install / uninstall APKs programmatically (by PackageManager)

[peacemaker]

Hi, All

Anyone tried to install\uninstall APK hidden by PackageManager?
For launcher application.

Here Java source:

android - install / uninstall APKs programmatically (PackageManager vs Intents) - Stack Overflow

android - uninstall app silently with system priveleges - Stack Overflow

I guess, is it possible by Reflection under B4A?

 

[NJDude]

You can try this to Install:

Dim i As Intent 

i.Initialize(i.ACTION_VIEW, "file:///sdcard/MyAPK.apk")
i.SetType("application/vnd.android.package-archive")

StartActivity(i)

To Uninstall:

Dim i As Intent

i.Initialize("android.intent.action.DELETE", "package:com.example.app")

StartActivity(i)

Is that what you want to do?

 

[peacemaker]

NJDude, i know about this manual install\uninstall by Intents.
Question is for background installation\uninstallation APKs by the launcher that is a custom Market.

 

[Erel]

It is not possible to silently install or uninstall an APK unless your application is part of OS ROM.

 

[peacemaker]

Yes, this application is planned to be main ROM launcher.
Must it be in system app folder evn for debugging ?

 

[Erel]

You will need to call private Android APIs to install / uninstall the apps. I'm afraid that I'm not familiar with these APIs nor they are probably not documented anywhere.

 

[peacemaker]

But links in my first post shows

public abstract void installPackage(
Uri packageURI, IPackageInstallObserver observer, int flags,
String installerPackageName);

public abstract void deletePackage(
String packageName, IPackageDeleteObserver observer, int flags);

Seems, there some people posted that used, and there is link to a working Eclipse code.
Do you mean now these functions cannot be tried anywhow with help of Reflection ?

 

[Erel]

You can try them with reflection.

 

[peacemaker]

Seems, real way is only by Shell commands to install\uninstall hidden.

 

[peacemaker]

You can try them with reflection.

HI, Erel,

What kind of object in b4a is Android Observer in these functions?
Observer | Android Developers
Observable | Android Developers

 

[Erel]

These objects are not used by Basic4android.

 

[Dogbonesix]

Too manykeys, I guess

I was getting errors loading my first key and after many tries I believe there are several keys now. In fact I am not really sure how I got this far.

But my problem now is below:

Installation will fail if the signing key is different than the previous used key.
In that case you will need to manually uninstall the existing application.
Completed successfully.

I have two questions: 1) How do I manually uninstall the application?

Or

As the application is quite small - just recode (cut and paste) a new application with different package and application labels and start a new signing process?

 

[Dogbonesix]

See Above Post

I was looking too deep. Solution :signOops:too simple... Just delete the application on the phone not on B4A...

 

[Devv]

It is not possible to silently install or uninstall an APK unless your application is part of OS ROM.

You only need to have root access , i had tested this on multiple devices , no need for ROM integration so far ...

 

[DonManfred]

This is an old thread!!! Why are you ansering on an 2,5 years old thread?
If you have an issue then you should create a new thread