Where are the installed apps android

Where does Android store apps on my device?

Android typically stores installed apps (.APK files) in the following directory:

Apps in these directories use a naming convention according to the unique package name, which is specified by the app developer. For example, if an app’s package name is com.example.MyApp , then the app is stored in the following directory:

Unless you have a rooted (or «jailbroken») device, you cannot see the contents of this directory and it will appear to be empty. This is because Android does not allow access to this location within the file system. Android uses the /​data/​app/​ directory for managing app data, and any tampering with files in this location could cause problems. Below is a sample screenshot of the /​data/​app/​ directory on a device with root access:

If you’re wondering what the «.odex» files are, they are files that Android creates to optimize the boot loading process for your apps. You can read more about this file type on the .ODEX file extension page.

While /​data/​app/​ is the most common location for installed apps, there also other directories that are used for storing apps. Different apps may by installed in different locations. Here are some other possible directories for installed apps:

• /​system/​app/​ — Contains pre-installed system apps
• /​data/​asec/​ — Stores secure apps generated from external memory storage
• /​data/​app-private — Contains third party protected apps

Apps may also generate data for use during runtime. For example, an app may create a database file that stores favorites or recently viewed items. The data for these apps can be stored in the following directories:

• /​data/​data/​
• /​mnt/​sdcard/​Android/​data/​

These directories also use the Android package naming convention. For example, /​data/​data/​com.example.MyApp is the location for the data stored by MyApp.

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Where are apps stored in Android & How I find these Easily

Sometimes you may think about where your phone stores applications. Relatedly, which one stores applications RAM or ROM? Where are apps stored in Android device? Storage of applications may come with some relevant questions like that?

If you are here to find some answers relevant to that, you are gradually getting this here. Just read till the end because this article will answer some questions pertinent to that.

In Android phones, you have multiple options to get any app. Those are through downloading from the google app store or through APKs downloaders, or through sharing from other devices.

Overall these particular options have different allocated space in your device. So any application can be stored in any place according to its origin. Even an external SD card can be a storage of applications.

Then let’s know them to step by step.

App downloaded from Playstore :

Most commonly, we all download applications from Google Play Store. Maybe this is the most common source of our necessary applications when we use android.

You can find every single app you ever downloaded from Google Play Store. Google Play Store keeps cookies for your search and activities. Actually, Google does this according to your e-mail account.

For this, you have to open the Play Store application, which is basically a built-inapplication for Android. Then go to the menu (shown as three lines) and tap ‘My Apps & Games. There you can see your installed applications that are running on your device.

Then go to the ‘library’ section to find applications ever downloaded from here. The Library section is newly added; before that, there was an ‘All’ option to see that.

Apps in internal storage:

Sometimes you can even download apps from other APKs downloaders. As they are not downloaded from the play store, they will not show this in Google Play Store.

Apps you’ve downloaded from other options are stored in internal storage. Every Android phone has internal storage to store third-party applications.

These third-party applications are stored in this directory.

1. /Data/ app/

This is the most common directory location for app store in internal storage but not the only directory. Besides, this directory can a file folder or it can be found in another folder like /Android/ or /System/

Then the directory can be defined like this.

/Android/ Data/ App/ Or /System/ Data/ App/

Normally apps in these directories use a convention in nomenclature according to the unique package name, which the app developer specifically gives. For example, if an app’s package name is Alpha.example.MyApp, then you will find the app in this directory mentioned below:

/data/app/alpha.example.MyApp

2. Apps from a different source :

Android phones have accessibility to third-party applications from different sources. So where are apps stored while your phone gets those from different sources like sharing platforms or anything like that?

In your internal storage, there is a folder section to store this type of apps. Different apps may be installed in different locations. Here are some other possible directories for installed apps:

• /system/app/ – Contains pre-installed system apps

• /data/asec/ – Stores secure apps generated from external memory storage

• /data/app-private – Contains third party protected apps

A rooted device or a.k.a ‘jailbroken’ device may show you no content in this directory. Android prohibiting access to this location in the existing file system makes this happen.

Tampering any of the files in the /data/app/ directory may cause serious issues in running many of the apps because the operating system uses this location for managing app data etc.

Are Apps Stored in RAM or ROM?

This is very confusing among people that apps are stored in RAM or ROM?

In Android, all apps you install are stored on Internal memory, also known as ROM. RAM is the memory that is used to run different apps simultaneously. Applications can only run in RAM. But ROM contains the software which is known as an application, or simply an ‘app’.

Conclusion :

Android phones, as versatile devices, store different kinds of data, software, and applications. In Android, applications are stored in different sections according to their category.

This is the reason you may find applications in different folders on internal storage.

Internal storage not only stores applications but also stores data of an application.

Actually, ROM does the job of storage, but locations are fixed according to data categories. Un

But you have the option to change your installed applications’ location. You can use an SD card to store apps. But the most common directory is /data/app/. Installed uninstalled applications can be found in this directory.

Some Frequently Asked Questions

While Android stores apps in different directories, people get confused with some information.

Question: Are the applications stored on SD cards?

• Answer: This is possible to store apps on an SD card. Because the SD card is an external storage like other storage, but there might be some issues with running those apps which are located on an SD card.

Uninstalled and shared apps can be stored here.

Question: Are the applications stored on RAM?

Answer :

RAM is necessary to install an application. Actually, all applications are installed in RAM. It’s the platform where apps run. But all installed and uninstalled apps are stored in ROM, which is internal storage.

Question: How to access the Apps file on Android?

Answer:

The directory to access the Apps file follow this

/Android /data/app/

Every app has specific storage to store its data. You can find them on the app’s location, but Android doesn’t give access to use this.

Question: Where are apps stored in rooted devices?

Answer:

This is a critical question. Because in a rooted phone you’ve known the exact location to store. Apps can be stored anywhere on the storage. Sometimes it’s located in the system folder. But exceptions are common in rooted phones.

Question: What is the app’s data directory?

Answer :

the apps data are stored in this location directory. /data/data/

or on external storage, location directory

Question: Where are the apps stored on my Android phone

Answer :

According to the apps type, they are stored in different places on your Android phone. Normal apps are stored in the Internal Memory in data/app. You will find the encrypted apps in /data/app-private. Some apps are also found in the external memory, files of these apps are available in /mnt/sdcard/Android/data

Question: Are apps stored in RAM or ROM

Answer :

The downloaded apps are installed in RAM. If you don’t use them for many days, they shift to Background from the RAM. When you decide to use them again after a certain period, for fast retrieval, they are available in RAM. However, they will be unavailable if you remove them

Question:Where is the app data stored

Answer :

All app data, settings, database are available in their default directory which is /data/data/

. The best thing is other apps or even the user can’t access to this directory as it is “Private” by default.

Apart from this directory, SDCard is another place where app data is stored. Many apps store their database in SDCard without restriction.

Question: Is there a built-in color change on all Android phones?

Answer :

No, all Android phones don’t have built-in color change. Each activity of Android is white by default.

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Package visibility in Android 11

On Android 10 and earlier, apps could query the full list of installed apps on the system using methods like queryIntentActivities() . In most cases, this is far broader access than is necessary for an app to implement its functionality. With our ongoing focus on privacy, we’re introducing changes on how apps can query and interact with other installed apps on the same device on Android 11. In particular, we’re bringing better scoped access to the list of apps installed on a given device.

To provide better accountability for access to installed apps on a device, apps targeting Android 11 (API level 30) will see a filtered list of installed apps by default. In order to access a broader list of installed apps, an app can specify information about apps they need to query and interact with directly. This can be done by adding a element in the Android manifest.

For most common scenarios, including any implicit intents started with startActivity() , you won’t have to change anything! For other scenarios, like opening a specific third party application directly from your UI, developers will have to explicitly list the application package names or intent filter signatures like this:

If you use Custom Tabs to open URLs, you might be calling resolveActivity() and queryIntentActivities() in order to launch a non-browser app if one is available for the URL. In Android 11 there’s a better way to do this, which avoids the need to query other apps: the FLAG_ACTIVITY_REQUIRE_NON_BROWSER intent flag. When you call startActivity() with this flag, an ActivityNotFoundException will be thrown if a browser would have been launched. When this happens, you can open the URL in a Custom Tab instead.

In rare cases, your app might need to query or interact with all installed apps on a device, independent of the components they contain. To allow your app to see all other installed apps, Android 11 introduces the QUERY_ALL_PACKAGES permission. In an upcoming Google Play policy update, look for guidelines for apps that need the QUERY_ALL_PACKAGES permission.

When targeting API level 30 and adding a element to your app, use the latest available release of the Android Gradle plugin. Soon we’ll be releasing updates to older Android Gradle plugin versions to add support for this element. You can find more information and use cases about Package Visibility in the developer documentation.

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Testing Android Apps

After getting invited to test an Android Application in App Center you’ll receive an email notifying you of your pending invitation. The following sections outline the steps you need to take to get started testing this app.

Visual Studio App Center is no longer available in the Google Play store. Unfortunately, Google Play store considers the in-app update code as malicious behavior even if it isn’t used at runtime. There are no current plans to bring the app back to the Google Play store due to their policies. The same set of functionality is still available via the App Center install portal.

Device configuration

Changing security settings put your phone at risk of malicious software. Only install apps from developers you trust. Read about Google Play Protect which helps you protect your data.

Android 9.x and higher

• Grant permission to the app to install unknown apps. This triggers the installation.
• Android Oreo removed allow unknown sources from settings, for more info see refer to the blog post Making it safer to get apps on Android O

Android 8.x and higher

• Swipe up or down from the center of the display on a Home screen, to access the apps screen.
• Select Settings and Apps or Settings depending on the device brand.
• Search for special access in the search bar.
• Tap Special access.
• Tap Install unknown apps.
• Select your browser, then tap the Allow from this source switch to turn on or off.

Android 7.x and lower

• From the device Home screen, navigate to Settings.
• Tap Lock screen and security or Security depending on the device brand.
• Tap the Unknown sources switch to turn it on.
• Review the prompt and tap OK.

Installing an app via Install Portal

Installing an app on your Android device is done primarily from the App Center install portal. Installing your apps can be done in two different ways depending on the developer’s preference:

You’ll receive an email from App Center that directs you to the release in the App Center. You can also elect to go directly to the App Center Install Portal at any point to see apps you’ve been added to and their releases.

The developer sends you an installation link. By using this link, you’ll be navigated directly to the app in the install portal where you can view and download a release.

Once you have navigated to the install portal, you’ll see a list of all available apps you have been added to as a tester.

When you click on an app, App Center displays additional information about the app. Click the blue Install button to install the app.

Clicking this button starts the application install, which results in the app being placed onto your home screen.

Lastly, if you have a QR code reader handy, you can navigate to our App Center Developer Portal and select the application you’re testing there. App Center will display a QR code that navigates you directly to the app’s download page.

Troubleshooting

Here are some common issues along with their solutions we’ve seen in the installation process:

While installing the app, I get an «Install Blocked» because of an unknown sources error:

In order for the app to be available for use, you must allow for apps to be installed from sources outside the Google Play Store. From your home screen or menu, tap on Settings>Security. Under the Device Administration heading, check the box next to Unknown Sources.

While installing the app, I get a «There was an Problem Parsing the Package» error:

This error is caused by one of the following reasons:

• The application may not have downloaded successfully
• Application might not be compatible for your hardware or OS version
• Security settings not set accordingly
• Corrupted APK file
• Name of the package is changed after signing

To troubleshoot, try reinstalling the app. If that doesn’t work, contact the app developer to help resolve the issue.

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