What offline iOS app tells you all the programs you've installed since the beginning of time?

[Aardvarks]

What offline iOS app tells you all the programs (both free & paid) that
you've installed since the beginning of time?

On Android, the ubiquitous App Backup freeware instantly tells you:
- What programs you installed (whether free or paid)
- What version they are
- When you installed them
- And whether you backed up the zip file installer to your flash card
(which you can use in the future, even on another similar device)
http://i.cubeupload.com/NxixAc.gif

I'd just like the same usability on iOS.

I know that you can get the last few months worth of installed programs on
the web somewhere, which is next to useless; and I know you can send an
email to Apple, which is far too much trouble - so this question is simply
asking what iOS app freeware do you know of that will tell you:
- What you installed
- What version it is
- When you installed it
- And whether you backed up the installer yet

[Aardvarks]

[Aardvarks]

On Tue, 19 Jul 2016 01:12:35 +0000 (UTC), Aardvarks wrote:

> What offline iOS app tells you all the programs (both free & paid) that
> you've installed since the beginning of time?

Please ignore the dup.
It happens, I think, when I change nntp servers in the middle of a session.

[nospam]

In article <nmjuhs$1jdu$1...@gioia.aioe.org>, Aardvarks

<aard...@a.b.c.com> wrote:

> What offline iOS app tells you all the programs (both free & paid) that
> you've installed since the beginning of time?

app store app and itunes.

[Savageduck]

On 2016-07-19 01:08:24 +0000, Aardvarks <aard...@a.b.c.com> said:

> What offline iOS app tells you all the programs (both free & paid) that
> you've installed since the beginning of time?

I am not sure of off line (I have never tried that off line), but the
iOS AppStore app will do just that for all installed (free or paid)
apps and for all removed apps (free or paid) listed as "Not on this
iPad" all of which are available for reinstallation whenever you choose.


--
Regards,

Savageduck

[Jamie Kahn Genet]

Wow you make life hard for yourself :-D I'll stick with using the online
App Store to simply and automatically track my app download history,
tell me what I have installed or not on my device :-)
--
If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate.

[Jolly Roger]

Dork can't even troll properly.

--
E-mail sent to this address may be devoured by my ravenous SPAM filter.
I often ignore posts from Google. Use a real news client instead.

JR

[FPP]

> Aardvarks <aard...@a.b.c.com> wrote:
>> On Tue, 19 Jul 2016 01:12:35 +0000 (UTC), Aardvarks wrote:

> What offline iOS app tells you all the programs (both free & paid) that
> you've installed since the beginning of time?
>

> On Android, the ubiquitous App Backup freeware instantly tells you:
> - What programs you installed (whether free or paid)
> - What version they are
> - When you installed them
> - And whether you backed up the zip file installer to your flash card

There are no apps that will help diagnose mental illness that I know of.

Try visiting a clinic.
--
“There are three types of lies - lies, damn lies, and statistics.” Disraeli

[crankypuss]

Which newsreader are you using? I'm not seeing a "User-Agent" header in
your post.

--
http://totally-portable-software.blogspot.com
[Sat Mar 26: "Documentation and Portability"]

[Jolly Roger]

crankypuss <inv...@invalid.invalid> wrote:
> Aardvarks wrote:
>
>> On Tue, 19 Jul 2016 01:12:35 +0000 (UTC), Aardvarks wrote:
>>
>>> What offline iOS app tells you all the programs (both free & paid)
>>> that you've installed since the beginning of time?
>>
>> Please ignore the dup.
>> It happens, I think, when I change nntp servers in the middle of a
>> session.
>
> Which newsreader are you using? I'm not seeing a "User-Agent" header in
> your post.

He's spent months removing every header he can to avoid filters because:
troll.

[Aardvarks]

On Tue, 19 Jul 2016 05:58:59 -0600, crankypuss wrote:

> Which newsreader are you using?
> I'm not seeing a "User-Agent" header in your post.

While I don't have to justify the desire for privacy, to answer your
question, I use any news agent I have handy.

Each machine has a given set of user agents, and a given set of nyms at any
one time. It's actually work to synchronize them, and, since they're
totally random, I don't bother.

I just keep to the same nym for a while on a topic, and then retire it.
This is to keep the automatic harvesters guessing.

I don't try to hide the identity to the regulars, but I do provide in every
post so many details that it's impossible to miss me.

Besides, I'm not here for a coffee-shop discussion.
I'm here to get a question answered.
And then I'm gone.

I might be gone for an hour or a day or a week or even a month, but I'm
only here when I'm on a quest.

And, besides, I never troll; but I'm very responsive.
I respond to every valid post and, as you can see by my response to Jolly
Roger, I even respond to invalid posts.

I actually *learn* from the likes of Jolly Roger, because he gives me an
insight into how the average iOS user thinks.

You may remember me from tens of hundreds of discussions on alt.os.linux,
where I have honed the VPN process to a science.

I'm on VPN 100% of the time, and often on a Tor circuit - so even I don't
know what country I'm posting from at any one point in time.

There is nothing in the Usenet headers that I can't control (so far
anyway), and I have many thousands (yes, thousands) of free proxy servers
to choose from, so I don't even know what server IP address or even what
country I'm posting this from.

I can post via any Usenet server I want also, so I mix this stuff up
randomly. In fact, it's so random that I sometimes mix things up, and goof,
but, since I'm not hiding from a state-sponsored adversary, it won't get me
killed.

However, if I were hiding from a state sponsored adversary, I'd be dead
already - since - effectively - you can't hide from them. Period.

[Aardvarks]

On 19 Jul 2016 16:13:41 GMT, Jolly Roger wrote:

> He's spent months removing every header he can to avoid filters because:
> troll.

I now understand you, and while I never found any value in your output, I'm
finding value in better *understanding* your closed mind.

You have no other thoughts but those that are put into your head by others.

For example, a gun is used to rob a bank, so, to you, anyone with a gun is
planning on robbing banks.

Likewise, real trolls do change their nyms, so, to you, given you can't
handle the concept being any more complex than that, to you, anyone who
uses a nym (such as nospam and you yourself) *is* a troll.

If they *change* that nym, then, to you, they are even more of a troll.

It doesn't matter, to you, given the way your mind works, that the person
isn't trolling - and - interestingly - that your posts count far more as
trolling than anyone elses.

It used to bother me how sophomoric you think - but now - I just use you as
an example of the average iOS user's simplistic thought process.

Please do reply - I learn better how you are almost completely unable to
process data that differs from your iron-clad initial setting from every
one of your wonderfully erudite replies.

[Aardvarks]

On Tue, 19 Jul 2016 05:58:59 -0600, crankypuss wrote:

> Which newsreader are you using?
> I'm not seeing a "User-Agent" header in your post.

For privacy reasons, just as I turn off every setting in Andriod that I
know of that gives away privacy, and just as I turn the iPad/Android on
Airplane Mode for privacy while hiking, and just as I never sign into an
app (even Google Maps), and just as I never use my real name on a computer
(even my desktop logins are all made up) and just as I never give out my
real phone number (I use Sideline so as to have a bogus phone number) and
just as I never give out my Social Security Number to non-government
related agencies (I have a made up SSN that I've been using for decades
when they insist on having one), and just as I don't address my snail mail
return address with anything other than the street and zip (they photograph
*every* piece of mail) and just as I never clean my license plate on my car
(it's the government's property - they can clean it), and just as I don't
have a town on my license plate holder and just as I use just my first
initial in *all* my financial records - even my credit cards - and just as
I never give anyone my real name on the phone when I call companies for
information and just as I have my number unlisted both home and cell as
much as I can without paying for it, etc.............

I don't use my real name on Usenet even though I've been here for decades.

I've been tracked down once, in fact, and the guy tried to extort me, and I
went to the district attorney and police the very next day - it was over a
PDF edit that he claimed that I was reverse engineering - yet all I was
doing was editing the document - and he tried to launder his extortion of
me - which he stopped calling me the moment the police got involved.

Also, on web pages, mostly in tech forums, *twice* people tracked me down,
because, after about 5 years of extremely detailed posting, I dropped the
nym and changed it, and they went bonkers thinking I was dead (it helps in
technical forums when you log in as a female but people even PM me their
taxes saying they want to marry me becuase I'm a perfect female - which my
wife found funny). They can't believe people just drop off the net so
suddenly, so they think I died or something.

Anyway, that makes only 3 times I've been tracked down - and all three were
easily avoidable. So, I take a few baby precautions nowadays, to keep the
kooks away (plus I report illegal stuff and I have to do that anonymously).

Anyway, as Snowden says, nobody has to justify privacy.
Those who wish to take it away need to justify why they don't want you to
have privacy.

[Aardvarks]

On 19 Jul 2016 02:38:08 GMT, Jolly Roger wrote:

> Dork can't even troll properly.

I love when you post because you're an average iOS user, so each of your
posts gives me valuable insight into how iOS users think.

[crankypuss]

Jolly Roger wrote:

> crankypuss <inv...@invalid.invalid> wrote:
>> Aardvarks wrote:
>>
>>> On Tue, 19 Jul 2016 01:12:35 +0000 (UTC), Aardvarks wrote:
>>>
>>>> What offline iOS app tells you all the programs (both free & paid)
>>>> that you've installed since the beginning of time?
>>>
>>> Please ignore the dup.
>>> It happens, I think, when I change nntp servers in the middle of a
>>> session.
>>
>> Which newsreader are you using? I'm not seeing a "User-Agent" header
>> in your post.
>
> He's spent months removing every header he can to avoid filters
> because: troll.
>

Why should I care whether he's a troll or not? I'd like to know what
newsreader he's using, so I asked, end of story.

[Aardvarks]

On Tue, 19 Jul 2016 20:31:10 -0600, crankypuss wrote:

> Why should I care whether he's a troll or not? I'd like to know what
> newsreader he's using, so I asked, end of story.

BTW, I think I was using Pan 0.140 when it screwed up.

I like Pan because the GUI is the same on both Linux and Windows.

What's weird about Pan though, is that if a post fails, you never know it
because there is no concept of an "outbox" in Pan.

The concept of an outbox, which, for example, 40Tude dialog has, is far
better than the way Pan does things.

However, 40Tude isn't available on Linux; and, the development effort was
dead for quite some time, although it was resurrected sort of.

But, while Pan's lack of notifications and outboxes exacerbates the problem
of duplicate posts, I don't think that Pan is the actual culprit.

I choose any one of thousands of servers to post from, which you can see in
the ever-changing aioe hashed nntp posting host header if you look at such
stuff (I generally don't).

Here's just a small snapshot of the servers available to me at the moment:
http://i.cubeupload.com/kUvFJS.gif

I choose servers randomly, but, that means there are quite a few problems
to overcome though, since any one of those thousands of nntp posting
servers can be on aioe's banlist, and even if not, aioe limits you to
something like a couple dozen posts per day from any one server, so, I run
into that error at times.

I also run into aioe limiting the number of posts in a short period of
time, and even times when aioe doesn't like a cross posting (e.g., windows
and linux) set of newsgroups.

The net result is that I sometimes have to change servers in a session, and
sometimes the old cache of posts to go out gets mixed up with the new queue
of posts to go out, where the old ones didn't go out or did go out (and
where Pan doesn't really tell me unless I overtly read the log file).

Long story short, I think the duplicate posts happen mostly when I am
switching servers within a session because of a bad server out of the
thousands that I choose from.

I'll try to eliminate the duplicate posts by taking better care when I
switch servers that the old posts aren't still queued up.

So, in summary, I don't think the duplicates are the fault of the Usenet
client; I think it's simply that I change servers and the client gets
confused when it hasn't finished the previous task under the previous
server.

[Jolly Roger]

crankypuss <inv...@invalid.invalid> wrote:
> Jolly Roger wrote:
>
>> crankypuss <inv...@invalid.invalid> wrote:
>>> Aardvarks wrote:
>>>
>>>> On Tue, 19 Jul 2016 01:12:35 +0000 (UTC), Aardvarks wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> What offline iOS app tells you all the programs (both free & paid)
>>>>> that you've installed since the beginning of time?
>>>>
>>>> Please ignore the dup.
>>>> It happens, I think, when I change nntp servers in the middle of a
>>>> session.
>>>
>>> Which newsreader are you using? I'm not seeing a "User-Agent" header
>>> in your post.
>>
>> He's spent months removing every header he can to avoid filters
>> because: troll.
>
> Why should I care whether he's a troll or not?

Noted.

[Chris]

Aardvarks <aard...@a.b.c.com> wrote:
> On Tue, 19 Jul 2016 05:58:59 -0600, crankypuss wrote:
>
>> Which newsreader are you using?
>> I'm not seeing a "User-Agent" header in your post.
>
> While I don't have to justify the desire for privacy, to answer your
> question, I use any news agent I have handy.
>
> Each machine has a given set of user agents, and a given set of nyms at any
> one time. It's actually work to synchronize them, and, since they're
> totally random, I don't bother.
>
> I just keep to the same nym for a while on a topic, and then retire it.
> This is to keep the automatic harvesters guessing.
>
> I don't try to hide the identity to the regulars, but I do provide in every
> post so many details that it's impossible to miss me.

You got that right... :(
You make it near impossible to killfile you permanently, which is
troll-like behaviour to me.

> Besides, I'm not here for a coffee-shop discussion.
> I'm here to get a question answered.
> And then I'm gone.

Ha! Oh, my aching sides...

<plonk>

[Michael Eyd]

Am 20.07.2016 um 01:00 schrieb Aardvarks:

> Besides, I'm not here for a coffee-shop discussion.
> I'm here to get a question answered.
> And then I'm gone.

If only that was true...

> And, besides, I never troll; but I'm very responsive.
> I respond to every valid post and, as you can see by my response to Jolly
> Roger, I even respond to invalid posts.

That's an outright lie! I've posted several quite detailed answers in
several threads (here and in earlier discussions with you), but you
never came back on them. Or you came back (latest example)
misquoting/misinterpreting my answer, and when I corrected you you never
came back. You're a liar. Period.

Michael

[nospam]

In article <nmmunu$1ie4$1...@gioia.aioe.org>, Aardvarks

<aard...@a.b.c.com> wrote:

> So, in summary, I don't think the duplicates are the fault of the Usenet
> client; I think it's simply that I change servers and the client gets
> confused when it hasn't finished the previous task under the previous
> server.

in other words, pebkac.

[Aardvarks]

On Wed, 20 Jul 2016 09:54:25 -0400, nospam wrote:

> in other words, pebkac.

This is true.

The duplication seems to occur when I post a set of queued up messages, and
then, for whatever reason, the first fails, yet the rest go into limbo as I
change servers to a new random server out of the thousands that I can
choose from.

What I'll do, to prevent that, moving forward, is I'll kill the usenet
client, and then change nntp posting hosts.

This problem seems to be prevalent with aioe, so, as alternative, I can
also change the news server - but I try to keep the same nym and news
server within a post - lest you accuse me of changing nyms just to avoid
your killfiles.

(Thank God, some people have me on killfile, e.g., the Jamie's).

[Aardvarks]

On Wed, 20 Jul 2016 09:40:30 +0200, Michael Eyd wrote:

> You're a liar. Period.

Hi Michael,

You're more complex than even nospam, so, it's far harder for me to figure
you out.

I don't know what posts you're speaking about, but there are often posts
that are so far off track that I just ignore them (as do we all). I also
haven't *tested* all the proposed solutions in this thread yet, (which is
my fault alone, although the kids use the iPads 24/7), so there is no sense
in responding to the technical advice until I test it out.

I know from long hard experience that what people "say" on iOS groups,
generally doesn't work outside the walled garden - so - that's why every
solution must be tested.

The *reason* I want to figure out how to list all the apps ever installed
(all of which are free) is that I want to *send* that list to the kid
migrating from Android to the iPhone so she can pick and choose from the
best freeware that I've found over the years.

In seconds, I already sent her the list of all apps I installed on Android
(because it's trivial to do since it's stored in the freeware Backup and
Restore app, and, even better, a simple ls (list short in Linux) or dir
(directory in Windows) will list all the automagically archived APK files
on the external flash card since Android devices mount as common USB flash
drives on desktop computers).

I was hoping that there was a similarly instantaneous method for listing
all the iOS apps ever installed on a device - so I have to test the
proposed solutions when the kids aren't playing with the iPads.

[Aardvarks]

On Tue, 19 Jul 2016 14:29:26 +1200, Jamie Kahn Genet wrote:

> Wow you make life hard for yourself :-D I'll stick with using the online
> App Store to simply and automatically track my app download history,
> tell me what I have installed or not on my device :-)

Thanks for your suggestion to keep things simple, but I actually prefer the
word "functional" to pretty visuals.

How do you get that list of over 300 aps into a *functional* file so that I
can send that file (after sorting it) to someone else?

[Aardvarks]

On Mon, 18 Jul 2016 18:36:11 -0700, Savageduck wrote:

> I am not sure of off line (I have never tried that off line), but the
> iOS AppStore app will do just that for all installed (free or paid)
> apps and for all removed apps (free or paid) listed as "Not on this
> iPad" all of which are available for reinstallation whenever you choose.

Thanks for that suggestion.

There are 234 apps in the installed list and 105 apps in the removed list,
so now I'm trying to figure out how to simply list them into a sortable
text file, which is what I do on the other platform.

There doesn't seem to be a way to *output* this list that I can find, at
least not from the App Store app itself. Nospam suggested iTunes, so, maybe
that's the only way to output the file (iTunes isn't installed on my
desktop platforms though, and can't install on some of them).

At the moment, just viewing them isn't all that useful - although it's very
pretty and very nice to have.

But to make that list actually useful, we need to get it into a file of
some sort.

[Aardvarks]

On Mon, 18 Jul 2016 21:21:15 -0400, nospam wrote:

> app store app and itunes.

I apologize for not getting back to you sooner on this as my first attempts
all failed to output a list of all apps installed into a text file for
sending to someone.

You suggested:
a. iTunes
b. App Store

Long ago I hid the iTunes app on the iPad, as, you and I both know, it's
really not much of an app on iOS, so, you're probably suggesting the iTunes
computer app - which - as you know - isn't installed.

Were you suggesting the computer iTunes app?
Before I install it, does it list all the installed files into a text
output?

Since iTunes isn't installed, that leaves the "App Store" on iOS for the
moment, to output a list of all apps installed into a text file.

Pressing "Purchased" on the bottom of the "app store" app shows two very
long lists under "All" & "Not on this iPad".
A. All ==> 234 apps
B. Not on this iPad ==> 105 apps

Apparently the "All" apps are those apps currently installed on this iPad
(given the iCloud name is bogus and unique to this iPad). The sort order
seems to be LIFO, and is unchangeable - but that's fine because I can sort
them easily in any editor. There are 78 rows times 3 columns, for 234 apps,
so I'm looking now for where the button is to send that list to email or to
a text file.

Apparently the "Not on this iPad" apps are all the apps I tested and
deleted in the past, so this is *very nice* that this listing of
prior-installed apps exists! Very nice indeed. There are 35 rows x 3
columns, for 105 of prior-installed-but-now-deleted apps.

That makes for a list of 234+105=339 apps to put into the list

On Android, I simply listed out the hundreds of apps into a file using the
default file explorer on the desktop computer. It took a split second.

How do we list the iOS apps installed into a sortable text file?

Searching the app store for "list installed apps to a file" doesn't net a
single app for this purpose (which is surprising).

Googling, I find this:
Programatically retrieve list of installed apps that support a given file
type on iOS:
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/9985576/programatically-retrieve-list-of-installed-apps-that-support-a-given-file-type

However, the very first sentence of this says it's impossible to retrieve a
list of iOS apps off the iOS device.

Yet, Googling further, I find I can create a local file system on iOS,
which, if it is like Android, can be used to store the installation files,
which can be listed:
http://www.howtogeek.com/204010/how-to-get-an-android-style-local-file-system-on-an-iphone-or-ipad/

It's a bit complex, as are all simple things in Appleland, but I will try
to get that local file system to store the list of files.

If I'm successful, I'll probably be the first, so there is only a 5% chance
that I will be successful in getting a list of all the apps ever installed
on iOS into a file for sending to someone.

[nospam]

In article <nmoel6$1ogo$2...@gioia.aioe.org>, Aardvarks

<aard...@a.b.c.com> wrote:

> The *reason* I want to figure out how to list all the apps ever installed
> (all of which are free) is that I want to *send* that list to the kid
> migrating from Android to the iPhone so she can pick and choose from the
> best freeware that I've found over the years.

she can decide for herself what apps she wants. her needs are very
different than yours. asking her friends is the best way.

[Jamie Kahn Genet]

Thanks, but I already have the App Store and its functionality :-)

[Aardvarks]

On Thu, 21 Jul 2016 11:08:00 +1200, Jamie Kahn Genet wrote:

>> How do you get that list of over 300 aps into a *functional* file so that I
>> can send that file (after sorting it) to someone else?
>
> Thanks, but I already have the App Store and its functionality :-)

But how do you *send* that list to someone else so that they can compare
what they have to what you have?

[Aardvarks]

On Wed, 20 Jul 2016 14:15:10 -0400, nospam wrote:

> she can decide for herself what apps she wants. her needs are very
> different than yours. asking her friends is the best way.

The problem is that the glossy marketing-driven output that Apple provides
on the iOS device itself is typically very pretty and also just as
typically nearly useless.

How, from the iPad itself, do you get that list of over 300 aps into a
*functional* file so that I can send that file (after sorting it) to her?

As usual, it seems to be impossible to actually get done what you want to
get done from the iOS device itself.

Meanwhile, the job was long ago completed on Android, where it takes a
split second to list the apps installed into a sortable file.

[nospam]

In article <nmpbrs$t26$3...@gioia.aioe.org>, Aardvarks

<aard...@a.b.c.com> wrote:

>
> > she can decide for herself what apps she wants. her needs are very
> > different than yours. asking her friends is the best way.
>
> The problem is that the glossy marketing-driven output that Apple provides
> on the iOS device itself is typically very pretty and also just as
> typically nearly useless.

that has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with third party apps.

> How, from the iPad itself, do you get that list of over 300 aps into a
> *functional* file so that I can send that file (after sorting it) to her?

as i said, let her make her own decisions and figure out what apps
*she* wants, not what you think she wants.

stop forcing her to do things your way.

> As usual, it seems to be impossible to actually get done what you want to
> get done from the iOS device itself.

as usual, you haven't even tried and automatically assuming it can't be
done because *you* can't figure it out.

> Meanwhile, the job was long ago completed on Android, where it takes a
> split second to list the apps installed into a sortable file.

there's no way you can list all apps into a file in a split second on
android, but nevertheless,

% time ls -l ~/Music/iTunes/Mobile\ Applications > ~/Desktop/foo.txt

real 0m0.069s
user 0m0.025s
sys 0m0.020s

[Jamie Kahn Genet]

Why would I want to?

If they want to know what app I use for a particular purpose, they'll
ask. You fanatically desperately insecure platform bigots seem to live
in a universe full of imagined test cases that rarely if ever occur in
real life (as with any other type of bigoted attempt at
'justification'). I cannot recall in all my years ever being asked for a
comprehensive install history for apps on any platform.

The truly amusing part is, you can't cope with any of this. Taking some
personal responsibility (anathema to fanatics, I know) and simply using
another platform that allows you to indulge your imagined obscure needs,
is beyond you :-D You lack the emotional and intellectual maturity to
make grown up choices.

[dorayme]

In article <nmpbrk$t26$2...@gioia.aioe.org>,

Take a few screenshots...

--
dorayme

[dorayme]

In article <nmpbrs$t26$3...@gioia.aioe.org>,
Aardvarks <aard...@a.b.c.com> wrote:

> The problem is that the glossy marketing-driven output that Apple provides
> on the iOS device itself is typically very pretty and also just as
> typically nearly useless.
>
> How, from the iPad itself, do you get that list of over 300 aps into a
> *functional* file so that I can send that file (after sorting it) to her?
>
> As usual, it seems to be impossible to actually get done what you want to
> get done from the iOS device itself.

Have not been following this thread, but I assume you know that in
iTunes on a computer you can get a test *list* of all the iPad apps
downloaded ("purchased"). Am looking at mine right now on my Macbook.

--
dorayme

[Jamie Kahn Genet]

I do? And there's multiples of me? Fascinating :-D Not only do you
happily reveal your worthlessness as a troll, but you're so profoundly
delusional you see your behaviour in everyone else who thwarts your
righteous mission to make everyone behave exactly like you :-D

[Michael Eyd]

Am 20.07.2016 um 20:07 schrieb Aardvarks:
> On Mon, 18 Jul 2016 21:21:15 -0400, nospam wrote:
>
>> app store app and itunes.
>
> I apologize for not getting back to you sooner on this as my first attempts
> all failed to output a list of all apps installed into a text file for
> sending to someone.
>
> You suggested:
> a. iTunes
> b. App Store
>
> Long ago I hid the iTunes app on the iPad, as, you and I both know, it's
> really not much of an app on iOS, so, you're probably suggesting the iTunes
> computer app - which - as you know - isn't installed.
>
> Were you suggesting the computer iTunes app?

No, he wasn't.

> Before I install it, does it list all the installed files into a text
> output?

Not that I would be aware of this option...

> Since iTunes isn't installed, that leaves the "App Store" on iOS for the
> moment, to output a list of all apps installed into a text file.

It's not there either.

> Pressing "Purchased" on the bottom of the "app store" app shows two very
> long lists under "All" & "Not on this iPad".
> A. All ==> 234 apps
> B. Not on this iPad ==> 105 apps
>
> Apparently the "All" apps are those apps currently installed on this iPad
> (given the iCloud name is bogus and unique to this iPad).

This list shows the apps currently installed on this iPad - regardless
(AFAIK) under which iTunes account you installed them or whether it's
unique to this iPad or not.

> The sort order
> seems to be LIFO, and is unchangeable - but that's fine because I can sort
> them easily in any editor. There are 78 rows times 3 columns, for 234 apps,
> so I'm looking now for where the button is to send that list to email or to
> a text file.
>
> Apparently the "Not on this iPad" apps are all the apps I tested and
> deleted in the past, so this is *very nice* that this listing of
> prior-installed apps exists! Very nice indeed. There are 35 rows x 3
> columns, for 105 of prior-installed-but-now-deleted apps.
>
> That makes for a list of 234+105=339 apps to put into the list
>
> On Android, I simply listed out the hundreds of apps into a file using the
> default file explorer on the desktop computer. It took a split second.
>
> How do we list the iOS apps installed into a sortable text file?

There's no way known to me to do that, apart from typing that list down
manually.

> Searching the app store for "list installed apps to a file" doesn't net a
> single app for this purpose (which is surprising).

Not at all, if only you had understood what you were told already so
many times: iOS security measures simply don't allow to compile such a
list for any app (outside the ones Apple provides themselves). And for
good reason.

> Googling, I find this:
> Programatically retrieve list of installed apps that support a given file
> type on iOS:
> http://stackoverflow.com/questions/9985576/programatically-retrieve-list-of-installed-apps-that-support-a-given-file-type
>
> However, the very first sentence of this says it's impossible to retrieve a
> list of iOS apps off the iOS device.

Correct, for all I know.

> Yet, Googling further, I find I can create a local file system on iOS,
> which, if it is like Android, can be used to store the installation files,
> which can be listed:
> http://www.howtogeek.com/204010/how-to-get-an-android-style-local-file-system-on-an-iphone-or-ipad/

Which has exactly *nothing* to do with getting access to the installed
apps (or their installers).

> It's a bit complex, as are all simple things in Appleland, but I will try
> to get that local file system to store the list of files.

As usual, you're trying to solve some problem in a way much more
complicated than necessary.

> If I'm successful, I'll probably be the first,

You would be, yes. But you will not be successful, at least not if I
understand your intentions correctly. Not without jailbreaking, that is.

> so there is only a 5% chance
> that I will be successful in getting a list of all the apps ever installed
> on iOS into a file for sending to someone.

If you want to read that list somehow from the file system (without a
jailbreak) your chances are *exactly nil*.

Michael

[Michael Eyd]

Am 20.07.2016 um 20:07 schrieb Aardvarks:

> On Wed, 20 Jul 2016 09:40:30 +0200, Michael Eyd wrote:
>
>> You're a liar. Period.
>
> Hi Michael,
>
> You're more complex than even nospam, so, it's far harder for me to figure
> you out.
>
> I don't know what posts you're speaking about,

Oh come on, that's as lame as you could possibly get! If you lost track
of your dozens (if not more than a hundred!) postings with your list of
12+ (the number varied slightly over time) claimed things that are
impossible on iOS, that's not my fault, it's yours. I did respond to
several of them, stating which things I *know* are possible (and without
jailbreaking). There was (for all I remember) exactly one case where you
responded, and there you misquoted me seriously. When I corrected that
you never came back on that. As you didn't on the other ones. I leave it
for the other readers around here to decide, who's telling the truth here.

> but there are often posts
> that are so far off track that I just ignore them (as do we all).

I responded on-topic to claims YOU made (actually, you made them so
often that I started to wonder whether you're just a copy-and-paste
robot). If you call that 'off track' than you should stop posting them
in the first place.

> I also
> haven't *tested* all the proposed solutions in this thread yet, (which is
> my fault alone, although the kids use the iPads 24/7), so there is no sense
> in responding to the technical advice until I test it out.

But there is point in debunking such statements from us as incorrect,
outspokenly or implicitly? Not logical at all...

> I know from long hard experience that what people "say" on iOS groups,
> generally doesn't work outside the walled garden - so - that's why every
> solution must be tested.

There are some other things coming to my mind, that I would like to have
tested... ;-)

> The *reason* I want to figure out how to list all the apps ever installed
> (all of which are free) is that I want to *send* that list to the kid
> migrating from Android to the iPhone so she can pick and choose from the
> best freeware that I've found over the years.

Again, you're shifting topics... But as you're strategy of shifting
topics leads to 'off track' postings (your words), I will not follow up
on that here. You find my statements in other parts of this thread.

Michael

[nospam]

In article <nmq788$m5r$1...@news.sap-ag.de>, Michael Eyd <inv...@eyd.de>

wrote:

> >> app store app and itunes.
> >
> > I apologize for not getting back to you sooner on this as my first attempts
> > all failed to output a list of all apps installed into a text file for
> > sending to someone.
> >
> > You suggested:
> > a. iTunes
> > b. App Store
> >
> > Long ago I hid the iTunes app on the iPad, as, you and I both know, it's
> > really not much of an app on iOS, so, you're probably suggesting the iTunes
> > computer app - which - as you know - isn't installed.
> >
> > Were you suggesting the computer iTunes app?
>
> No, he wasn't.

yes i was.

the ios itunes app is nothing more than a music/video store, whereas
the computer itunes app is a comprehensive tool for asset management,
device management, app store and a music/video store.

> > Before I install it, does it list all the installed files into a text
> > output?
>
> Not that I would be aware of this option...

it does. it's actually pdf, not plain text, but good enough.

> > Since iTunes isn't installed, that leaves the "App Store" on iOS for the
> > moment, to output a list of all apps installed into a text file.
>
> It's not there either.

it is, but that won't output to a text file, mainly because it's of no
use.

> > Pressing "Purchased" on the bottom of the "app store" app shows two very
> > long lists under "All" & "Not on this iPad".
> > A. All ==> 234 apps
> > B. Not on this iPad ==> 105 apps
> >
> > Apparently the "All" apps are those apps currently installed on this iPad
> > (given the iCloud name is bogus and unique to this iPad).
>
> This list shows the apps currently installed on this iPad - regardless
> (AFAIK) under which iTunes account you installed them or whether it's
> unique to this iPad or not.

nope. it shows all downloaded apps for a given apple id, whether or not
they're currently installed, both paid and free. if a given app is not
installed, a cloud icon is displayed and it can easily be redownloaded.

> > The sort order
> > seems to be LIFO, and is unchangeable - but that's fine because I can sort
> > them easily in any editor. There are 78 rows times 3 columns, for 234 apps,
> > so I'm looking now for where the button is to send that list to email or to
> > a text file.
> >
> > Apparently the "Not on this iPad" apps are all the apps I tested and
> > deleted in the past, so this is *very nice* that this listing of
> > prior-installed apps exists! Very nice indeed. There are 35 rows x 3
> > columns, for 105 of prior-installed-but-now-deleted apps.
> >
> > That makes for a list of 234+105=339 apps to put into the list
> >
> > On Android, I simply listed out the hundreds of apps into a file using the
> > default file explorer on the desktop computer. It took a split second.
> >
> > How do we list the iOS apps installed into a sortable text file?
>
> There's no way known to me to do that, apart from typing that list down
> manually.

there are several ways, one of which was given in another post.

> > Searching the app store for "list installed apps to a file" doesn't net a
> > single app for this purpose (which is surprising).
>
> Not at all, if only you had understood what you were told already so
> many times: iOS security measures simply don't allow to compile such a
> list for any app (outside the ones Apple provides themselves). And for
> good reason.

that's not why.

there is no security issue for the user to know which apps are
installed.

> > Googling, I find this:
> > Programatically retrieve list of installed apps that support a given file
> > type on iOS:
> >
> > http://stackoverflow.com/questions/9985576/programatically-retrieve-list-of-
> > installed-apps-that-support-a-given-file-type
> >
> > However, the very first sentence of this says it's impossible to retrieve a
> > list of iOS apps off the iOS device.
>
> Correct, for all I know.

app store, purchased tab. there's the list.

it's not a text file because dumping it into a text file is completely
pointless.

however, there are *other* ways to get a text file of all apps.

> > Yet, Googling further, I find I can create a local file system on iOS,
> > which, if it is like Android, can be used to store the installation files,
> > which can be listed:
> >
> > http://www.howtogeek.com/204010/how-to-get-an-android-style-local-file-syste
> > m-on-an-iphone-or-ipad/
>
> Which has exactly *nothing* to do with getting access to the installed
> apps (or their installers).

correct.

> > It's a bit complex, as are all simple things in Appleland, but I will try
> > to get that local file system to store the list of files.
>
> As usual, you're trying to solve some problem in a way much more
> complicated than necessary.

also correct, and it's not even a solution to his problem anyway.

> > If I'm successful, I'll probably be the first,
>
> You would be, yes. But you will not be successful, at least not if I
> understand your intentions correctly. Not without jailbreaking, that is.
>
> > so there is only a 5% chance
> > that I will be successful in getting a list of all the apps ever installed
> > on iOS into a file for sending to someone.
>
> If you want to read that list somehow from the file system (without a
> jailbreak) your chances are *exactly nil*.

true.

[Michael Eyd]

Am 21.07.2016 um 16:06 schrieb nospam:
> In article <nmq788$m5r$1...@news.sap-ag.de>, Michael Eyd <inv...@eyd.de>
> wrote:
>
>>>> app store app and itunes.
>>>
>>> I apologize for not getting back to you sooner on this as my first attempts
>>> all failed to output a list of all apps installed into a text file for
>>> sending to someone.
>>>
>>> You suggested:
>>> a. iTunes
>>> b. App Store
>>>
>>> Long ago I hid the iTunes app on the iPad, as, you and I both know, it's
>>> really not much of an app on iOS, so, you're probably suggesting the iTunes
>>> computer app - which - as you know - isn't installed.
>>>
>>> Were you suggesting the computer iTunes app?
>>
>> No, he wasn't.
>
> yes i was.
>
> the ios itunes app is nothing more than a music/video store, whereas
> the computer itunes app is a comprehensive tool for asset management,
> device management, app store and a music/video store.

Obviously the iOS iTunes app is no good for checking on apps, as their
complete handling is 'outsourced' to the AppStore app... ;-)

>>> Before I install it, does it list all the installed files into a text
>>> output?
>>
>> Not that I would be aware of this option...
>
> it does. it's actually pdf, not plain text, but good enough.

Hm, I'd be interested in learning how to do that, I can't find it. Or is
it only possible in the OS X version of iTunes?

>>> Since iTunes isn't installed, that leaves the "App Store" on iOS for the
>>> moment, to output a list of all apps installed into a text file.
>>
>> It's not there either.
>
> it is, but that won't output to a text file, mainly because it's of no
> use.

The whole question is useless, to start with. But as an intellectual
challenge one solution to it would be of interest to me. :-)

>>> Pressing "Purchased" on the bottom of the "app store" app shows two very
>>> long lists under "All" & "Not on this iPad".
>>> A. All ==> 234 apps
>>> B. Not on this iPad ==> 105 apps
>>>
>>> Apparently the "All" apps are those apps currently installed on this iPad
>>> (given the iCloud name is bogus and unique to this iPad).
>>
>> This list shows the apps currently installed on this iPad - regardless
>> (AFAIK) under which iTunes account you installed them or whether it's
>> unique to this iPad or not.
>
> nope. it shows all downloaded apps for a given apple id, whether or not
> they're currently installed, both paid and free. if a given app is not
> installed, a cloud icon is displayed and it can easily be redownloaded.

Sure, but I was referring to another point. ;-)

There are. I (for once) would definitively not like any (3rd party) app
on my smartphone being able to compile a list of all apps I installed
(at this time, or possibly even ever), and then to do with it whatever
it pleases. To me that would be a security hole, and not a small one.

>>> Googling, I find this:
>>> Programatically retrieve list of installed apps that support a given file
>>> type on iOS:
>>>
>>> http://stackoverflow.com/questions/9985576/programatically-retrieve-list-of-
>>> installed-apps-that-support-a-given-file-type
>>>
>>> However, the very first sentence of this says it's impossible to retrieve a
>>> list of iOS apps off the iOS device.
>>
>> Correct, for all I know.
>
> app store, purchased tab. there's the list.

Sure, but to get into a file? Beyond taking screenshots?

> it's not a text file because dumping it into a text file is completely
> pointless.
>
> however, there are *other* ways to get a text file of all apps.
>
>>> Yet, Googling further, I find I can create a local file system on iOS,
>>> which, if it is like Android, can be used to store the installation files,
>>> which can be listed:
>>>
>>> http://www.howtogeek.com/204010/how-to-get-an-android-style-local-file-syste
>>> m-on-an-iphone-or-ipad/
>>
>> Which has exactly *nothing* to do with getting access to the installed
>> apps (or their installers).
>
> correct.

Not that Aardvarks would be interested at all in that statement... ;-)

>>> It's a bit complex, as are all simple things in Appleland, but I will try
>>> to get that local file system to store the list of files.
>>
>> As usual, you're trying to solve some problem in a way much more
>> complicated than necessary.
>
> also correct, and it's not even a solution to his problem anyway.

ACK.

>>> If I'm successful, I'll probably be the first,
>>
>> You would be, yes. But you will not be successful, at least not if I
>> understand your intentions correctly. Not without jailbreaking, that is.
>>
>>> so there is only a 5% chance
>>> that I will be successful in getting a list of all the apps ever installed
>>> on iOS into a file for sending to someone.
>>
>> If you want to read that list somehow from the file system (without a
>> jailbreak) your chances are *exactly nil*.
>
> true.

I already know somebody to start ranting about that, again... ;-)

Best regards,

Michael

[nospam]

In article <nmqmcf$6nr$1...@news.sap-ag.de>, Michael Eyd <inv...@eyd.de>
wrote:

> >>> Before I install it, does it list all the installed files into a text
> >>> output?
> >>
> >> Not that I would be aware of this option...
> >
> > it does. it's actually pdf, not plain text, but good enough.
>
> Hm, I'd be interested in learning how to do that, I can't find it. Or is
> it only possible in the OS X version of iTunes?

it's the same for mac or windows itunes.

display apps in itunes, then choose print... from the file menu, choose
song list (since that's really for printing playlists, not apps),
choose custom theme (although it doesn't matter that much), click
print, then choose pdf rather than a printer. done. windows users prior
to win10 may need to install a print to pdf tool.

if itunes is installed, the apps are all in the mobile applications
folder, so it may be easier (although not formatted as nicely) to just
list the apps in that folder and dump to a file. on a mac:

ls -l ~/Music/iTunes/Mobile\ Applications > ~/Desktop/foo.txt

sending the output of that directly to the user's preferred mua and/or
piping it through sort beforehand is left as an exercise for the
reader.

> >>> Since iTunes isn't installed, that leaves the "App Store" on iOS for the
> >>> moment, to output a list of all apps installed into a text file.
> >>
> >> It's not there either.
> >
> > it is, but that won't output to a text file, mainly because it's of no
> > use.
>
> The whole question is useless, to start with.

yes it is.

> But as an intellectual
> challenge one solution to it would be of interest to me. :-)

there are actually several solutions but he's going to rant anyway.

> >
> >>> Searching the app store for "list installed apps to a file" doesn't net a
> >>> single app for this purpose (which is surprising).
> >>
> >> Not at all, if only you had understood what you were told already so
> >> many times: iOS security measures simply don't allow to compile such a
> >> list for any app (outside the ones Apple provides themselves). And for
> >> good reason.
> >
> > that's not why.
> >
> > there is no security issue for the user to know which apps are
> > installed.
>
> There are. I (for once) would definitively not like any (3rd party) app
> on my smartphone being able to compile a list of all apps I installed
> (at this time, or possibly even ever), and then to do with it whatever
> it pleases. To me that would be a security hole, and not a small one.

an app can't find out all other installed apps but the user certainly
can, and quite easily.

keep in mind that an app can tell if another app that has a custom url
scheme is installed.

[Michael Eyd]

Am 21.07.2016 um 17:18 schrieb nospam:
> In article <nmqmcf$6nr$1...@news.sap-ag.de>, Michael Eyd <inv...@eyd.de>
> wrote:
>
>>>>> Before I install it, does it list all the installed files into a text
>>>>> output?
>>>>
>>>> Not that I would be aware of this option...
>>>
>>> it does. it's actually pdf, not plain text, but good enough.
>>
>> Hm, I'd be interested in learning how to do that, I can't find it. Or is
>> it only possible in the OS X version of iTunes?
>
> it's the same for mac or windows itunes.
>
> display apps in itunes, then choose print... from the file menu, choose
> song list (since that's really for printing playlists, not apps),
> choose custom theme (although it doesn't matter that much), click
> print, then choose pdf rather than a printer. done. windows users prior
> to win10 may need to install a print to pdf tool.

Thanks, I tried it from the wrong list (where iTunes would only print
the list of songs, but not the list of apps). :-/ Thanks for pointing me
to the right place! :-)

> if itunes is installed, the apps are all in the mobile applications
> folder, so it may be easier (although not formatted as nicely) to just
> list the apps in that folder and dump to a file. on a mac:
> ls -l ~/Music/iTunes/Mobile\ Applications > ~/Desktop/foo.txt

For Windows (7), the path is "C:\Users\<xxx>\Music\iTunes\iTunes
Media\Mobile Applications". :-) Which, btw, automatically answers
Aardvarks question about how to back installation files... :-)

> sending the output of that directly to the user's preferred mua and/or> piping it through sort beforehand is left as an exercise for the
> reader.
>
>>>>> Since iTunes isn't installed, that leaves the "App Store" on iOS for the
>>>>> moment, to output a list of all apps installed into a text file.
>>>>
>>>> It's not there either.
>>>
>>> it is, but that won't output to a text file, mainly because it's of no
>>> use.
>>
>> The whole question is useless, to start with.
>
> yes it is.
>
>> But as an intellectual
>> challenge one solution to it would be of interest to me. :-)
>
> there are actually several solutions but he's going to rant anyway.

I bet he is... :-)

>>>>> Searching the app store for "list installed apps to a file" doesn't net a
>>>>> single app for this purpose (which is surprising).
>>>>
>>>> Not at all, if only you had understood what you were told already so
>>>> many times: iOS security measures simply don't allow to compile such a
>>>> list for any app (outside the ones Apple provides themselves). And for
>>>> good reason.
>>>
>>> that's not why.
>>>
>>> there is no security issue for the user to know which apps are
>>> installed.
>>
>> There are. I (for once) would definitively not like any (3rd party) app
>> on my smartphone being able to compile a list of all apps I installed
>> (at this time, or possibly even ever), and then to do with it whatever
>> it pleases. To me that would be a security hole, and not a small one.
>
> an app can't find out all other installed apps but the user certainly
> can, and quite easily.

The user yes, but not an app.

> keep in mind that an app can tell if another app that has a custom url
> scheme is installed.

Yes, but that leaves out all apps ((many/most) games e.g.) that don't
install a URL scheme. So this list is not a complete list afterall. But
(for all I know) the best any (3rd party) app could hope to achieve.

Best regards,

Michael

[Jolly Roger]

On 2016-07-21, nospam <nos...@nospam.invalid> wrote:
>
> if itunes is installed, the apps are all in the mobile applications
> folder, so it may be easier (although not formatted as nicely) to just
> list the apps in that folder and dump to a file. on a mac:
> ls -l ~/Music/iTunes/Mobile\ Applications > ~/Desktop/foo.txt

Just a note: On some systems, the path is:

~/Music/iTunes/iTunes\ Media/Mobile\ Applications/

[Aardvarks]

On Thu, 21 Jul 2016 12:13:27 +0200, Michael Eyd wrote:

> There's no way known to me to do that, apart from typing that list down
> manually.

On Thu, 21 Jul 2016 15:28:04 +1000, dorayme said he/she could create a list
using the computer iTunes app, so I asked him/her for clarification because
the goal is to list all apps (free or paid) into an editable file so that I
can pair the best Android and iOS freeware equivalents to mail to family
and friends (and perhaps to post here for others to benefit from).

> Not at all, if only you had understood what you were told already so
> many times: iOS security measures simply don't allow to compile such a
> list for any app (outside the ones Apple provides themselves). And for
> good reason.

If it's easy to do, I don't care *how* it's done, which means it doesn't
matter to me whether Apple provides this basic functionality or whether a
third party provides it.

The goal is to list, side by side, the best freeware for each purpose on
both platforms, in the same file.

>> Yet, Googling further, I find I can create a local file system on iOS,
>> which, if it is like Android, can be used to store the installation files,
>> which can be listed:
>> http://www.howtogeek.com/204010/how-to-get-an-android-style-local-file-system-on-an-iphone-or-ipad/
>
> Which has exactly *nothing* to do with getting access to the installed
> apps (or their installers).

Funny thing. When I tried to run the suggested software on the iOS device,
the iPad locked up every time. It was weird. The ipad locks up when you run
that software from the app store.

> As usual, you're trying to solve some problem in a way much more
> complicated than necessary.

You probably believe that statement, but what you can't seem to comprehend
is that listing all installed files on the "other" platform into an
editable file was nearly instantaneous.

Two days after starting, nobody here can yet show how to simply list all
installed apps into an editable file on iOS.

So it's not "me" making the simplest of things difficult.
It's iOS or simply the lack of knowledge about iOS since nobody here can
suggest a way yet to do something as simple as listing all installed files
into a text file from iOS.

Dorayme did suggest using the computer version of iTunes, which, if it
works, is what I'll use (although it sure is a complex solution to do
something so simple).

> You would be, yes. But you will not be successful, at least not if I
> understand your intentions correctly. Not without jailbreaking, that is.

All I want is to output the installed app list to a file.
I already did it on the other platform.
I'm creating a one-to-one file of best free apps on one platform to best
free apps on the other platform.

> If you want to read that list somehow from the file system (without a
> jailbreak) your chances are *exactly nil*.

Dorayme suggested that the computer iTunes app might be able output the
list of installed freeware apps to a text file on the computer.

If that works, that's what I'll have to do but I'm waiting for confirmation
of details from dorayme.

[Aardvarks]

On Thu, 21 Jul 2016 15:28:04 +1000, dorayme wrote:

> Have not been following this thread, but I assume you know that in
> iTunes on a computer you can get a test *list* of all the iPad apps
> downloaded ("purchased"). Am looking at mine right now on my Macbook.

Thank you for that suggestion of using the computer iTunes app to list all
the installed apps (freeware or payware) into a text file.

I am creating a one-to-one comparison list of all apps I have installed on
my Android and iOS devices so that I can send that comparison to someone
else who just moved from Android to iOS.

I do a lot of work to choose only the *best* apps, and, since I never pay
for apps (once I paid and had to ask for my money back because the app
sucked) so I'd just like

I don't have iTunes partly because I'm on Linux but also partly because I
don't install iTunes on Windows (for a variety of reasons, not the least of
which is that it doesn't do anything I can't do far simpler without it).

For example, to list all the Android apps into a text file took a split
second simply by inserting the flash card into the computer and listing the
app directory contents to a text file.

If your suggestion works to output all the apps installed to a file, it
might be worth the effort to temporarily install iTunes just to output the
list of installed apps to a text file.

Did you actually test it though?
How did you list the installed apps to a file?
Did you list it to a text file or to some other proprietary format file?

[Aardvarks]

On Thu, 21 Jul 2016 12:25:48 +0200, Michael Eyd wrote:

> Oh come on, that's as lame as you could possibly get! If you lost track
> of your dozens (if not more than a hundred!) postings with your list of
> 12+ (the number varied slightly over time) claimed things that are
> impossible on iOS, that's not my fault, it's yours.

I'm not sure why you're posting this to this thread because this thread is
simply about how users can list all the installed apps to a text file.

If you're not interested in listing all installed apps to a text file,
that's fine - but this thread is not about the score of things Android does
that iOS can't hope to do.

This thread is merely asking how to list all installed apps to a text file.

The reason I want to do that is that I am creating a one-to-one list of the
best freeware Android apps with best freeware iOS counterparts to send to
someone who just moved from Android to iOS and who asked for more
functionality than she has out of the box.

Do you know how to list all iOS apps ever installed into a text file?

[Aardvarks]

On Thu, 21 Jul 2016 00:15:11 -0400, nospam wrote:

> that has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with third party apps.

I'm not sure what you're trying to tell us about 3rd-party apps.

My goal was to list into a text file all the apps I installed on each
platform, and then to line them up, one to one, to send to someone who is
migrating from Android to iOS.

It took seconds to list all the apps ever installed on the one platform,
whether third-party or not. I just want to do the same listing on iOS.

> as i said, let her make her own decisions and figure out what apps
> *she* wants, not what you think she wants.
>
> stop forcing her to do things your way.

She *can* make her own decisions.
She asked me to give her a one-to-one map of the best Android apps to the
best iOS apps.

Sometimes they are the same (e.g., CoPilot on iOS is essentially the same
as CoPilot on Android); but most of the time they're different.

The problem, as you know, with freeware, is that it takes *work* and
intelligence to pick the best. So, since I've already done all that work,
and since I have more experience than most people do, she wanted to mine my
results.

> as usual, you haven't even tried and automatically assuming it can't be
> done because *you* can't figure it out.

I googled before I had asked.
And I didn't find anyone who was successful in listing out all the apps
installed on the iOS device into a file.

> there's no way you can list all apps into a file in a split second on
> android, but nevertheless,

Sure there is.
But it requires some forethought because I have App Backup & Restore
freeware which automagically archives the APKs as they are being installed.

That archive is set to be on the external flash card.
So, I pop that external flash card into a computer and list to a file:
E:\sdcard1\data\software\apps\> dir > apps.txt

> % time ls -l ~/Music/iTunes/Mobile\ Applications > ~/Desktop/foo.txt
>
> real 0m0.069s
> user 0m0.025s
> sys 0m0.020s

I'm not sure what you're trying to show above, but if there is a way to
connect the iOS device to a linux or desktop computer sans iTunes and then
list short the installed apps into a text file, that would be perfect.

Q: How can a user list all installed iOS apps into a text file?

[Aardvarks]

On Thu, 21 Jul 2016 21:18:21 +1200, Jamie Kahn Genet wrote:

> I do? And there's multiples of me? Fascinating :-D Not only do you
> happily reveal your worthlessness as a troll, but you're so profoundly
> delusional you see your behaviour in everyone else who thwarts your
> righteous mission to make everyone behave exactly like you :-D

I apologize.
I guess it was just wishful thinking on my part.
Mea culpa.

[Savageduck]

On 2016-07-21 15:53:35 +0000, Jolly Roger <jolly...@pobox.com> said:

> On 2016-07-21, nospam <nos...@nospam.invalid> wrote:
>>
>> if itunes is installed, the apps are all in the mobile applications
>> folder, so it may be easier (although not formatted as nicely) to just
>> list the apps in that folder and dump to a file. on a mac:
>> ls -l ~/Music/iTunes/Mobile\ Applications > ~/Desktop/foo.txt
>
> Just a note: On some systems, the path is:
>
> ~/Music/iTunes/iTunes\ Media/Mobile\ Applications/

I ended up with a 14 page PDF. ;-)

--
Regards,

Savageduck

[Aardvarks]

On Thu, 21 Jul 2016 10:06:15 -0400, nospam wrote:

> it does. it's actually pdf, not plain text, but good enough.

Thanks for confirming that iTunes will output all the installed freeware
and payware apps into a file.

PDF is "probably" fine, "if"...
I can easily save PDF to text "if" the PDF is not an image format.

Whether the PDF output is useful will depend on the "type" of PDF data.

> nope. it shows all downloaded apps for a given apple id, whether or not
> they're currently installed, both paid and free. if a given app is not
> installed, a cloud icon is displayed and it can easily be redownloaded.

I readily admit the App Store shows *useful* output that is *better* than
what we get on Android.

It's just not in a format that lends itself to comparing two file lists,
but that's not what the app store app was designed to do, so I don't fault
the app store app.

I just want to have a list of the best freeware installed on each platform
where I can line up the best iOS freeware apps with the best Android
freeware apps.

> there are several ways, one of which was given in another post.

I think the *only* way that was suggested to output the list of apps
installed on iOS into an editable file was to use iTunes on the computer.

From there, two ways were suggested inside of the computer iTunes:
a. Save to PDF and then save the PDF to text
b. Save a directory listing to text

It's not clear whether iTunes will recognize freeware apps *already
installed* though, so that's a clarifying question.

> there is no security issue for the user to know which apps are
> installed.

I agree.

> it's not a text file because dumping it into a text file is completely
> pointless.

I agree that most people won't need the list of apps dumped to a file.

But as you know, I'm creating a list of the best freeware apps on "my"
devices, so, "I" need the list of apps in an editable format.

It took a split second do create the list on the other platform.
I'm just asking how to do it on the iOS platform because it's not obvious
how to do so.

If iTunes solves the problem, I'm ok with installing iTunes to test it out.

> however, there are *other* ways to get a text file of all apps.

The only way that I know of which was suggested was that both you and
dorayme suggested using iTunes on a computer.

That's fine, if it works.
I wasn't sure from what you and dorayme said whether iTunes dumps *all* the
apps (all mine are free, for example), or if it only dumps the payware
apps, and if the format is a text-based PDF, and if iTunes can handle apps
which were installed on the device prior to the installation of iTunes on
the computer.

Also, it's not clear if the PDF is a mere image or if the PDF can be saved
as useful text from a PDF editor (I have the payware Adobe Acrobat for that
if I need it plus plenty of PDF-to-Office tools - but all depend on the PDF
containing actual text and not images).

>> If you want to read that list somehow from the file system (without a
>> jailbreak) your chances are *exactly nil*.
>
> true.

All I want is the list to be in a text file so if iTunes on a computer is
the only way to do that, then I can temporarily install iTunes on a Windows
computer to do that.

The three clarifying questions are:
a. Do the two iTunes methods output previously installed apps?
b. Do the two iTunes methods output freeware apps installed?
c. Does the iTunes output to PDF contain "text" or "images"?

[Aardvarks]

On Thu, 21 Jul 2016 11:18:18 -0400, nospam wrote:

> display apps in itunes, then choose print... from the file menu, choose
> song list (since that's really for printing playlists, not apps),
> choose custom theme (although it doesn't matter that much), click
> print, then choose pdf rather than a printer. done.

Thank you for this useful information on how to print a list of the
installed apps to PDF from computer iTunes.

Since I have to install iTunes to test this, and since you probably already
have iTunes installed, may I ask two clarifying questions:
a. Does that PDF appear to be "images" or "text" ?
b. Does that output contain *all* apps, including freeware apps?

> windows users prior
> to win10 may need to install a print to pdf tool.

Printing to PDF is easy for me since I have Adobe Acrobat Exchange and
cutePDF installed on Windows.

The trick will be whether the PDF is just a mere image (which would be bad)
or if it's textual (which would be trivial to then save as text).

> if itunes is installed, the apps are all in the mobile applications
> folder, so it may be easier (although not formatted as nicely) to just
> list the apps in that folder and dump to a file. on a mac:
> ls -l ~/Music/iTunes/Mobile\ Applications > ~/Desktop/foo.txt

Ah, now I understand why you provided that helpful command!
On Windows, we'd use the "dir" command, but that is a minor detail.

If the apps are listed in a folder on Windows, then it would be *easy* to
output that list into a text file.

For example:
C:\> dir /s/a/l/on/b C:\Documents & Settings\Default User\Application
Data\Apple\Music\iTunes\Mobile\Applications > file.txt

> sending the output of that directly to the user's preferred mua and/or
> piping it through sort beforehand is left as an exercise for the
> reader.

The Windows salonb set of options is useful when listing directory
contents:
c:\> dir /s/a/l/on/b Mobile\Applications > file.txt

Since iTunes won't run native on Linux, I won't list the Linux options.

>> The whole question is useless, to start with.
> yes it is.

I agree if you "just give up", there is absolutely no need to create a file
with the hundreds of best apps on each platform shown, side by side.

However, if you want to create that list, then the question is useful.

If you're not actually trying to accomplish anything, then there is no need
for the question.

> there are actually several solutions but he's going to rant anyway.

There really is only one solution proposed, and that's to install iTunes on
Windows which is a huge amount of software but which I'm willing to do if
that resolves the problem.

Are you sure that iTunes will, after the fact, recognize *all* the freeware
on the iPad, even though iTunes was installed after all that freeware was
installed on the iPad?

[Savageduck]

On 2016-07-21 17:39:32 +0000, Aardvarks <aard...@a.b.c.com> said:

>
>
> The three clarifying questions are:
> a. Do the two iTunes methods output previously installed apps?
> b. Do the two iTunes methods output freeware apps installed?

There are a few big caveats to this method:
1: It will only work if your iOS devices are synced/backed-up with your
desktop/laptop iTunes. If not there will be no apps to list.
2: If you are using an iTunes-iOS device synced system, iTunes will
show all apps, paid, or free, installed or not.
3: The differentiation between installed and preveously installed apps
can ony be checked on iOS AppStore App.
4: in iTunes with an USB connected iOS device, one can remove or
reinstall and rearrange apps. Otherwise reinstallation is done via the
iOS AppStore app and iCloud.

> c. Does the iTunes output to PDF contain "text" or "images"?

Text
--
Regards,

Savageduck

[Aardvarks]

On Thu, 21 Jul 2016 15:20:54 +1000, dorayme wrote:

>> But how do you *send* that list to someone else so that they can compare
>> what they have to what you have?
>
> Take a few screenshots...

I should have been more clear in that what I'm doing is merely listing all
the best freeware apps I use on one platform, and lining them up, one to
one, with the best available apps on the other platform.

I've done this many times in the past, e.g., for Windows to Linux
migration, but I have never done it before for the Android to iOS
migration.

If you know of such a comprehensive list of the best freeware app for each
task one would do on a device, then please let me know if it already
exists.

Since it almost assuredly does not exist, I'll have to make it myself.
Screenshots won't cut it for that purpose - but you wouldn't have known
that until I explained the intended use for the file.

[Aardvarks]

On Thu, 21 Jul 2016 16:32:49 +1200, Jamie Kahn Genet wrote:

> Why would I want to?

Let's say, for example, that you are an expert in the best freeware apps on
both iOS and on Android.

Furthermore, let's say you want to help someone who isn't as technically
astute as you are in migrating her Android apps over to iOS.

You might, in that case, want to list out all the best freeware apps on
Android and on iOS, and then line them up, one to one, to show her how to
reproduce the functionality she had on Android onto iOS.

> If they want to know what app I use for a particular purpose, they'll
> ask. You fanatically desperately insecure platform bigots seem to live
> in a universe full of imagined test cases that rarely if ever occur in
> real life (as with any other type of bigoted attempt at
> 'justification'). I cannot recall in all my years ever being asked for a
> comprehensive install history for apps on any platform.

I'm not surprised that you have never had a need to know what apps are on
any particular platform, but then that probably means you're not an expert
in finding the best apps for each platform, and that also probably means
you probably rarely help others by providing that information to them in a
comprehensive manner.

> The truly amusing part is, you can't cope with any of this. Taking some
> personal responsibility (anathema to fanatics, I know) and simply using
> another platform that allows you to indulge your imagined obscure needs,
> is beyond you :-D You lack the emotional and intellectual maturity to
> make grown up choices.

I think you and Jolly Roger are closely related.

[Aardvarks]

On Thu, 21 Jul 2016 10:35:07 -0700, Savageduck wrote:

> I ended up with a 14 page PDF. ;-)

This is a nice feature of iTunes that it can list the apps installed into a
file.

The key question is whether that PDF is essentially text or images.

The Windows version of the freeware Adobe Acrobat Reader (I have version
11.0.08) can save a PDF to text.

But the desired text has to be there in the first place for that to work.

If you view the PDF with any text editor, does it show the apps as an
image, or as text?

[Aardvarks]

On Thu, 21 Jul 2016 17:33:58 +0200, Michael Eyd wrote:

> For Windows (7), the path is "C:\Users\<xxx>\Music\iTunes\iTunes
> Media\Mobile Applications". :-) Which, btw, automatically answers
> Aardvarks question about how to back installation files... :-)

That is a great idea, if it holds "real" backups of the installation files.

In the case of Android, the APKs are automatically saved to the flash drive
whenver an application is installed.

Then those APKs can be "reused" on any similar Android device (although I
haven't actually tried that myself yet except on the *same* Android
device).

What format does Apple iTunes save the installation files in?
Is that format "understood" by the iPad when you want to reinstall
something?

For example, let's say, for argument's sake that VLC used to be in the app
store, but that it disappeared from the App Store but that you had a backup
in this "C:\Users\<xxx>\Music\iTunes\iTunes\Media\Mobile Applications"
directory.

Is it possible to easily re-install that Windows VLC backup onto the iOS
device?

[Savageduck]

On 2016-07-21 18:01:36 +0000, Savageduck <savageduck1@{REMOVESPAM}me.com> said:

> On 2016-07-21 17:39:32 +0000, Aardvarks <aard...@a.b.c.com> said:
>
>>
>>
>> The three clarifying questions are:
>> a. Do the two iTunes methods output previously installed apps?
>> b. Do the two iTunes methods output freeware apps installed?
>
> There are a few big caveats to this method:
> 1: It will only work if your iOS devices are synced/backed-up with your
> desktop/laptop iTunes. If not there will be no apps to list.

Unless you are signed in with the same AppleID that was used for the
iOS device.

Note: The iOS device is going to have to go through the "trust this
computer" handshake once connected via USB if it has ever been
connected before.

[Aardvarks]

On Thu, 21 Jul 2016 11:01:36 -0700, Savageduck wrote:

> There are a few big caveats to this method:
> 1: It will only work if your iOS devices are synced/backed-up with your
> desktop/laptop iTunes. If not there will be no apps to list.

Thank you for answering the question of whether the iTunes method will list
all the freeware apps currently on an iOS device which has never been
associated in any way with an iTunes account.

Is this what I need to do in order to sync or back up to iTUnes?
a. Install iTunes on Windows
b. Connect the iPad by USB cable
c. Sync or backup the iPad to iTunes
d. Either copy the desired directory of the app list or save the app list
to a PDF and then save the PDF to text
e. Uninstall iTunes

Would that work?

> 2: If you are using an iTunes-iOS device synced system, iTunes will
> show all apps, paid, or free, installed or not.

Thank you for answering the question of whether iTunes will list paid or
free apps, and whether they are currently installed or whether they were
previously installed.

I wonder how iTunes knows if an app that is no longer on the iPad was
previously installed? Is iTunes actually getting the data off the Internet
instead of off the iPad itself?

> 3: The differentiation between installed and preveously installed apps
> can ony be checked on iOS AppStore App.

Oh. That's interesting. I guess that answers the question above, which is
that iTunes queries the iPad for "apps", and that list it gets from the
iPad includes both installed and previously installed but now deleted apps,
without distinction?

Interesting. Very interesting. Thanks for that heads'up.
The knowledge you have indiates you've actually *done* it!
That's valuable insight indeed!

It seems I've installed 300 apps, and deleted about 100 (because they
failed expectations), so that would mean I would just delete 1/3 of the
lines in the file - but deleting lines is OK if that's what I need to do.

It's typing them manually that I'm trying to avoid doing.

> 4: in iTunes with an USB connected iOS device, one can remove or
> reinstall and rearrange apps. Otherwise reinstallation is done via the
> iOS AppStore app and iCloud.

This is an interesting capability, but the key question is what *format* is
the archive saved in.

For example, on Android, an APK file is automatically created on my
removable flash card every time I install something. If I want to
re-install that APK, I just point ES File Explorer on Android to the APK,
and it gets installed.

Does it work the same for iOS with desktop iTunes?

>> c. Does the iTunes output to PDF contain "text" or "images"?

Do you know if the PDF contains "text" or "images"?
One way to tell is simply to open the PDF in Adobe Acrobat Reader and save
it to text. If it's gibberish, then it's likely that the PDF is images, and
hence useless for our purpose.

If it's a text output, then editing out the gibberish would be easy, as
long as the desired data is there in text format.

[Jolly Roger]

On 2016-07-21, Aardvarks <aard...@a.b.c.com> wrote:
>
> This is an interesting capability, but the key question is what
> *format* is the archive saved in.

IPA format of course:

<https://www.theiphonewiki.com/wiki/IPA_File_Format>

> For example, on Android, an APK file is automatically created on my
> removable flash card every time I install something.

You said you had to install a third-party app for that.

> If I want to re-install that APK, I just point ES File Explorer on
> Android to the APK, and it gets installed.
>
> Does it work the same for iOS with desktop iTunes?

You can use iTunes to install any backed up iOS app.

>>> c. Does the iTunes output to PDF contain "text" or "images"?
>
> Do you know if the PDF contains "text" or "images"?

Already answered: text.

[Savageduck]

On 2016-07-21 18:17:08 +0000, Aardvarks <aard...@a.b.c.com> said:

> On Thu, 21 Jul 2016 11:01:36 -0700, Savageduck wrote:
>
>> There are a few big caveats to this method:
>> 1: It will only work if your iOS devices are synced/backed-up with your
>> desktop/laptop iTunes. If not there will be no apps to list.
>
> Thank you for answering the question of whether the iTunes method will list
> all the freeware apps currently on an iOS device which has never been
> associated in any way with an iTunes account.
>
> Is this what I need to do in order to sync or back up to iTUnes?
> a. Install iTunes on Windows
> b. Connect the iPad by USB cable
> c. Sync or backup the iPad to iTunes

So far so good. ;-)

> d. Either copy the desired directory of the app list or save the app list
> to a PDF and then save the PDF to text

If you actually want that list.

> e. Uninstall iTunes

Why? That defeats the whole purpose of having access to a backup for
your iOS devices.

> Would that work?

It should work, provided you don't decide to do something your way.

>> 2: If you are using an iTunes-iOS device synced system, iTunes will
>> show all apps, paid, or free, installed or not.
>
> Thank you for answering the question of whether iTunes will list paid or
> free apps, and whether they are currently installed or whether they were
> previously installed.

Reread what I wrote. iTunes will not make that differentiation on its
own unless it is associated with the AppleID used to download and
install any apps via the iOS AppStore app, or when the iOS device is
connected via USB.

> I wonder how iTunes knows if an app that is no longer on the iPad was
> previously installed? Is iTunes actually getting the data off the Internet
> instead of off the iPad itself?

That depends on your setup. The iPad's AppStore app will provide that
information, whereas iTunes will only report synced, installed apps
(and subsequently uninstalled apps) unless connected via USB. If you
had maintaied a regular sync and backup, iTunes will report apps that
had ever been installed. That is a benefit to making regular backups
via iTunes.

>
>> 3: The differentiation between installed and preveously installed apps
>> can ony be checked on iOS AppStore App.
>
> Oh. That's interesting. I guess that answers the question above, which is
> that iTunes queries the iPad for "apps", and that list it gets from the
> iPad includes both installed and previously installed but now deleted apps,
> without distinction?
>
> Interesting. Very interesting. Thanks for that heads'up.
> The knowledge you have indiates you've actually *done* it!
> That's valuable insight indeed!
>
> It seems I've installed 300 apps, and deleted about 100 (because they
> failed expectations), so that would mean I would just delete 1/3 of the
> lines in the file - but deleting lines is OK if that's what I need to do.
>
> It's typing them manually that I'm trying to avoid doing.
>
>> 4: in iTunes with an USB connected iOS device, one can remove or
>> reinstall and rearrange apps. Otherwise reinstallation is done via the
>> iOS AppStore app and iCloud.
>
> This is an interesting capability, but the key question is what *format* is
> the archive saved in.

If you are refering to the list as an "archive", I save it as a PDF
using MacOS methods. I can't speak for what you might have available
using Windows.

> For example, on Android, an APK file is automatically created on my
> removable flash card every time I install something. If I want to
> re-install that APK, I just point ES File Explorer on Android to the APK,
> and it gets installed.
>
> Does it work the same for iOS with desktop iTunes?

Not on a Mac.

>>> c. Does the iTunes output to PDF contain "text" or "images"?
>
> Do you know if the PDF contains "text" or "images"?
> One way to tell is simply to open the PDF in Adobe Acrobat Reader and save
> it to text. If it's gibberish, then it's likely that the PDF is images, and
> hence useless for our purpose.
>
> If it's a text output, then editing out the gibberish would be easy, as
> long as the desired data is there in text format.

In my case Text.


--
Regards,

Savageduck

[Aardvarks]

On Thu, 21 Jul 2016 11:46:36 -0700, Savageduck wrote:

>> e. Uninstall iTunes
>
> Why? That defeats the whole purpose of having access to a backup for
> your iOS devices.

Let's not go there in this thread, as we've been there so many times, it
will inevitably turn into a rathole.

>> Would that work?
> It should work, provided you don't decide to do something your way.

All I want is the text output from my iPad.

That the IPA (aka zip) files are saved to the hard drive is a nice bonus
because I can send the kid all the IPA files so that she can install the
apps onto her iPhone 6 from her computer without needing the App Store.
https://developer.apple.com/library/ios/documentation/IDEs/Conceptual/AppDistributionGuide/TestingYouriOSApp/TestingYouriOSApp.html

>> Do you know if the PDF contains "text" or "images"?

> In my case Text.

Thanks for confirming that the text inside the PDF programming language is
something we can save for use in any text editor.

I think this answers the questions, unless a gotcha pops up in testing.

[Aardvarks]

On 21 Jul 2016 18:36:15 GMT, Jolly Roger wrote:

> IPA format of course:
> <https://www.theiphonewiki.com/wiki/IPA_File_Format>

Thanks. Just as APK is the right format for Android, IPA is the right zip
file setup for iOS apps.
https://developer.apple.com/library/ios/documentation/IDEs/Conceptual/AppDistributionGuide/TestingYouriOSApp/TestingYouriOSApp.html

>> For example, on Android, an APK file is automatically created on my
>> removable flash card every time I install something.
>
> You said you had to install a third-party app for that.

Yes. I use the freeware Automatic Backup and Restore, which saves an APK on
the flash drive of everything installed, based on settings for it to be
either automatic or manual.

> You can use iTunes to install any backed up iOS app.

That makes sense.
On Android, you can install from the device itself.
But iTunes is ubiquitous enough that to be required isn't too onerous.

>>>> c. Does the iTunes output to PDF contain "text" or "images"?
>>
>> Do you know if the PDF contains "text" or "images"?
>
> Already answered: text.

This is the first time I'm seeing that it's text so thank you for answering
that question, as that's the most important question of all to be answered.

Thanks.

[Aardvarks]

On Thu, 21 Jul 2016 10:35:07 -0700, Savageduck wrote:

> I ended up with a 14 page PDF

I realize you have to jailbreak to get this iOS app but apparently AppInfo
on iOS will do what we want on the iOS device itself without the need for
iTunes on the computer.
http://cydia.saurik.com/package/com.mileskabal.appinfo/

Instructions here:
http://mewbies.com/ios-how_to_find_files_apps_and_pacakages_on_your_device.htm#list_apps

AppInfo Features :
List AppStore Apps, sort alpha, by size or by date
List of Sources and Packages, sort alpha or by date
List of Cydia App, Native app, Webapp, Contacts, Messages (SMS and
iMessage), Calendar, Reminders Notes, iBooks
List of iPod songs and possibility to send a song by email
Export all lists by email
Possibility to enable/disable AppStore update
Possibility to calculate all sizes of apps
Possibility to export all your Messages (SMS & iMessage)
Possibility to copy song or entire albums from iPod's Library
Available in Deutsch, English, French, Italian, Spanish, Croatian,
Portuguese, Swedish, Czech and Turkish.
iOS6 & iOS7 compatible, 4-inch screen compatible

[Aardvarks]

On Thu, 21 Jul 2016 11:18:18 -0400, nospam wrote:

> there are actually several solutions but he's going to rant anyway.

Nobody mentioned this method, but there doesn't seem to be a way to get a
printout, so it won't work for what we need here to create a text file:
http://www.itworld.com/article/2699665/consumerization/how-to-quickly-get-a-list-of-all-the-apps-installed-on-your-iphone-or-ipad.html

"Swipe down from any screen in iOS7 to bring up the search box (but don't
swipe down from the very top of the screen, because that'll bring up the
notification center instead. Swipe from top to bottom in the middle of the
screen instead.). In iOS 6, swipe all the way to the first screen (swiping
left to right) to get to the Spotlight search.

Then, search for "." without the quotes. That's right; enter a period and
hit enter and you'll get a list of your installed apps and the folder
location for them."

[Aardvarks]

On Thu, 21 Jul 2016 22:01:13 +0000 (UTC), Aardvarks wrote:

> Then, search for "." without the quotes

Other non alphabetic searches work also:
http://osxdaily.com/2013/12/09/list-all-installed-apps-on-ios-spotlight/

But there doesn't yet seem to be a way to get Spotlight to save those
search results into a file.

[nospam]

In article <nmr2ou$1bc3$3...@gioia.aioe.org>, Aardvarks

<aard...@a.b.c.com> wrote:

> > I ended up with a 14 page PDF. ;-)
>
> This is a nice feature of iTunes that it can list the apps installed into a
> file.

printing to pdf is not a feature of itunes.

it's a feature of macos itself and applies to *any* app that can print.

> The key question is whether that PDF is essentially text or images.

no it isn't.

how in the world could a *list* of apps be images?? images of what?
pngs of the icons but no text anywhere?

[nospam]

In article <nmqugr$14kd$1...@gioia.aioe.org>, Aardvarks

<aard...@a.b.c.com> wrote:

>
> > As usual, you're trying to solve some problem in a way much more
> > complicated than necessary.
>
> You probably believe that statement, but what you can't seem to comprehend
> is that listing all installed files on the "other" platform into an
> editable file was nearly instantaneous.

no it wasn't. you had to fuss with cards, usb cables and more.

> Two days after starting, nobody here can yet show how to simply list all
> installed apps into an editable file on iOS.

liar.

your question was answered two days ago, when you asked.

as usual, you are oblivious to any answers, seeking only to rant about
how hard it supposedly is.

> So it's not "me" making the simplest of things difficult.

oh yes it is

> It's iOS or simply the lack of knowledge about iOS since nobody here can
> suggest a way yet to do something as simple as listing all installed files
> into a text file from iOS.

liar

> Dorayme did suggest using the computer version of iTunes, which, if it
> works, is what I'll use (although it sure is a complex solution to do
> something so simple).

you'll fuck it up somehow and then rant.

[nospam]

In article <nmquhn$14kd$4...@gioia.aioe.org>, Aardvarks

<aard...@a.b.c.com> wrote:

>
> > that has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with third party apps.
>
> I'm not sure what you're trying to tell us about 3rd-party apps.

you snipped the context and i don't remember what that was in response
to.

> My goal was to list into a text file all the apps I installed on each
> platform, and then to line them up, one to one, to send to someone who is
> migrating from Android to iOS.

your goal is to troll.

> It took seconds to list all the apps ever installed on the one platform,
> whether third-party or not. I just want to do the same listing on iOS.

it took me less than 0.1 second to do so for ios.

> > as i said, let her make her own decisions and figure out what apps
> > *she* wants, not what you think she wants.
> >
> > stop forcing her to do things your way.
>
> She *can* make her own decisions.

then don't interfere with that process.

> She asked me to give her a one-to-one map of the best Android apps to the
> best iOS apps.

<https://www.google.com>

> Sometimes they are the same (e.g., CoPilot on iOS is essentially the same
> as CoPilot on Android); but most of the time they're different.

that part is true

> The problem, as you know, with freeware, is that it takes *work* and
> intelligence to pick the best.

since you lack the latter, that explains why you need to ask.

> So, since I've already done all that work,
> and since I have more experience than most people do, she wanted to mine my
> results.

delusional.

> > as usual, you haven't even tried and automatically assuming it can't be
> > done because *you* can't figure it out.
>
> I googled before I had asked.

bullshit

> And I didn't find anyone who was successful in listing out all the apps
> installed on the iOS device into a file.

double bullshit.

> > there's no way you can list all apps into a file in a split second on
> > android, but nevertheless,
>
> Sure there is.
> But it requires some forethought because I have App Backup & Restore
> freeware which automagically archives the APKs as they are being installed.

which means it takes more than a split second.

> That archive is set to be on the external flash card.
> So, I pop that external flash card into a computer and list to a file:
> E:\sdcard1\data\software\apps\> dir > apps.txt

even more time.

> > % time ls -l ~/Music/iTunes/Mobile\ Applications > ~/Desktop/foo.txt
> >
> > real 0m0.069s
> > user 0m0.025s
> > sys 0m0.020s
>
> I'm not sure what you're trying to show above, but if there is a way to
> connect the iOS device to a linux or desktop computer sans iTunes and then
> list short the installed apps into a text file, that would be perfect.

that it takes a tiny fraction of a second to do for ios.

> Q: How can a user list all installed iOS apps into a text file?

you claim to have a mastery of the english language, yet you don't
understand the actual words.

[nospam]

In article <nmr1ci$191c$1...@gioia.aioe.org>, Aardvarks

<aard...@a.b.c.com> wrote:

>
> > it does. it's actually pdf, not plain text, but good enough.
>
> Thanks for confirming that iTunes will output all the installed freeware
> and payware apps into a file.
>
> PDF is "probably" fine, "if"...
> I can easily save PDF to text "if" the PDF is not an image format.
>
> Whether the PDF output is useful will depend on the "type" of PDF data.

nobody can be that stupid.

> > nope. it shows all downloaded apps for a given apple id, whether or not
> > they're currently installed, both paid and free. if a given app is not
> > installed, a cloud icon is displayed and it can easily be redownloaded.
>
> I readily admit the App Store shows *useful* output that is *better* than
> what we get on Android.
>
> It's just not in a format that lends itself to comparing two file lists,
> but that's not what the app store app was designed to do, so I don't fault
> the app store app.
>
> I just want to have a list of the best freeware installed on each platform
> where I can line up the best iOS freeware apps with the best Android
> freeware apps.

nobody can be that stupid.

>
> > there are several ways, one of which was given in another post.
>
> I think the *only* way that was suggested to output the list of apps
> installed on iOS into an editable file was to use iTunes on the computer.

that was *one* way of several.

> From there, two ways were suggested inside of the computer iTunes:
> a. Save to PDF and then save the PDF to text
> b. Save a directory listing to text

that's two, one of which doesn't use itunes.

> It's not clear whether iTunes will recognize freeware apps *already
> installed* though, so that's a clarifying question.

it knows about all downloaded apps

> > there is no security issue for the user to know which apps are
> > installed.
>
> I agree.
>
> > it's not a text file because dumping it into a text file is completely
> > pointless.
>
> I agree that most people won't need the list of apps dumped to a file.
>
> But as you know, I'm creating a list of the best freeware apps on "my"
> devices, so, "I" need the list of apps in an editable format.
>
> It took a split second do create the list on the other platform.
> I'm just asking how to do it on the iOS platform because it's not obvious
> how to do so.
>
> If iTunes solves the problem, I'm ok with installing iTunes to test it out.

a few months back you went off on a rant about how horrible itunes was,
now you say you're ok with it??

[nospam]

In article <nmr3j3$1cif$1...@gioia.aioe.org>, Aardvarks

<aard...@a.b.c.com> wrote:

>
> > There are a few big caveats to this method:
> > 1: It will only work if your iOS devices are synced/backed-up with your
> > desktop/laptop iTunes. If not there will be no apps to list.
>
> Thank you for answering the question of whether the iTunes method will list
> all the freeware apps currently on an iOS device which has never been
> associated in any way with an iTunes account.
>
> Is this what I need to do in order to sync or back up to iTUnes?
> a. Install iTunes on Windows
> b. Connect the iPad by USB cable
> c. Sync or backup the iPad to iTunes
> d. Either copy the desired directory of the app list or save the app list
> to a PDF and then save the PDF to text
> e. Uninstall iTunes
>
> Would that work?

no

> > 2: If you are using an iTunes-iOS device synced system, iTunes will
> > show all apps, paid, or free, installed or not.
>
> Thank you for answering the question of whether iTunes will list paid or
> free apps, and whether they are currently installed or whether they were
> previously installed.
>
> I wonder how iTunes knows if an app that is no longer on the iPad was
> previously installed? Is iTunes actually getting the data off the Internet
> instead of off the iPad itself?

because it's linked to the app store.

duh.

how does amazon know what you bought? how does *any* store know what
you bought?

> > 3: The differentiation between installed and preveously installed apps
> > can ony be checked on iOS AppStore App.
>
> Oh. That's interesting. I guess that answers the question above, which is
> that iTunes queries the iPad for "apps", and that list it gets from the
> iPad includes both installed and previously installed but now deleted apps,
> without distinction?

no

> Interesting. Very interesting. Thanks for that heads'up.
> The knowledge you have indiates you've actually *done* it!
> That's valuable insight indeed!
>
> It seems I've installed 300 apps, and deleted about 100 (because they
> failed expectations), so that would mean I would just delete 1/3 of the
> lines in the file - but deleting lines is OK if that's what I need to do.
>
> It's typing them manually that I'm trying to avoid doing.

that would have been faster.

you could have done a lot of typing in the past two days.

> > 4: in iTunes with an USB connected iOS device, one can remove or
> > reinstall and rearrange apps. Otherwise reinstallation is done via the
> > iOS AppStore app and iCloud.
>
> This is an interesting capability, but the key question is what *format* is
> the archive saved in.

there is no archive.

> For example, on Android, an APK file is automatically created on my
> removable flash card every time I install something. If I want to
> re-install that APK, I just point ES File Explorer on Android to the APK,
> and it gets installed.
>
> Does it work the same for iOS with desktop iTunes?

sort of

if you download an app via itunes, the ipa file will be saved on your
computer.

what you do with it after that is up to you.

> >> c. Does the iTunes output to PDF contain "text" or "images"?
>
> Do you know if the PDF contains "text" or "images"?
> One way to tell is simply to open the PDF in Adobe Acrobat Reader and save
> it to text. If it's gibberish, then it's likely that the PDF is images, and
> hence useless for our purpose.
>
> If it's a text output, then editing out the gibberish would be easy, as
> long as the desired data is there in text format.

the fact you're even asking that question shows just how little you
really understand.

[nospam]

In article <2016072111013683320-savageduck1@REMOVESPAMmecom>,

Savageduck <savageduck1@{REMOVESPAM}me.com> wrote:

> > The three clarifying questions are:
> > a. Do the two iTunes methods output previously installed apps?
> > b. Do the two iTunes methods output freeware apps installed?
>
> There are a few big caveats to this method:
> 1: It will only work if your iOS devices are synced/backed-up with your
> desktop/laptop iTunes. If not there will be no apps to list.

not true. it will work if the ios devices are not synced/backed up at
all.

> 2: If you are using an iTunes-iOS device synced system, iTunes will
> show all apps, paid, or free, installed or not.

true

> 3: The differentiation between installed and preveously installed apps
> can ony be checked on iOS AppStore App.

either the ios app store app or itunes.

> 4: in iTunes with an USB connected iOS device, one can remove or
> reinstall and rearrange apps. Otherwise reinstallation is done via the
> iOS AppStore app and iCloud.

or wifi connected device.

itunes has been able to wirelessly sync for 5 years or so, maybe more
(i don't remember exactly when it was added).

> > c. Does the iTunes output to PDF contain "text" or "images"?
>
> Text

the real question is what would the images even *be*?

[nospam]

In article <nmr1cl$191c$2...@gioia.aioe.org>, Aardvarks

<aard...@a.b.c.com> wrote:

>
> > display apps in itunes, then choose print... from the file menu, choose
> > song list (since that's really for printing playlists, not apps),
> > choose custom theme (although it doesn't matter that much), click
> > print, then choose pdf rather than a printer. done.
>
> Thank you for this useful information on how to print a list of the
> installed apps to PDF from computer iTunes.
>
> Since I have to install iTunes to test this, and since you probably already
> have iTunes installed, may I ask two clarifying questions:
> a. Does that PDF appear to be "images" or "text" ?
> b. Does that output contain *all* apps, including freeware apps?

and you say you went to harvard??

someone who flunked out of bhcc could figure that out.

bonus points for anyone who gets the reference :)

> > windows users prior
> > to win10 may need to install a print to pdf tool.
>
> Printing to PDF is easy for me since I have Adobe Acrobat Exchange and
> cutePDF installed on Windows.

even easier on a mac, where such functionality has been standard as
part of os x for the past 15+ years

> The trick will be whether the PDF is just a mere image (which would be bad)
> or if it's textual (which would be trivial to then save as text).
>
> > if itunes is installed, the apps are all in the mobile applications
> > folder, so it may be easier (although not formatted as nicely) to just
> > list the apps in that folder and dump to a file. on a mac:
> > ls -l ~/Music/iTunes/Mobile\ Applications > ~/Desktop/foo.txt
>
> Ah, now I understand why you provided that helpful command!
> On Windows, we'd use the "dir" command, but that is a minor detail.
>
> If the apps are listed in a folder on Windows, then it would be *easy* to
> output that list into a text file.
>
> For example:
> C:\> dir /s/a/l/on/b C:\Documents & Settings\Default User\Application
> Data\Apple\Music\iTunes\Mobile\Applications > file.txt

slowly, you're figuring things out. very slowly.

[nospam]

In article <nmrgjl$1vrf$1...@gioia.aioe.org>, Aardvarks

you can't be serious.

who did you pay off to get into harvard? because it sure as fuck wasn't
due to intelligence.

[nospam]

In article <nmrgn9$cc$1...@gioia.aioe.org>, Aardvarks

read it again, this time *very* slowly and see if you can figure out
what problems there might possibly be.

[nospam]

In article <nmrfle$1ulj$1...@gioia.aioe.org>, Aardvarks

<aard...@a.b.c.com> wrote:

>
> That the IPA (aka zip) files are saved to the hard drive is a nice bonus
> because I can send the kid all the IPA files so that she can install the
> apps onto her iPhone 6 from her computer without needing the App Store.

no you can't.

[nospam]

In article <nmrfln$1ulv$1...@gioia.aioe.org>, Aardvarks

<aard...@a.b.c.com> wrote:

> > You can use iTunes to install any backed up iOS app.
>
> That makes sense.
> On Android, you can install from the device itself.

same on ios

[nospam]

In article <nmqugu$14kd$2...@gioia.aioe.org>, Aardvarks
<aard...@a.b.c.com> wrote:

>
> > Have not been following this thread, but I assume you know that in
> > iTunes on a computer you can get a test *list* of all the iPad apps
> > downloaded ("purchased"). Am looking at mine right now on my Macbook.
>
> Thank you for that suggestion of using the computer iTunes app to list all
> the installed apps (freeware or payware) into a text file.
>
> I am creating a one-to-one comparison list of all apps I have installed on
> my Android and iOS devices so that I can send that comparison to someone
> else who just moved from Android to iOS.

then list the android apps and write in the ios counterpart.

> I do a lot of work to choose only the *best* apps,

no you don't and the best apps are rarely free.

> and, since I never pay
> for apps (once I paid and had to ask for my money back because the app
> sucked) so I'd just like

that's because you pirate them off bittorrent, by your own admission.

> I don't have iTunes partly because I'm on Linux but also partly because I
> don't install iTunes on Windows (for a variety of reasons, not the least of
> which is that it doesn't do anything I can't do far simpler without it).

nonsense.

> For example, to list all the Android apps into a text file took a split
> second simply by inserting the flash card into the computer and listing the
> app directory contents to a text file.

which is more work than had you used itunes.

> If your suggestion works to output all the apps installed to a file, it
> might be worth the effort to temporarily install iTunes just to output the
> list of installed apps to a text file.
>
> Did you actually test it though?
> How did you list the installed apps to a file?
> Did you list it to a text file or to some other proprietary format file?

who did you pay off to get into harvard? because it wasn't due to
intelligence.

[nospam]

In article <nmr2os$1bc3$2...@gioia.aioe.org>, Aardvarks

<aard...@a.b.c.com> wrote:

> > Why would I want to?
>
> Let's say, for example, that you are an expert in the best freeware apps on
> both iOS and on Android.

since you aren't any such expert, we can't say that at all.

> Furthermore, let's say you want to help someone who isn't as technically
> astute as you are in migrating her Android apps over to iOS.

then best point them to an *actual* expert.

[dorayme]

In article <nmqugu$14kd$2...@gioia.aioe.org>,
Aardvarks <aard...@a.b.c.com> wrote:

> On Thu, 21 Jul 2016 15:28:04 +1000, dorayme wrote:
>
> > Have not been following this thread, but I assume you know that in
> > iTunes on a computer you can get a test *list* of all the iPad apps
> > downloaded ("purchased"). Am looking at mine right now on my Macbook.
>
> Thank you for that suggestion of using the computer iTunes app to list all
> the installed apps (freeware or payware) into a text file.
>
> I am creating a one-to-one comparison list of all apps I have installed on
> my Android and iOS devices so that I can send that comparison to someone
> else who just moved from Android to iOS.
>

> I do a lot of work to choose only the *best* apps, and, since I never pay

> for apps (once I paid and had to ask for my money back because the app
> sucked) so I'd just like
>

> I don't have iTunes partly because I'm on Linux but also partly because I
> don't install iTunes on Windows (for a variety of reasons, not the least of
> which is that it doesn't do anything I can't do far simpler without it).
>

> For example, to list all the Android apps into a text file took a split
> second simply by inserting the flash card into the computer and listing the
> app directory contents to a text file.
>

> If your suggestion works to output all the apps installed to a file, it
> might be worth the effort to temporarily install iTunes just to output the
> list of installed apps to a text file.
>
> Did you actually test it though?
> How did you list the installed apps to a file?
> Did you list it to a text file or to some other proprietary format file?

OK, I will try it right now.

1. Open iTunes

2. Click on Apps

3. Put in List form from menu at top of iTunes (or use View/View
Options and uncross "show artwork")

4. Take a screen shot of apps, just tall and not wide to capture the
names

5. Open (download from App Store if need be) the free "PDF OCR X" app.

6. Drag screen shot file over the window that opens in above app.

The text file is really neat and pretty pretty good (as Larry david
would say) as an output, a few minor corrections to spelling needed.

(Yes, I know, if you have a lot of apps, you might have to take a few
screenshots). You could either join all up as images first and OCR the
result (but don't) or just join all text file outputs.

Be nice if selective screenshotting (on a Mac, Command Shift 4) could
select beyond the screen, ie. actively get what can be scrolled to,
but I'm not sure it can. There may be better screenshot apps that can
do this?

I know, a bit of a fiddle but can be done.

--
dorayme

[dorayme]

In article <nmqugu$14kd$2...@gioia.aioe.org>,
Aardvarks <aard...@a.b.c.com> wrote:

> On Thu, 21 Jul 2016 15:28:04 +1000, dorayme wrote:
>
> > Have not been following this thread, but I assume you know that in
> > iTunes on a computer you can get a test *list* of all the iPad apps
> > downloaded ("purchased"). Am looking at mine right now on my Macbook.
>
> Thank you for that suggestion of using the computer iTunes app to list all
> the installed apps (freeware or payware) into a text file.
>

The other way I can do this, seems easier when I think about it, is
get the iTunes list up as before. Then go to File Menu and choose
Print. Choose List from one of the choices in the dialog that comes up
and go to print. When the Print dialog comes up, Under the PDF button,
choose Save as PDF.

At least on my Mac, that is possible.

--
dorayme

[Jamie Kahn Genet]

Aardvarks <aard...@a.b.c.com> wrote:

> On Thu, 21 Jul 2016 16:32:49 +1200, Jamie Kahn Genet wrote:
>
> > Why would I want to?
>
> Let's say, for example, that you are an expert in the best freeware apps on
> both iOS and on Android.
>

> Furthermore, let's say you want to help someone who isn't as technically
> astute as you are in migrating her Android apps over to iOS.
>

> You might, in that case, want to list out all the best freeware apps on
> Android and on iOS, and then line them up, one to one, to show her how to
> reproduce the functionality she had on Android onto iOS.

Since I've only about ten third party apps that are worth mentioning to
anyone that unaware, I'd just list them myself. That is a hell of a lot
faster and more sensible than paring down a complete and pointless list
of everything I've ever downloaded in the past/purchased/or even just
have installed right now, given all the games I keep around, and niche
apps that wouldn't appeal to a newbie.

> > If they want to know what app I use for a particular purpose, they'll
> > ask. You fanatically desperately insecure platform bigots seem to live
> > in a universe full of imagined test cases that rarely if ever occur in
> > real life (as with any other type of bigoted attempt at
> > 'justification'). I cannot recall in all my years ever being asked for a
> > comprehensive install history for apps on any platform.
>
> I'm not surprised that you have never had a need to know what apps are on
> any particular platform, but then that probably means you're not an expert
> in finding the best apps for each platform, and that also probably means
> you probably rarely help others by providing that information to them in a
> comprehensive manner.

Meanwhile back in reality I've tried dozens of apps in my time, and have
a pretty solid list of what's worthwhile in the areas I'm interested in,
anyway. And have provided such tips many a time to clients or other
users I run across.

I simply don't try to waste their time and mine with useless long lists
of apps they'll likely never want, nor need, unless I run into a clone
of me :-D

But that's the difference between you and me - I deal with reality. You
live in a world of imagined and poorly thought out beliefs.

> > The truly amusing part is, you can't cope with any of this. Taking some
> > personal responsibility (anathema to fanatics, I know) and simply using
> > another platform that allows you to indulge your imagined obscure needs,
> > is beyond you :-D You lack the emotional and intellectual maturity to
> > make grown up choices.
>
> I think you and Jolly Roger are closely related.

Gosh! JR - is that true? I had no idea! LOL.
--
If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate.

[Aardvarks]

On Thu, 21 Jul 2016 18:30:36 -0400, nospam wrote:

> you snipped the context and i don't remember what that was in response
> to.

Thank you for your astute advice.

Choosing the proper interleaved posting style is never perfect, but my
preferred trim-posting style is often termed reminder-trimming, and is
described in many Usenet etiquette texts.

It has advantages & disadvantages, but it's designed to be a point-by-point
bullet-item style response.

I think, but am not sure, RFC 1846 (aka son of 1036) might describe it more
fully.

"Posters SHOULD edit quoted context to trim it down to the minimum
necessary. Readability is enhanced if quoted text and new text are
separated by an empty line."
(Reference: http://www.faqs.org/rfcs/rfc1849.html)

> your goal is to troll.

I never troll.
I simply respond to your points.

So we respectfully disagree that simply responding to your stated points is
trolling behavior.

>> She asked me to give her a one-to-one map of the best Android apps to the
>> best iOS apps.
> <https://www.google.com>

We respectfully disagree on the best method of testing the one-to-one map
of the best Android and iOS freeware when migrating from Android
functionality to iOS functionality.

There are quite a few problems with picking free Android-to-iOS migration
apps simply by online reviews.

The biggest problem is that the reviews are biased.
The second biggest problem is that the reviews are intended to garner
sales. The third biggest problem is that the reviews don't review the
freeware as much as they review the payware (see first two points).

Since her two devices, as are all of mine, are 100% freeware by design,
most online software reviews don't cut the mustard.

In reality, the review process for freeware is expensive in terms of time,
so, since I have already expended that time to choose the best freeware in
existence, she can easily benefit from my wealth of experience.

>> Sometimes they are the same (e.g., CoPilot on iOS is essentially the same
>> as CoPilot on Android); but most of the time they're different.
>
> that part is true

There *are* marked differences between Alk CoPilot on iOS versus CoPilot on
Android which I've written about in gory detail in the past; but overall,
when an application is allowed on both platforms, it's "mostly" the same
functionality (e.g., VLC, Gmail, Sideline, 510 Scanner, Here Maps, MS
Office, etc.), the realitiy is that there is very little overlap in the
*best* freeware available on each platform.

For example, the best offline roadmap freeware has only CoPilot, Google
Maps, and Here.maps in common (Maps.Me not making the best list - but for
some people, you can add that too.) There is even less overlap (zero
overlap, in fact) for the best Android off-road trail-mapping freeware.

> since you lack the latter, that explains why you need to ask.

This is an interesting fact, in that the test process uses the same
functionality requirements but different software is essentially required
on each platform in order to find the best freeware (in fact, I'll post a
review of Here Maps on Android versus on iOS separately into the mapping
functionality thread).

>> So, since I've already done all that work,
>> and since I have more experience than most people do, she wanted to mine my
>> results.
>
> delusional.

I don't feel the need to insult you when I respond to your points.

In this case, I have a map of the best Android freeware versus the best iOS
freeware, but it's only visual.

All I'm trying to do is put that one-to-one map into a text file.

I can see the differences on my devices, both of which have the same
functionality requirements.

The software is essentially *different* between the two platforms.

Shockingly different.

That's because I choose the best freeware out there based on a strict set
of functionality requirements.

> which means it takes more than a split second.

To *generate* the raw list in both your example and mine takes,
essentially, a file-output or "ls" or "dir" command, all of which takes a
split second.

The iOS output requires extensive editing for actual productive use.
The Android output is good to go right from the start.

However, I'm an expert at editing, since my editors of choice all
incorporate regular expressions; so, for me, the extensive editing required
of the iOS output isn't as much of a drawback as it would be for many
others.

>> That archive is set to be on the external flash card.
>> So, I pop that external flash card into a computer and list to a file:
>> E:\sdcard1\data\software\apps\> dir > apps.txt
>
> even more time.

This is an interesting comment from you, which we covered in the iOS-users'
psychology thread.

What you do is "cherry pick" meaningless factoids, in order to make iOS
always come out on top - while I - being psychologically *different* than
you are - I am far more *balanced* than you are.

For example, as you must be aware (but conveniently forgot), you generally
connect your iOS device by USB cable to the iTunes computer. I do the same
on Android, and then I don't need to even pop out the flash card to access
the full directory contents of the Android device.

In addition, once we both have our output of the installed files, the
editing required of the iOS-iTunes-based output is extensive, whereas the
editing required of the Android output is minimal.

Furthermore, I have to *install* hundreds of megabytes of immensely
monolithic software to even think of using the suggested iTunes method -
which takes an immense amount of time because this unnecessary behemoth
then has to be painstakingly exterminated after the fact (yes, I know, you
feel iTunes doesn't leave useless vestiges of itself all over the place -
but the last time I uninstalled it, I was digging out unnecessary bonjour,
apple drivers, quicktime and other components of its avowed bloatware
littered all over the place - none of which went in the place Apple's very
own installer was told to put them in).

> that it takes a tiny fraction of a second to do for ios.

Except that it doesn't.

> you claim to have a mastery of the english language, yet you don't
> understand the actual words.

It's interesting that the iOS users' tendency to end all posts with an
insult extend beyond the *need* for the insults.

I am not insulting you.
In fact, I'm thanking you for your astute and helpful advice.

I will disagree with you on the finer points of the results - but I don't
feel the intense need to end every post with an insult.

[Jolly Roger]

Jamie Kahn Genet <jam...@wizardling.geek.nz> wrote:

> Aardvarks <aard...@a.b.c.com> wrote:
>>
>> I think you and Jolly Roger are closely related.
>
> Gosh! JR - is that true? I had no idea! LOL.

Unlikely, but you are a welcome visitor should you ever find your way here,
and I would gladly enjoy a beer or three with you if I found myself in your
area! : )

[Aardvarks]

On Thu, 21 Jul 2016 18:30:35 -0400, nospam wrote:

> then list the android apps and write in the ios counterpart.

There are *hundreds* of apps installed on each device.

Most of them are *different*, simply because I choose the *best*, and the
best are *often* not on both platforms.

So, it's really the best that can be found for *each* platform, given the
same functionality requirements for both platforms.

For example, not one of the best freeware offroad map apps is the same for
both platforms.

>> I do a lot of work to choose only the *best* apps,
>
> no you don't and the best apps are rarely free.

Name something that "I" do, that you have a better app for than I do.
I welcome the software functionality challenge.

> that's because you pirate them off bittorrent, by your own admission.

This is what I find strange about your personality.
You know absolutely *nothing* about me when you say crazy things like that.

First off, I am well aware of the dangers of pirated software with respect
to viruses, worms, trojans, etc.; hence, I have zero pirated software on
*any* of my machines (not a single one).

In fact, never once in many thousands of Usenet posts, have I ever asked
about nor discussed pirated software, not the least of which because
pirated software has to be one of the most dangerous things any human can
download, bar none.

That I've never pirated software in my life can't be proven to you - but
certainly you must recognize that I would be aware of the inherent dangers
in doing so.

So that you associate freeware with pirated software says a *lot* about
you, and particularly, now that I'm just starting to understand how
differently you think, it's your *herd mentality* kicking in.

To you, given that the Apple marketing-driven herd mentality defines your
risk assessment process, software that is purposefully free is *dangerous*
just as inexpensive cables, to you, are assumed to be inherently dangerous.

PS: I just bought a 10-foot cloth-bound lightning cable for $15 at Office
Max, and, get this ... it worked.

>> I don't have iTunes partly because I'm on Linux but also partly because I
>> don't install iTunes on Windows (for a variety of reasons, not the least of
>> which is that it doesn't do anything I can't do far simpler without it).
>
> nonsense.

We have been down that iTunes-behemoth road so many times, that I knew
you'd say that, without a shred of proof - but I better understanding you
now - so your inability to see things any way but the Apple-mandated way is
at least no longer frustrating to me.

>> For example, to list all the Android apps into a text file took a split
>> second simply by inserting the flash card into the computer and listing the
>> app directory contents to a text file.
>
> which is more work than had you used itunes.

Except that it's not.

> who did you pay off to get into harvard? because it wasn't due to
> intelligence.

Heh heh ... it's not proper Usenet etiquette to point out grammatical
mistakes, so, I'll just mention that in a prior post, I stated outright
that one thing I learned in my long educational path was how to use proper
pronouns correctly.

But I don't want to end on an insult (I was just responding to yours).

I do *thank* you very much for suggesting the two iTunes methods for
generating a useful list of the software that is installed on an iPad.

By temporarily installing iTunes on Windows, and then deleting it, I will
be able to generate the list I seek, which would contain a one-to-one
listing of the hundreds of the best freeware apps for each purpose on each
platform.

What's surprising, as I mull over the initial take, is that there is far
less overlap between the best freeware available on each platform than I
would have expected.

[Aardvarks]

On Thu, 21 Jul 2016 18:30:34 -0400, nospam wrote:

> printing to pdf is not a feature of itunes.
>
> it's a feature of macos itself and applies to *any* app that can print.

Thank you for clarifying that the print-to-PDF is not coming directly out
of iTunes, but from the OS.

Many apps have a print-to-PDF feature (e.g., MS Office), while the three
desktop-based operating systems (linux, windows, and Mac) have native
PDF-printing engines.

>> The key question is whether that PDF is essentially text or images.
>
> no it isn't.
>
> how in the world could a *list* of apps be images?? images of what?
> pngs of the icons but no text anywhere?

I thank you for suggesting we use iTunes to output the list of apps
installed on iOS devices to a PDF file, and then to save that PDF file as
text.

I have a *lot* of experience decomposing PDF files into their text
components.

It's a topic which has been discussed very many times on the comp.text.pdf
Usenet newsgroup.

Sometimes it's easy.
Sometimes it's not easy.

When it's easy, the output you want is saved in the text results.
When it's not easy, the output is saved as images.

[Aardvarks]

On Fri, 22 Jul 2016 10:57:09 +1000, dorayme wrote:

> The other way I can do this, seems easier when I think about it, is
> get the iTunes list up as before. Then go to File Menu and choose
> Print. Choose List from one of the choices in the dialog that comes up
> and go to print. When the Print dialog comes up, Under the PDF button,
> choose Save as PDF.
>
> At least on my Mac, that is possible.

Yes. This is simpler to print to PDF and then to save the PDF as a text
file and then to edit the text file using regular expressions.

Thank you for the helpful advice which everyone can benefit from.

I think we can consider this a useful solution to the problem at hand,
which was how to list all apps installed on an iPad to an editable file
format.

[Aardvarks]

On Fri, 22 Jul 2016 10:40:06 +1000, dorayme wrote:

> I know, a bit of a fiddle but can be done.

Thank you very much.
In fact, you thought of something nobody else has mentioned, not even me,
which is to try using OCR in case the PDF contains images instead of text.

I think, based on responses from the others, that the OCR step is probably
not needed, simply because Apple seems to have created a PDF that contains
the actual desired text within the programming language output.

So, we can probably switch the OCR step to a Save-PDF-as-Text step.

Thank you very much for the idea, as the OCR step may come in handy in the
future!

[nospam]

In article <nms5hj$kk7$1...@gioia.aioe.org>, Aardvarks

<aard...@a.b.c.com> wrote:

>
> > you snipped the context and i don't remember what that was in response
> > to.
>
> Thank you for your astute advice.
>
> Choosing the proper interleaved posting style is never perfect, but my
> preferred trim-posting style is often termed reminder-trimming, and is
> described in many Usenet etiquette texts.
>
> It has advantages & disadvantages, but it's designed to be a point-by-point
> bullet-item style response.
>
> I think, but am not sure, RFC 1846 (aka son of 1036) might describe it more
> fully.
>
> "Posters SHOULD edit quoted context to trim it down to the minimum
> necessary. Readability is enhanced if quoted text and new text are
> separated by an empty line."
> (Reference: http://www.faqs.org/rfcs/rfc1849.html)

minimum necessary is *not* the same as snip everything but one line.

you remove *context*, usually to alter it.

> > your goal is to troll.
>
> I never troll.
> I simply respond to your points.

no you don't.

> So we respectfully disagree that simply responding to your stated points is
> trolling behavior.

you aren't responding. you go out of your way to make up shit, insult
people and ramble about stuff you know nothing about.

> >> So, since I've already done all that work,
> >> and since I have more experience than most people do, she wanted to mine my
> >> results.
> >
> > delusional.
>
> I don't feel the need to insult you when I respond to your points.

that wasn't an insult. it's an observation. a description of what i see.

and whether or not you 'feel the need', you insult anyway.

> In this case, I have a map of the best Android freeware versus the best iOS
> freeware, but it's only visual.
>
> All I'm trying to do is put that one-to-one map into a text file.
>
> I can see the differences on my devices, both of which have the same
> functionality requirements.
>
> The software is essentially *different* between the two platforms.
>
> Shockingly different.

not really.

the usual big names are on both platforms (waze, google maps, navigon,
etc.) and there are some specialized apps on each that may not be on
the other platform. there is usually an equivalent app, it just won't
be *exactly* the same. no big deal.

> That's because I choose the best freeware out there based on a strict set
> of functionality requirements.

stupid requirements.

who the fuck cares if an app costs a buck or two. i spent far more than
that on lunch today.

> > which means it takes more than a split second.
>
> To *generate* the raw list in both your example and mine takes,
> essentially, a file-output or "ls" or "dir" command, all of which takes a
> split second
>

> The iOS output requires extensive editing for actual productive use.
> The Android output is good to go right from the start.

complete nonsense.

the ios output is plain text, just as the android output is.

> However, I'm an expert at editing, since my editors of choice all
> incorporate regular expressions; so, for me, the extensive editing required
> of the iOS output isn't as much of a drawback as it would be for many
> others.

mainly because it's essentially the same regex.

[nospam]

In article <nms6es$lmu$1...@gioia.aioe.org>, Aardvarks

<aard...@a.b.c.com> wrote:

>
> > then list the android apps and write in the ios counterpart.
>
> There are *hundreds* of apps installed on each device.

so what?

it's now three days of your rambling.

in that time, you could have scribbled in some options on the printed
output of your beloved android.

> Most of them are *different*, simply because I choose the *best*, and the
> best are *often* not on both platforms.

you do not choose the best. you choose the *cheapest*, often the most
convoluted options possible.

> So, it's really the best that can be found for *each* platform, given the
> same functionality requirements for both platforms.
>
> For example, not one of the best freeware offroad map apps is the same for
> both platforms.

best to whom?

just because *you* like it doesn't mean others will.

> >> I do a lot of work to choose only the *best* apps,
> >
> > no you don't and the best apps are rarely free.
>
> Name something that "I" do, that you have a better app for than I do.
> I welcome the software functionality challenge.

this isn't about what *you* do.

you said you choose the best apps. if you eliminate all paid apps, you
are by definition, not choosing the best apps.

you also are not in a position to decide what is best for other people.

> > that's because you pirate them off bittorrent, by your own admission.
>
> This is what I find strange about your personality.
> You know absolutely *nothing* about me when you say crazy things like that.

it's rather obvious.

you hide your identity, you change your apple id and google id with
regularity and provide fake information to both (which is illegal), you
won't add an actual credit card to either and refuse to buy an app even
if it's a buck or two. you insist all connectivity must be done through
tor to further hide your true identity and location.

normal people don't do even a fraction of that.

> First off, I am well aware of the dangers of pirated software with respect
> to viruses, worms, trojans, etc.; hence, I have zero pirated software on
> *any* of my machines (not a single one).

that just means you pirate other stuff such as music and movies.

you've explained numerous times how you want to be able to copy music
from other people's computers to your ipod/iphone. that's piracy.

> >> I don't have iTunes partly because I'm on Linux but also partly because I
> >> don't install iTunes on Windows (for a variety of reasons, not the least of
> >> which is that it doesn't do anything I can't do far simpler without it).
> >
> > nonsense.
>
> We have been down that iTunes-behemoth road so many times, that I knew
> you'd say that, without a shred of proof - but I better understanding you
> now - so your inability to see things any way but the Apple-mandated way is
> at least no longer frustrating to me.

more bullshit and more insults.

> >> For example, to list all the Android apps into a text file took a split
> >> second simply by inserting the flash card into the computer and listing the
> >> app directory contents to a text file.
> >
> > which is more work than had you used itunes.
>
> Except that it's not.

it clearly is.

day 3 and you still haven't figured out how.

> > who did you pay off to get into harvard? because it wasn't due to
> > intelligence.
>
> Heh heh ... it's not proper Usenet etiquette to point out grammatical
> mistakes, so, I'll just mention that in a prior post, I stated outright
> that one thing I learned in my long educational path was how to use proper
> pronouns correctly.

spelling/grammar flames means you have nothing.

my point stands. you paid someone off.

> But I don't want to end on an insult (I was just responding to yours).
>
> I do *thank* you very much for suggesting the two iTunes methods for
> generating a useful list of the software that is installed on an iPad.
>
> By temporarily installing iTunes on Windows, and then deleting it, I will
> be able to generate the list I seek, which would contain a one-to-one
> listing of the hundreds of the best freeware apps for each purpose on each
> platform.
>
> What's surprising, as I mull over the initial take, is that there is far
> less overlap between the best freeware available on each platform than I
> would have expected.

actually, you're in for a rather big surprise and haven't any idea why.

[nospam]

In article <nms7c3$mha$1...@gioia.aioe.org>, Aardvarks

<aard...@a.b.c.com> wrote:

>
> > printing to pdf is not a feature of itunes.
> >
> > it's a feature of macos itself and applies to *any* app that can print.
>
> Thank you for clarifying that the print-to-PDF is not coming directly out
> of iTunes, but from the OS.
>
> Many apps have a print-to-PDF feature (e.g., MS Office), while the three
> desktop-based operating systems (linux, windows, and Mac) have native
> PDF-printing engines.

only one has a native pdf engine, and that's macos.

the entire mac graphics model is based on pdf. it's as native as plain
text or a bitmap.

> >> The key question is whether that PDF is essentially text or images.
> >
> > no it isn't.
> >
> > how in the world could a *list* of apps be images?? images of what?
> > pngs of the icons but no text anywhere?
>
> I thank you for suggesting we use iTunes to output the list of apps
> installed on iOS devices to a PDF file, and then to save that PDF file as
> text.
>
> I have a *lot* of experience decomposing PDF files into their text
> components.
>
> It's a topic which has been discussed very many times on the comp.text.pdf
> Usenet newsgroup.
>
> Sometimes it's easy.
> Sometimes it's not easy.
>
> When it's easy, the output you want is saved in the text results.
> When it's not easy, the output is saved as images.

all of which is completely irrelevant.

you also completely avoided the question.

[Aardvarks]

On Thu, 21 Jul 2016 18:31:25 -0400, nospam wrote:

> since you aren't any such expert, we can't say that at all.

> then best point them to an *actual* expert.

While I better understand why the average Apple user seems to be afraid of
venturing outside the walled garden mandated by Apple Marketing, I don't
yet understand why you end nearly every post by a proscribed insult.

I'll have to look back at Jolly Roger's & Jamie Kahn Genet's posts, since
they are far simpler than you, yet they too often exhibit the very same
personality quirk, to see if I can deduce why you so intensely feel the
need to deprecate interested users who are outside the Apple-prescribed
herd mentality.

[Aardvarks]

On Thu, 21 Jul 2016 18:30:34 -0400, nospam wrote:

> you'll fuck it up somehow and then rant.

While I better understand why the average Apple user seems to be afraid of
venturing outside the walled garden mandated by Apple Marketing, I don't
yet understand why you end nearly every post by a proscribed insult.

I'll have to look back at Jolly Roger's & Jamie Kahn Genet's posts, since

they often exhibit the very same personality quirk, to see if I can deduce

[Aardvarks]

On Thu, 21 Jul 2016 18:30:40 -0400, nospam wrote:

>>> c. Does the iTunes output to PDF contain "text" or "images"?
>>
>> Text
>
> the real question is what would the images even *be*?

The folks at comp.text.pdf can probably explain this better than I, but
suffice to say when a PDF is created, it can be rasterized bitmaps of
'text' images, or it can contain the actual text.

A simple way to understand the difference is to consider what scanning to
PDF does without OCR. It scans the text to a rasterized bitmap image.

In the visualized document, it *looks* like text; but it's an image.

Some print-to-PDF mechanisms create PDFs as rasterized WYSIWYG images:
https://helpx.adobe.com/acrobat/kb/quick-fix-print-pdf-image.html

Besides being WYSIWYG, printing to a rasterized image is often used to
prevent people from doing exactly what we're trying to do, which is to
extract the text output of the PDF document:
http://superuser.com/questions/766518/how-to-print-a-flat-pdf-from-a-text-file-in-pdfcreator

The comp.text.pdf folks will be able to explain this better than I.

[Aardvarks]

On Thu, 21 Jul 2016 18:30:38 -0400, nospam wrote:

> duh.
> how does amazon know what you bought? how does *any* store know what
> you bought?

That's an entirely different use model than I use on Android, which, as you
know, easily handles changing the account periodically and just as easily
handles third-party apps, so, you don't even need a Google Play account to
download software.

Given that the software installation is entirely unrestricted, just looking
at your Google Play account wouldn't accurately tell you what's on the
device.

For example, I have OSMAnd~, which isn't available for free on the Google
Play store; hence, a google play account wouldn't recognize it.

In addition, I don't even know the password to my bogus Google Play account
(since I change the accounts periodically and there's never a need to log
in).

On iOS, since 3rd-party apps aren't the norm, logging in to the monolithic
App Store model makes more sense for that type of restricted ecosystem.

> that would have been faster.
>
> you could have done a lot of typing in the past two days.

While I type fast, the benefit of finding a general solution is that
*everyone* can use that solution, now, and in the future.

I think some people *benefited* from this information, including me.

[Aardvarks]

On Thu, 21 Jul 2016 18:30:43 -0400, nospam wrote:

>> That the IPA (aka zip) files are saved to the hard drive is a nice bonus
>> because I can send the kid all the IPA files so that she can install the
>> apps onto her iPhone 6 from her computer without needing the App Store.
>
> no you can't.

Why not?

[Aardvarks]

On Thu, 21 Jul 2016 18:30:42 -0400, nospam wrote:

> you can't be serious.
>
> who did you pay off to get into harvard? because it sure as fuck wasn't
> due to intelligence.

:)

See aforementioned reply.

[Aardvarks]

On Thu, 21 Jul 2016 18:30:43 -0400, nospam wrote:

>>> You can use iTunes to install any backed up iOS app.
>>
>> That makes sense.
>> On Android, you can install from the device itself.
>
> same on ios

That's very interesting that you don't need iTunes to install on iOS from
the device itself, but that leaves the problem of:

a. Where to put the IPA file on the iOS device, and,
b. What "app" access that iPA file.

When I connect an iOS device to a Linux computer, two mount points are
created.

The first mount point contains the "private space" for each app that allows
access to its document storage area.

The second mount point is essentialy for pictures and screenshots.

A. Which mount point do you use to slide the file over to the iOS device?
B. What app on the iOS device accesses that mount point & installs the IPA?

[Andreas Rutishauser]

In article <nmrfle$1ulj$1...@gioia.aioe.org>,

Aardvarks <aard...@a.b.c.com> wrote:

> That the IPA (aka zip) files are saved to the hard drive is a nice bonus
> because I can send the kid all the IPA files so that she can install the
> apps onto her iPhone 6 from her computer without needing the App Store.

> https://developer.apple.com/library/ios/documentation/IDEs/Conceptual/AppDistr
> ibutionGuide/TestingYouriOSApp/TestingYouriOSApp.html

sorry, this won't work in your case for sevaral reasons:
- you don't have a Mac which is required to work as a _developer_ on iOS
Apps
- you are not a registered developer
- you don't have Apps of your own to test on other devices
etc.

Did you even bother to read the article you linked?

Cheers
Andreas

--
MacAndreas Rutishauser, <http://www.MacAndreas.ch>
EDV-Dienstleistungen, Hard- und Software, Internet und Netzwerk
Beratung, Unterstuetzung und Schulung
<mailto:and...@MacAndreas.ch>, Fon: 044 / 721 36 47

[nospam]

In article <nms979$oa0$3...@gioia.aioe.org>, Aardvarks

<aard...@a.b.c.com> wrote:

>
> >>> c. Does the iTunes output to PDF contain "text" or "images"?
> >>
> >> Text
> >
> > the real question is what would the images even *be*?
>
> The folks at comp.text.pdf can probably explain this better than I, but
> suffice to say when a PDF is created, it can be rasterized bitmaps of
> 'text' images, or it can contain the actual text.

that doesn't answer the question, and actually a pdf can contain a
shitload more than just that.

i didn't ask how a pdf stores images.

i asked what possible images could there be in list of apps?

[nospam]

In article <nms97b$oa0$4...@gioia.aioe.org>, Aardvarks

<aard...@a.b.c.com> wrote:

>
> > duh.
> > how does amazon know what you bought? how does *any* store know what
> > you bought?
>
> That's an entirely different use model than I use on Android, which, as you
> know, easily handles changing the account periodically and just as easily
> handles third-party apps, so, you don't even need a Google Play account to
> download software.

that is *not* the normal android use model and it's also called piracy.

the normal android use model is the same as ios - get a google account
and buy/download apps.

your download history is maintained by google (or apple) so when you
get a new device, it's easy to get all your apps (although not quite as
straightforward as with ios).

[nospam]

In article <nms97d$oa0$5...@gioia.aioe.org>, Aardvarks

<aard...@a.b.c.com> wrote:

>
> >> That the IPA (aka zip) files are saved to the hard drive is a nice bonus
> >> because I can send the kid all the IPA files so that she can install the
> >> apps onto her iPhone 6 from her computer without needing the App Store.
> >
> > no you can't.
>
> Why not?

because they're linked to your apple id, not hers.

she'd need your ever changing apple id and password to install and use
them.

she'd also see what bogus name you made up and likely ask what that's
all about.

[nospam]

In article <nms97f$oa0$6...@gioia.aioe.org>, Aardvarks

<aard...@a.b.c.com> wrote:

>
> >>> You can use iTunes to install any backed up iOS app.
> >>
> >> That makes sense.
> >> On Android, you can install from the device itself.
> >
> > same on ios
>
> That's very interesting that you don't need iTunes to install on iOS from
> the device itself,

it's not at all interesting.

in fact, it's so obvious that it's boring.

> but that leaves the problem of:
>
> a. Where to put the IPA file on the iOS device, and,
> b. What "app" access that iPA file.

there is no problem.

downloaded apps are automatically put in the proper place and accessed
with a tap.

> When I connect an iOS device to a Linux computer, two mount points are
> created.
>
> The first mount point contains the "private space" for each app that allows
> access to its document storage area.
>
> The second mount point is essentialy for pictures and screenshots.
>
> A. Which mount point do you use to slide the file over to the iOS device?
> B. What app on the iOS device accesses that mount point & installs the IPA?

*whoosh*.