In which folder are installed applications and games stored on the phone, on Android? Where can I find the applications folder on my Android smartphone?  

We understand the Android device: we look for installation files for applications and games, and also manage them.

Do you remember your first smartphone purchase? It seemed like this was a dream machine and absolutely everything about it was perfect. But very little time has passed and this is already an ordinary device, which, it turns out, has much more than we initially saw.

For those who are faced with the problem of deleting applications from unknown sources, users who decided to transfer an interesting application via Bluetooth, we have created this article. It will talk about where the installation files, also called .apk, are located.

Finding and extracting the installation file from your Android is very simple in several ways, and we will talk about each of them. For example, we will take one of the popular smartphones running Android OS with version 4.2.1 Jelly Bean. But you shouldn’t double-check your models and versions, because essentially what will be in this article applies to both later and earlier versions.

Let us immediately note that the first method is the easiest for a beginner, but for those who are ready to work a little, for future comfort, we offer the second and third options.

Why can't applications install on Samsung?

Why is the application not installed on Android? The main reason is the lack of internal memory of the smartphone or tablet. If the phone does not have enough memory, it cannot save the application installation file and install it.

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Which folder contains installed applications

The location of data in the Android OS is standardized. And each file type is assigned a corresponding folder. For applications, this folder is called Android , and is located in the internal memory. In this case, there are two more folders inside:

The Data folder stores application data. In Obb - game cache . Sometimes an application occupies both folders - data in Data and cache in Obb, but more often this arrangement only applies to games. Other files that appear while using applications are stored in the corresponding folders for music or images.

Introduction

In this article we will talk about how to disassemble an APK package with an application, look at its internal structure, disassemble and decompile the bytecode, and also try to make several changes to the applications that can bring us one benefit or another.

To do all this yourself, you will need at least basic knowledge of the Java language, in which Android applications are written, and the XML language, which is used everywhere in Android - from describing the application itself and its access rights to storing strings that will be displayed on the screen. You will also need the ability to use specialized console software.

So, what is an APK package in which absolutely all Android software is distributed?

Option #3 with superuser rights.

We will not dwell on how to obtain superuser (root) rights; there are quite a lot of articles on this on the Internet; in short, you need to install one of the root applications, for example root explorer.

• Go to the data folder;
• Go to app;
• Find the required application;
• Copy and share or delete as per your choice.

We hope that we have answered all your questions regarding finding the required application and now you will not have any difficulties in this regard. Manage your smartphone as you wish, and not as phone and application developers impose on you!

Where is the apk stored?

When downloading an apk from google play or from other sites, the files go to the “Download” folder, and the full path to the apk will be: internal storage->Download. All files downloaded from the Internet go into this directory. Therefore, for convenience, the system provides a category called APK. By going to this directory you will see only apk files downloaded to your device. To get to this category, open Explorer (which is installed by default on your Android device), select the “Categories” tab and click on the APK icon.

Preparation. Disabling advertising

Theory is, of course, good, but why is it needed if we don’t know what to do with the unpacked package? Let's try to apply the theory to our benefit, namely, modify some software so that it does not show us advertising. For example, let it be Virtual Torch - a virtual torch. This software is ideal for us, because it is filled to capacity with annoying advertising and, moreover, is simple enough not to get lost in the jungle of code.

Search for advertising code in jd-gui

So, using one of the above methods, download the application from the market. If you decide to use Virtuous Ten Studio, simply open the APK file in the application and unzip it, create a project (File -> New project), then select Import File in the project context menu. If your choice fell on apktool, then just run one command:

After this, a file tree similar to that described in the previous section will appear in the com.kauf.particle.virtualtorch directory, but with an additional smali directory instead of dex files and an apktool.yml file. The first contains disassembled code of the application's executable dex file, the second contains service information necessary for apktool to assemble the package back.

The first place we should look is, of course, AndroidManifest.xml. And here we immediately encounter the following line:

It is not difficult to guess that it is responsible for granting the application permissions to use the Internet connection. In fact, if we just want to get rid of advertising, we will most likely just need to block the application from the Internet. Let's try to do this. We delete the specified line and try to build the software using apktool:

The resulting APK file will appear in the com.kauf.particle.virtualtorch/build/ directory. However, it will not be possible to install it, since it does not have a digital signature and file checksums (it simply does not have a META-INF/ directory). We must sign the package using the apk-signer utility. Launched. The interface consists of two tabs - on the first (Key Generator) we create keys, on the second (APK Signer) we sign. To create our private key, fill in the following fields:

• Target File - keystore output file; it usually stores one pair of keys;
• Password and Confirm - password for the storage;
• Alias ​​— name of the key in the storage;
• Alias ​​password and Confirm - secret key password;
• Validity —validity period (in years). The default value is optimal.

The remaining fields are, in general, optional - but you must fill in at least one.

Creating a key in apk-signer

Conclusion

Most APKs of apps and programs are saved in the Android folder. If the application is not in this folder, then you should look in the root folder of the internal storage (built-in memory), as shown in the article.

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Andrey Podkin

When using applications for Android, sometimes questions arise: “Where does the application store the created files?”, “Is it possible to reach them?” and “Will the files be deleted when I uninstall the application?” Let's try to see where an application can store its data and what consequences this has for the user.

Internal data storage

The meaning follows directly from the name. Internal storage is always located in the smartphone’s memory, regardless of whether it is possible to install a memory card (and even more so, whether it is inserted). This memory area is protected. Located in the /data system partition. By default, all files located there are accessible only to the application that created them. Of course, you can make files available to other applications, but this must be done specifically. If the application does not open files for external access, you can only access them by becoming root.

The purpose of the storage is clear: internal protected data to which there should be no unregulated access. Problems (from the user's point of view) may occur in the following cases:

• Unreasonably large amount of data. I would like to transfer the data to a memory card to save internal space for other needs, but the application does not allow it.
• According to the user, the rules for accessing data should be different from what the application suggests.

Example: application “Lectures on the history of Russia”. The application has good content (both in content and sound quality). But it is saved in internal memory. On budget devices, where this memory is small, it becomes difficult to download many lectures in advance, and then, disconnecting from the Internet, listen to them. The second problem is the actual data access regulations. Even if we limit ourselves to the topic of the story, I have audio files obtained from three sources: this application, podcasts and audio versions of videos from YouTube. I would like to take and unite them all forever in their earthly vale under the dominion of the all-powerful Lord of Mordor into a single playlist, and listen to it with one audio player. But this cannot be done on a smartphone without root.

External storage of “personal” data

From the developer's point of view, in addition to the internal data storage, there is also external storage for personal application purposes. It is not necessarily located on the memory card. This may be the internal memory of the smartphone, but the entire section with such data is publicly available. At the root of the section there is a folder Android/data, and in it there are subfolders with the names of application packages.

The advantages of this approach are obvious: the data is available externally for the user’s purposes. And if it’s a memory card, then the capacity can be limited only by your finances (400 gigabyte memory cards can already be found on sale). The disadvantages are also clear: at any time, any application (of course, with permission to access “external” data) can take and erase someone else’s files. Also, the files will be deleted by the system when the application is uninstalled (or its data is cleared).

Example application: BeyondPod podcast manager (more or less recent version, previously files were stored differently). The user has access to downloaded podcasts and can easily delete them (for example, to save space) or listen to them in an external player.

Shared external storage

It is located in the root of the “external” partition at the same level as the “Android” folder. Designed to store data shared between different applications. Typically, Google documentation provides images as examples (photos from the camera - DCIM folder). The main problem with these files: they are never deleted automatically. Even if you deleted the application.

Example: Telegram messenger. Once you delete the application, the downloaded files do not disappear. They continue to sit quietly on the data storage device, taking up precious space.

How to delete files without deleting applications

Here it is important to introduce another classification of application files. It is valid for internal storage and for external storage of personal data. All data is divided into two types: actual data and cache.

Data (data folder) are certain files that, according to Google’s logic, are needed to constantly work with them. If you completely remove them, the application will behave exactly the same as if it had been reinstalled (uninstalled and reinstalled). Partial deletion of files may not lead to any unpleasant consequences. But it is important to understand what specific data you are deleting (for example, it is obvious that downloaded podcast files can be deleted completely freely - this will not affect the performance of the podcast manager).

Cache is temporary data that is generated during application operation and is needed to speed up this operation. For example, data that is often needed on the Internet is downloaded and then opened locally instead of downloading (of course, the cache can be updated so as not to show outdated data). You can delete the cache of any application with complete peace of mind; this is a normal operation.

Clearing memory and cache is called from the application settings. The Clear Cache button clears only the cache, while the Clear Data button clears both the cache and application data.

Deleting application files from shared external storage can only be done manually. Moreover, even assessing which application these files are from is also done manually.

The content of the article

Sometimes some applications on Android do not suit the user in some way. An example is intrusive advertising. And it also happens that the program is good for everyone, but the translation in it is either crooked or completely absent. Or, for example, the program is a trial, but there is no way to get the full version. How to change the situation?

A few more tips for unpacking files on Android devices

Sometimes it happens that the “obb” folder in the path we specified is missing. In this case, you will need to create the “obb” folder yourself along the path sdcard/Android/.

In the case of a number of game developers, it is necessary to unzip the cache not into the “obb” directory, but into other directories.

Read more about the path to install cache on the page of the authors responsible for hacking this game.

This will come in handy: how to clear the cache on Samsung.

How to remove standard applications from your phone via PC

This is a safer way to remove applications. If the user has a USB cable and a PC, then he can install a program for the computer called Debloater. It is interesting because the user can clean up unnecessary software from their phone. The advantage of the program is that there is no need to provide rooted rights:

• First you need to install the program and activate it;
• We turn on the phone, resolve the delays and connect the phone using USB to the computer;
• Click on the item in the program to search for built-in applications;

• Now we mark the programs that require removal and tap on the “Apply” item.

You should be careful with the program, as standard programs open in the form of files. After deleting, all unnecessary files on the phone will be erased.