In response to what Frank Slootweg <th...@ddress.is.invalid> wrote :
> Yes, that's why one should *always* give the URL (or 'id=...'). A
> *name* is very often useless.
Hi Frank,
Thanks for that reminder to all for everyone that when they suggest an app,
the unique name or URL is always the best thing to add, as tons of apps are
called "APK Extractor" or "Contacts" or "WiFi Analyzer", etc.
> In this case the 'Play Store' app on your
> phone probably just gave one of the zillion of 'Apk Extractor' apps and
> could not be bothered to give the rest (like the 'Google Play' website
> does). I think the one shown by the 'Play Store' app is just selected on
> number of stars, installs, etc..
That may be the reason as The Real Bev used the Google Play app and I used
the Aurora scraper of Google Play, and neither one of us could "see" the
app in those apps, but both of us knew the app existed as it was on Google
Play.
This once happened for me in the past while helping to find a diabetes app
for a friend, where they're all called the same thing (and they don't have
as many installs as an APK extractor might have).
> It's not meant for saving them all. There are others for that, as
> Arlen mentioned.
I agree with Frank there is merit to utilities that save at the touch of a
button to where you want them saved, versus apps that save all your
installed programs (system & user) versus apps that automatically save as
you install (all versions or replace).
That's why in my screenshots you see so many of these tools.
<
https://i.postimg.cc/GhqjyfY5/apk01.jpg>
> I just don't update apps unless neccessary or I want the new features.
> If and when I update an app, I use (this) 'Apk Extractor' to backup/
> archive the old version, so I can always roll back if needed.
Frank is a wizened old man, as am I, where my rule is NEVER UPDATE unless
forced to at gunpoint (which is why I'm often at odds with the Apple owners
who can't believe my iOS devices are never updated unless I have to).
There are a LOT of reasons for not updating, but if you're gonna update, as
Frank said, save the old APK.
That way, if you don't like the update, then you can roll back.
Case in point is in that screenshot above, you see _two_ apps with the same
icon, where the _old_ one no longer exists on google play (to my knowledge)
where the only difference (that I'm aware of) between the old one that no
longer exists and the current one - is the current one has ads.
> And anyway, my response was not about backing up / archiving apps, but
> about a Google Play / Play Store app which could show the full package
> *name* ('id=...') of an app! :-)
Yes. Frank did show us an APK extractor which showed full names.
The choice of using an APK extractor for Yousuf's contacts app was apropos,
since a contacts app would show up in an APK extractor.
The reason I hadn't thought of APK extractors when I wrote the OP is that,
in my experience, very few apps show _all_ the apps on your system.
You think they show all, but once you have tested as many as I have, you
see they each can show a _different_ set of what they consider apps (where
the discrepancy is usually in the system set, often the "
com.google"
stuff).
> That's your - deserved - punishment for using Linux! :-) If you would
> just use Windows like normal people, you could just use your vendor's
> Windows program to backup your APKs!
I have to admit, I use Linux for bidirectional copy to/from the iPad but I
use Windows for bidirectional copy to/from Android.
One unexpected beauty of a dual-boot system is that Linux (Ubuntu 18.04 in
particular) can _simultaneously_ see Windows, the iPad, Android, and Linux
all at the same time.
Notice the beauty of that in that it's a dual-boot system so the Windows
isn't even "running" but Linux can read/write to all of it (as long as you
turn off hibernation & quickstart in Windows settings).
Since details are my schtick, one caveat is there are a couple (maybe two
or three?) files we've run into that Microsoft has played games with, where
you can't delete or rename them, but you only run into them (like I did)
when you're trying to disable Windows update (e.g., wuaueng.dll), or when
you're trying to backup the binary tiled menus (which I finally gave up
on).
<
https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_10-update/deleting-windows-update-wuauengdll-leads-windows/7d139df1-71ce-4506-bc93-4fd04ef9db84>
>> How does google arrange the apps? Shouldn't this be user-selectable?
>
> No, it should *NOT*. Now we at least know what should go/be where!
> There already are enough app developers - also major ones - which put
> (some of) their stuff outside these standard folders (Android\data\<id>
> and Android\obb\<id>)s, we don't need a bigger mess than there already
> is!
Frank and I may reasonably differ here, where I want full control of how I
organize my file system and menus. On Windows I'm probably the only person
you know who can literally copy the Windows XP accordion-style cascade menu
over to Windows 10 and it will work perfectly as a "toolbar" attached to
the taskbar menu.
I probably have thought about organization of computer access more than
anyone you know, where I install my programs into a hierarchy that is based
on functionality (e.g., archivers, browsers, cleaners, databases, editors,
finance, games, hardware, etc.) where I can rattle off the category off the
top of my head because it (almost) NEVER CHANGES from computer to computer,
year to year, decade to decade.
<
https://i.postimg.cc/rs3t4VV6/homescreen00.jpg>
What you DO on a computer rarely changes, just like what you DO on a
cellphone rarely changes, so I have categories on all my cellphones too.
<
https://i.postimg.cc/X7jYKSTW/backup01.jpg>
While they slowly evolve, the main point is that, on Windows, all "things"
have the same set of categories, for example:
a. The installers get archived in:
c:\software\{archivers,browsers,cleaners,databases,editors,etc.}
b. The apps get installed into the same hierarchy:
c:\apps\{archivers,browsers,cleaners,databases,editors,etc.}
c. The menu pointing to the apps is the same hierarchy:
Taskbar > menu > {archivers,browsers,cleaners,databases,editors,etc.}
<
https://i.postimg.cc/9MbGhYf3/winxpmenu05.jpg>
NOTE: The actual names don't matter & the exact location doesn't matter,
and, in fact, I never use plural, for example, but I am simply showing you
an example.
o Philosophy on a tutorial for setting up Windows in a well organized KISS
philosophy such that search is never needed & reinstall is trivial
<
https://groups.google.com/d/msg/microsoft.public.windowsxp.general/1Gf59YRkaI8/5MfQi5wMCQAJ>
In my most humble of opinions, developers have absolutely no clue how to
organize anything, where Linux, Windows, and Android are all quite good
examples of the utter crap that they give us in terms of organization.
I worked in the Silicon Valley for decades with very smart developers,
where the _last_ thing on most of their minds is where "someone else"
should put their stuff.
Don't even get me started on the utter horrid miserable mess Android is in
terms of organization, where I simply strive for the following:
a. On the phone, I organize my homescreen by functionality.
b. On the phone, all data goes into a well-organized data hierarchy.
c. On Windows, I save my APKs in the same hierarchy as my homescreen.
Unfortunately, just like Windows 10 tile menus are an abomination, the
Android file system, in my most humble of opinions, is an abomination.
If Google hired me to fix their problems, people could have a vastly more
organized file system over time, as I would make that happen just as I
would solve it for Microsoft since it's not a hard problem to solve (people
"think" it is, but it's not - where I've solved far harder software
problems in my professional career in the Silicon Valley).