android adb plugin - Issues with special [[apps]] folder

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edray
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Joined: 2019-04-22, 22:19 UTC

android adb plugin - Issues with special [[apps]] folder

Post by *edray »

I am using win 10 Pro, Total commander v 9.22a and plugin Android ADB V 8.5. The android device I am using is an A95X MAX android TV box which is basically a generic inexpensive made in china tablet without a screen that can be connected to any monitor or TV.

The main reason for using this plug-in is for my being able to execute multi apk installs and multi apk uninstalls. It should be noted that although I have used other PC side stand-alone programs (more than ten other programs) that essentially do the same functions and ALL these other programs connected and have successfully worked with my “cheapie” android device demonstrating there is nothing custom or special that should preclude it from working with the plug-in, I am having a real hard time determining how to make it work with the plug-in when referencing the programmers plugin FAQ.

When the plug-in is used, a valid connection is established between my PC and the android device and I can see using the “network neighborhood” selection, the android device files/folders. Even folders like the /data/data and /data/app folders are accessible since my device is a rooted device.

Issue 1:
I am assuming the FAQ reference to the “.apps” folder name really means the same as the “[[apps]]” folder reference within the [adb] network item for the connected device? If so, I am not sure what is the correlation to the specified “hidden” folder name of “.apps”? (a dot designation before a folder or file typically means a hidden file or folder).

If they really mean the same thing then this “[[apps]]” folder show nothing when the settings option of “use Packages (pm) command etc.” is not selected so I can’t uninstall any currently installed apk using this folder.

If the “use Packages (pm) command etc.” is selected it shows only some system level apks but NO user level apk’s. I was expecting based on the FAQ to be seeing ALL the system and user level apk’s and as a minimum, I was expecting to see ALL the users apk’s here. So again, it seems I cannot uninstall any existing apk’s regardless of the pm option setting.

As a last resort since using the “[[app]]” folder was not working, attempting to directly delete a package at the “/data/app” location did NOT uninstall the related app on the android device and did NOT delete the package at the “/data/app” location. Perhaps this is a good thing since this would have caused an incomplete uninstall anyway but I just wanted to check the behavior of your plug-in when the “[[app]]” folder was not doing its job.

So, what do I need to do to be able to uninstall EXISTING apks on the android device using this “[[apps]]” folder so I can initiate multiple uninstalls?

Issue 2:
REGARDLESS of the “pm” setting, if I copy an apk file from my pc to the “[[apps]]”, it causes a successful installation of the apk into the android device which is what was expected, but it seems I won’t ever be able to uninstall it because it never appears in the “[[apps]]” folder AFTER it was copied into that same folder .... what the heck? Where did this entry disappear into?

Issue 3:
It seems to me that if we are going to use an un-intuitive/unorthodox method (special folder “black hole”) to install PC side apk’s to the device and to uninstall existing android device apps from the PC side rather than the more standard way of doing the same such as simply presenting a page of apps to install or uninstall like all the other programs I used have implemented, then this special folder should show all the apps in a “friendly app name” format because there are many apps whose friendly app name does not remotely resemble its corresponding package name. In these cases, this may cause an unintentional removal of the app

Thanks ahead of time to all that provide answers to issues 1 through 3.
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