror. Considering my level of paranoia I wouldn't feel safe with either option.

_polymar said:
Hi surfinpika,
thanks for your input, I am starting to feel like your solution (of having a separate device with just the google account setup) is the cleanest option.
I am not into facebook or snapchat or the next fad either... but f-droid wouldn't cut it for me, stuff like keepass2android or some of the other apps I use are definitely not there. I wonder what are the security implications of using F-Droid compared to getting the apks from apkmirror. Considering my level of paranoia I wouldn't feel safe with either option.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
One issue I can think of with this approach is that both the device with google play store and the device where the apps are going to be installed will require the same CPU architecture.
Won't be able to download the apk on a cheap android (most likely ARM) and install it on ARM64...

_polymar said:
One issue I can think of with this approach is that both the device with google play store and the device where the apps are going to be installed will require the same CPU architecture.
Won't be able to download the apk on a cheap android (most likely ARM) and install it on ARM64...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, luckily my back up is the same architecture as my non-gapps phone.
And there are also ways of getting some of the apks straight from the sources, like keepass2android from the project's website. but even if it is google, they sort of give a sense of security in that the apk won't be messed with.
It's such a mess though otherwise, hard to separate the google from the android, and no other viable OSs are any better. hope some competition at least makes a nice little niche to get away from the big G.

Question F-droid and the Galaxy A326U

Hi I have this galaxy A32 5g here and I installed the F- Droid apk. Installed fine but when I go to download ANY content I get a error I haven't seen before (shown in picture). I go to change the install apps from unknown sources, and it's not there. Every other so I've tried, install apps from unknown sources is there. I have a galaxy S8 that I have no problem using F- Droid on. Anyone else? Any fix. (Can this bootloader really be unlocked) ..
Thanks!
Random_pH

Bootloader can be unlocked depending on your current firmware version to check go to
Settings , About Phone , Software Information and take a look at the build number.
The number in the last characters should be a 1 ,2 or a 3. If its higher then those numbers then there is no current unlock for it

Ry Knowledge said:
Hi I have this galaxy A32 5g here and I installed the F- Droid apk. Installed fine but when I go to download ANY content I get a error I haven't seen before (shown in picture). I go to change the install apps from unknown sources, and it's not there. Every other so I've tried, install apps from unknown sources is there. I have a galaxy S8 that I have no problem using F- Droid on. Anyone else? Any fix. (Can this bootloader really be unlocked) ..
Thanks!
Random_pH
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My locked bootloader A326U is on build number 1AUxx. I disabled as much as possible (google & samsung apps & services) before adding a sim card or wifi for the first time. I did the ADB & Developer Options update blocking first so I can unlock the bootloader in the future if new roms are ever develop for it. Would love a GrapheneOS version for it. But it doesn't seem that is a possibility anytime soon.
I was really surprise how much stuff specially google services & the like I was able to Uninstall or Disable outright. Using F-Droid & Aurora Store I've been able to install & use 99% of current apps I was using before on my prior Z981. The only App that has not gotten past the nag about google services after installation has been the Little Ceasers app. Every other app that nags about google services still lets you continue using the app without it. I just silence the google services nag for each app so my notifications stop ringing over an over. I might make a walkthru of what I did later but it was nothing advanced. Just took the time to go thru each app & service & see which it would let me disable or uninstall.
Regarding the app you mentioned. I was just able to install that app from F-Droid it it runs perfectly. No errors. So not sure if the problem might be the wifi, cell or any security app you might have install that might be causing that problem. Installs & boots up perfectly here. I would recommend you redownload & reinstall F-Droid from their main site again.
Btw, I am on F-Droid v1.13.1 version.

I don't know the answer to your question but I do want to mention there are multiple F-Droid app clients that do the same things as does F-Droid, only they're designed to do it much better (using the same repositories as does the F-Droid app).
FOSS Aurora Droid F-Droid replacement client web page
Aurora Droid on F-Droid
AuroraDroid on GitLab