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I apologize if this has been answered earlier.
I use a stock N1 with ADW.Launcher and a bunch of other apps. I recently noticed that even when I uninstall an app from my phone, there are some directories / files that remain on the phone.
Is there any reason why these do not get deleted when the app is unistalled.
May be the same answer as installers written for windows. If the developer didn't do a good job with cleanup, you get trash leftover you need to manually clean.
i agree with both above. i found devs dont do good with uninstalling and leaving folders left behind, i wonder if there is an app that clears them?
The best way is to realize what should and shouldn't be there and manually take care of it. To write an application to clean up after 50,000+ other applications that are messy. Would be a programming nightmare and I would not want to support such an application.
or someone could make some sort of app similar to those on pc, montors what and where files are being installed to so if uninstall doesnt take em out alteast you know where to look exactly.
Edit: better yet, the app itself can uninstall everything on the users request! now that would be an app i wouldnt mind paying a good buck for.
I agree, apps itself should uninstall everything with user consent.
Also I don't think a lot of us mind taking the manual route as long as we know what to delete ..
Any way to find out what files belong to what apps?.... or is it the same as on any unix/linux platform.
thats what i was trying to say. windows has a simple app that makes a txt file of all files being installed including registery. launch the app to monitor first, install like normal. in this case, the app itself will make a database of the app then the user can use that app to delete everything catched that was installed. that would be very nice. i find myself doing google search to see where files came from and when i see i uninstalled that i have to delete it myself. this would save me lots of time. i dont really worry about it though i have a list of apps i must install and with all the froyo i keep wiping the os to try new roms. until everything is stable ill worry then but for now im good.
garryvirdi said:
I apologize if this has been answered earlier.
I use a stock N1 with ADW.Launcher and a bunch of other apps. I recently noticed that even when I uninstall an app from my phone, there are some directories / files that remain on the phone.
Is there any reason why these do not get deleted when the app is unistalled.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
do you mean the directories on the sd card?
Yes directories and files on the SD card.
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Sent from my Nexus One
garryvirdi said:
Yes directories and files on the SD card.
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Sent from my Nexus One
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You could have data that could be reused if you decide to use the app again. Settings, preferences, keys, notes, photos etc..
I do hope that the default folder for apps defaults to something like /sdcard/appdata/ instead of the root folder /sdcard/ (unless explicitly set)
First about my phone, It's a Sprint CDMA Hero rooted and running Damages 2.09.1 rom. I have a 16gig card in it and the phone really works well.
Now my problem..........
My internal memory has a parasite that is slowly eating it away. I have figured out that when internal memory gets below 16MB it turns on the little warning in the status bar. So this is how I'm checking my internal memory so everyone that takes their time to respond to me is using the same method. I go to Settings> SD&Phone Storage, at the bottom of the screen that comes up is the "Internal Phone Storage" Available space and mine says 15.84MB. Today I installed a highly rated memory manager from the Market and it didn't help at all. So my first question is How much "internal Phone Storage" do you have left?
Now my second question is when you go to Settings> Applications> Manage Applications> and scroll way down to "Mail - HTC Corporation" and click on that. Now look at the storage. Mine says 15.64 MB Total. Which breaks down there to Application 2.59MB and Data at 13.05MB. Clearly my Mail program is holding the biggest chunk of memory. But I want to know how this compares to everyone else's. If this is true then it would account for the parasitic growth or loss of my memory.
So if I'm way different then this will start a good discussion on what to do about this problem. Just let me say at this point that I delete all email once I have read it. I delete the sent, draft and Trash folders too. I also go into the SD Card and delete everything that is in the .Mail folder. So if my phone is storing old email now I have to fine out where and delete it.........
Also I constantly clear out the various cache's that the phone has too. But this memory is slowly going away. Any help would be appreciated very much.
I also appreciate everyone weighing in on this perplexing problem.
Thanks for your help and comments.........
Lisa
You can try clearing data for mail. If you don't want to reset up your accounts, back up mail account settings with titanium backup and restore afterwards. Also, consider using apps2sd, and storage is a non issue.
Sent from my HERO200 using XDA App
How do I clear out the "mail data"? I have looked for that data and can't find it. If you could tell me where that data us located I would clear it NOW!
Also I will look into that apps2sd now also.
Thanks for your help......
Lisa
Double post, sorry, mods please delete
"Internal Phone Storage" Available space and mine says 15.84MB. Today I installed a highly rated memory manager from the Market and it didn't help at all.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you are confusing storage (like a Hard Drive) and RAM (memory)... the memory manager only helps keep unneeded programs from running in the background it will not free up space on the internal 'hard drive'
you could also 'upgrade' to CyanogenMod 6 as Android 2.2 natively supports putting apps on the SD card.
mslisaj said:
...when you go to Settings> Applications> Manage Applications> and scroll way down to "Mail - HTC Corporation" and click on that...
...Also I constantly clear out the various cache's that the phone has too...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
mslisaj said:
How do I clear out the "mail data"? I have looked for that data and can't find it. If you could tell me where that data us located I would clear it NOW!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You 'clear data' in the same place you 'clear cache', which you said you know how to do above. Its in the manage apps menu.
Well how do I clear space on my internal "hard drive"? How do I clear mail data which seems to be hogging my memory?
Houston we have a problem and don't know how to fix it....
Yyou go to the same place we told you before. Settings, applications, manage, then view all and sort by size. Then you will see what's taking up space. You can go into it there and clear data. If you are rooted, download cachecleaner and run it. If none of that helps then you either have to start uninstalling apps you don't use or you've done something that is affecting your storage space and you need to probably do a wipe/reflash.
Sent from my HERO200 using XDA App
Well my Mail App or rather the stock HTC Mail app is the growing hog. When I go in to "Manage Applications" all I can clear is the Cache and NOT the data that is so big. I just don't get this. My memory, as I said has a parasite that is growing and eating memory. I'm right on the ragged edge of the flagged warning coming up about "low memory".
Here is a radical idea. Can I go in to the system> app folder and copy and save the HTC Mail apk and then delete the file and hopefully the entire Mail program from my phone. Reboot and then reinstall the HTC Mail apk and run it to reinstall it and then reset up my email? It's definitely the Mail application that is growing and I don't know why. It's saving mail somewhere...........
Also I downloaded and installed the Cacheclean program and ran it. It said all my cache was already clean so it proves I have been diligent about keeping what I can clean................
All help and idea's are appreciated.
mslisaj said:
Also I downloaded and installed the Cacheclean program and ran it. It said all my cache was already clean so it proves I have been diligent about keeping what I can clean
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
that's not what that means. that means either superuser permissions is not working properly, or you've lost root on your phone, or something related to busybox, per the app developer. believe me, i've ran into that application telling me the same thing multiple times. you could never keep cache that clean on your phone unless you never used it.
Well the cache cleaner isn't working. I checked the SU program and the cache cleaner is not listed there so I guess its not working. Busybox and SU are working for titanium so the cache cleaner is a dive.
Oh well I get A for effort. I'll just use this lousy hero till it runs put of memory and I guess get a better phone like a LG or Droid.......
Or when it's no longer functional you can run the ruu and see if that fixes anything
The htc mail app has a bug where the mail doesnt get deleted even when you empty the trash. Its stored somewhere hidden on the internal memory. Also if you sync mail for more than 3 days it seems to cause memory issues as well.
Best bet is to use the K9 mail app. It will allow you to keep things clean.
Now 13+ megs should not be causing an issue so obviously you have a decent amount of apps installed as well. Id recommend running the a2sd to keep your internal clean.
I am following through as I alway do to thank you all for your help and tell you how I resolved the problem. I received some great advice from everyone and the last tip, which is usually my luck was the best.
The bottom line someone questioned why I thought I lost root. I explained what was going on and the best and final suggestion was to down load the latest Superuser.apk and flash through "recovery". Yes I had to ask exactly what that meant but I followed the directions and did it. Problem solved. I had SU working on my phone for Root Explorer and Titanium Backup. Then I downloaded Cachecleaner and it worked this time perfectly and it found 25MB of junk on my phone and cleared it out. So now I'm running 40MB of internal memory with all my programs working rather snappy now. In my estimation I screwed up the SU with the memory manager that was recommended somewhere along the line. When it didn't do anything for me I uninstalled it and I think my SU went with it. But the phone is fixed and I want to thank you all for your time in responding to my problem and requests. Sometimes multiple............
Thanks again.....
Lisa
Say I download an *.apk file from some site or I get one from a friend, could it potentially harm my phone, cost me money etc.? Basically what I'm wondering is, when I install an app it generally says what the app has/wants access to, is this "warning" coded by the programmer to tell the user what it's accessing or is it determined automatically by built in functions? I don't want to install and app that has access to stuff that I'm not aware of.
Regards,
B
Edit: On a second note. Say I do download some harmful application, would uninstalling it solve the problem or could there be remaining harmful files still at work? The whole Android OS is sorta worrying me...bad experiences with Windows is making me cautious.
if you can think of it
there can always be a chance of happening
yes, a malicious hacker could do something like that
yes, a pissed programmer might including something like that into their apps to stop people from sharing their apps without buying it
yes, the apk might be legit but might have been corrupted some how
yes, you might be able to uninstall if lucky
but worse case scenario if i were a malicious hacker i wouldn't code a way to uninstall the app, instead i'll probably code a way to lock the user out of all access forcing you to Flash the phone from scratch
You didn't really answer my one major question, or maybe you did but I didn't understand. Are the services that the app is able to access programmed or are they determined by a function?
Well when installing I've resorted to checking a few things:
1) Make sure the app that I've downloaded is the same size as the one in the market (for equivalent versions...obviously)
2) Compare the system permissions when installing with those found at www.androlib.com
This way seems pretty safe to me. If the size is the same and the permissions are the same...you can be quite (not 100%) certain that they are legit/the same.
Ok heres the deal. Apps have 2 types of access.
1. Standard permissions
So if u don't do adb-install (where u dont see an app's permissions), then market / copy to sdcard and install from there u'll see the permission screen. An app cannot do something w/o permissions. If an uninstaller is askin for email permissions u know somethings wrong.
2. Root
Most dangerous. An app will ask u for 0 standard android api permissions. But when u run it, u will be asked for a superuser allow/deny request. From their its up to you. An app could do anything behind the scenes from tht point.
So read reviews/ user comments before trying root apps. Standard apps, just look over the permissions thts all.
FYI : The permissions are read by android, they're not user defined. Any permissions will always show up when installing it using the native package manager.
To be honest I wouldn't advise downloading an .apk from a non-trusted source. If its on the market, you're near certainly ok, and if its from a trusted developer (say from these boards, or some other similar dev portal) then again, you are likely to be ok. In the second case, you are unlikely to be getting a finished app if you get a straight apk from boards, because when they are finished or at least solid, they go to the app store anyway, so harm in that case is more likely to be of the force close variety rather than bricked variety.
Outside of that, I can't see why you would get an apk from a friend rather than downloading it yourself, simply because that way it makes certain you get a clean, non-corrupted version. If apps don't show up in the market for you, its mostly because your device can't run them, in which case, again, force close.
Uninstalling it is possibly too late. All smartphones suffer this issue though.
As mentioned, if you get the files from market though, you are likely to be safe..
Also, not all melicious programs are obvious..
Daneshm90 said:
Ok heres the deal. Apps have 2 types of access.
1. Standard permissions
So if u don't do adb-install (where u dont see an app's permissions), then market / copy to sdcard and install from there u'll see the permission screen. An app cannot do something w/o permissions. If an uninstaller is askin for email permissions u know somethings wrong.
2. Root
Most dangerous. An app will ask u for 0 standard android api permissions. But when u run it, u will be asked for a superuser allow/deny request. From their its up to you. An app could do anything behind the scenes from tht point.
So read reviews/ user comments before trying root apps. Standard apps, just look over the permissions thts all.
FYI : The permissions are read by android, they're not user defined. Any permissions will always show up when installing it using the native package manager.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
EXACTLY what I was looking for. Thank you.
Btw, just because security on App store says an app can do stuff like make phone calls etc, doesn't mean it's malicious.
A few people were misled by an article that stated that apps with such extreme permissions were malicious, but it's untrue. It isn't always the case, but if an app uses functionality you don't believe it should, it's possible it is dodgy
andrewluecke said:
Btw, just because security on App store says an app can do stuff like make phone calls etc, doesn't mean it's malicious.
A few people were misled by an article that stated that apps with such extreme permissions were malicious, but it's untrue. It isn't always the case, but if an app uses functionality you don't believe it should, it's possible it is dodgy
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Aye, I know. Thanks for the advice. I've actually been comparing any app I download off the internet to the actual ones on the market (size and permissions).
Hi everyone im a noob member to the site but have read some interesting threads before membership but as usual joining when i have a problem that needs some of your help
I have had a .apk file download to my htc desire running 2.2.2. I was browsing pics of the fake kind when it started downloading. i did see some letters and numbers before the file ext. It is not an official .apk that im sure off. I have searched for it on my phone but cannot find it to delete .
can anyone help please
After hooking up htc to my pc by usb lead, I have managed to locate the file by searching. It was in the download folder, I deleted it via the pc and then did a factory reset on htc.
Would this get rid of it safely
Hey,
Has anyone ever looked into how the Whatsapp Backup is stored? It can be used after reinstalling the app, but not after hard resetting/flashing/etc. So it should be stored on the phone, but not the normal isolated storage of the app since I can reinstall it and use the backup then.
Is there special access necessary or could other apps also access (and modify/export) this backup? I'm asking this because I hope to find a way to make a backup that really is useful, I almost only write via whatsapp because SMS cost way more than internet here. Thanks!
why do you think whatsapp isnt useing isolated storage? shure it is, but you still cant access it - unless you have a interopt unlocked device
the reason you can restore, is that the app id stays the same.. you could try to deploy an older (uncrypted) whatsapp xap to your phone, if the app id still stays the same (and im not shure it does! actually i think it doesnt..) you would gain access... again, thats total theory! i havent tryed this, and it has propably the potential to mess up your backup...
maybe GoodDayToDie has some more info about the app-id thing.. i'll also do a quick research
tfBullet said:
why do you think whatsapp isnt useing isolated storage? shure it is, but you still cant access it - unless you have a interopt unlocked device
the reason you can restore, is that the app id stays the same.. you could try to deploy an older (uncrypted) whatsapp xap to your phone, if the app id still stays the same (and im not shure it does! actually i think it doesnt..) you would gain access... again, thats total theory! i havent tryed this, and it has propably the potential to mess up your backup...
maybe GoodDayToDie has some more info about the app-id thing.. i'll also do a quick research
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the reply! I din't know files in the isolated storage keep being there after you uninstall the app..
I tried deploying an old Version (1.4) of Whatsapp and it replaced the current one, so it should use the same app id. I didn't find anything in the isolated storage, but the backup is still there when I reinstall it from the store. I'll try launching the deployed app first now.
have you checked out the IsolatedStorageSettings?
Let me have a quick look where this thing is on my harddrive... when i find it, i'll be able to tell you where / how it saves the backup
tfBullet said:
have you checked out the IsolatedStorageSettings?
Let me have a quick look where this thing is on my harddrive... when i find it, i'll be able to tell you where / how it saves the backup
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope, I have no real clue how to do that, the only thing I can is deploying apps and watching their isolated storage thanks!!
they used "messages.sdf" & "contacts.sdf" before, but then at some version they started to migrate this files into a database.. not shure where it gets stored, or if you can access it with simply browsing the IsoStoreage... ill make a quick test project to test out how or if we could access it..
EDIT: actually i was talking **** the .sdf files are already databases, and the data still resides there... and forgot to mention: even if you couldn't see the database files, you should see the user-picture thumbnails that reside in "cphotos/" + some-sha1-hashed-userinfo...
IsoStore is cleared when an app is uninstalled. So far as I know, this is instant, as part of the app removal process, although I suppose I haven't actually checked that. However, apps can (and many do) implement a backup situation to cover this use case by using a unique identifier that survives a re-install. There are several places such IDs can come from. Since the one you have survives app installs but *not* OS reflashing (even though you presumably sign on with the same Live ID afterward), I'm guessing it's a value that uniquely identifies your OS install and is randomly generated the first time the OS boots. Re-flashing counts as a new install, I guess.
I'd have to investigate further to be sure. There could be other mechanics at play, such as the OS keeping the data around for a short time in case you re-install the app, or the app storing its data in some other (off-phone) location. It's not storing it in some special folder within the phone, though; there's nowhere else it could!
Backup history with Whatapp on Android. Then check the backup file on:
/sdcard/WhatsApp/Databases/msgstore.db.crypt
Or
/data/data/com.whatsapp/databases/msgstore.db and wa.db (root)
Coweri said:
Backup history with Whatapp on Android. Then check the backup file on:
/sdcard/WhatsApp/Databases/msgstore.db.crypt
Or
/data/data/com.whatsapp/databases/msgstore.db and wa.db (root)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry, but this is Windows Phone, not android..
@GoodDayToDie so, there is no simple way like deploying an app with the same ID and trying to access the backup with it?
Since the data would have been deleted when the old app was removed (and since you can't sideload an app with the same Product ID as an existing Store app), no, that won't work (well, it didn't in WP7; I guess you could try again here; some things are somewhat less secure now than before).
th0mas96 said:
GoodDayToDie so, there is no simple way like deploying an app with the same ID and trying to access the backup with it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wait for a interop-unlock... thats the way to go in this case.
Until then, you can send your conversations to yourself by mail (option form the context menue)
GoodDayToDie said:
IsoStore is cleared when an app is uninstalled. So far as I know, this is instant, as part of the app removal process, although I suppose I haven't actually checked that. However, apps can (and many do) implement a backup situation to cover this use case by using a unique identifier that survives a re-install. There are several places such IDs can come from. Since the one you have survives app installs but *not* OS reflashing (even though you presumably sign on with the same Live ID afterward), I'm guessing it's a value that uniquely identifies your OS install and is randomly generated the first time the OS boots. Re-flashing counts as a new install, I guess.
I'd have to investigate further to be sure. There could be other mechanics at play, such as the OS keeping the data around for a short time in case you re-install the app, or the app storing its data in some other (off-phone) location. It's not storing it in some special folder within the phone, though; there's nowhere else it could!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
GoodDayToDie, any news about this Whatsapp backup feature in Windows Phone? Is it possible to utilize this feature as an "ordinary" developer?
I would have to reverse engineer the app to see how its backup feature works. The most likely explanation - that it's storing the backup "in the cloud" using the device ID (which resets when you do a hard reset, I think) - is easily possible for any app so long as you provide the storage space...
GoodDayToDie said:
I would have to reverse engineer the app to see how its backup feature works. The most likely explanation - that it's storing the backup "in the cloud" using the device ID (which resets when you do a hard reset, I think) - is easily possible for any app so long as you provide the storage space...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That could be an explanation. But then the Whatsapp developers could easily offer a full backup, as on other platforms, linked to the phone number or something. Then you could restore the messages even after a phone exchange. But who knows what's in their heads ...
GoodDayToDie said:
I would have to reverse engineer the app to see how its backup feature works. The most likely explanation - that it's storing the backup "in the cloud" using the device ID (which resets when you do a hard reset, I think) - is easily possible for any app so long as you provide the storage space...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope, it doesn't seem to be online.. it backups pretty big chats extremely fast with 2 bars of GPRS, so it can't be via internet.. it even backups without connection at all. That's the weird thing.. how are apps even allowed to store files that keep being there after an uninstall?
There are a couple really sneaky ways you could do that; one that comes to mind is creating a fake "image" or "ringtone" or similar, serializing the data to it, and then looking for it the "first" time the app is run after installing. However, I'm definitely more curious now. There are folders which apps can request permissions to write to, but usually that's a trick limited to "second-party" apps (OEMs, etc.) and prohibited for third parties.
I've already looked into the code, as far as i can tell there is no online backup feature. it just stores the conversations in a database.
And to answer yout question schluff: no there is absolutley no way the usual developera to utilize this.
btw: @GoodDayToDie could you provide us the newest WhatsApp XAP (2.11.312.0)?
When I get the chance to extract it of my computer, yeah. It's really hard to get full FS access working these days, so I'm looking into other ways to access the install folders and storage of other Apps.
here you go
edit: I've changed nothing, so it's the whole install folder in this zip file
Thanks for the extraction! Obviously, I can't do anything with it
However, if anyone is interested in this too, in the following versions it seems to backup to the SD card, at least @Nazwzil8 reported so at twitter: https://twitter.com/Nawzil8/status/410486248156172288 he reported a lot about whatsapp, he seems a legit beta tester.
Found a folder "360" automatically created in internal sdcard, that should be created by the device maintenance app. Any method to disable or remove it ?
Delete it. If it comes back you will have to find another way like disabling the app.
Well yeah. Just delete it lol. I've just deleted it. It's empty and useless, if it comes back then who cares? You could always try make it a hidden folder by putting a . at the beginning, so it would be .360
An article mentioned "It used to be clean master, now its 360 security. According to reddit and /r/Android, the app " is more aggressive and it deletes app data you might actually need, like WhatsApp documents."
i dont think such device maintenance is funny or desired.
How can we safely disable or remove it ? Root required? i tried stopping it but it revives online minutes later.