APK files

[appdaddy]

I would like to install apk files to my sd card instead of using the phone memory. I was looking on this site and found Motoroi.tar.... At the risk of sounding like a COMPLETE idiot I have to ask, what is this? What does it do? And is it safe to put on my Droid. I'm terrified of bricking my device.. this prolly won't do it but.... Anyway any info/advice/Laughing at my stupidity will be taken to heart and well received. Thanks in advance.

 

[LifeIsABeach]

I have no idea what Motoroi.tar is, but it is not currently possible to install apps to the SD card on the Droid. When it is you will probably need to purchase a new Class 6 or at least Class 4 SD card (the one that comes with the Droid is a Class 2 which is considered too slow for APPS2SD).

 

[tehpriest]

I really cannot fathom why this should be. My E90, a three year old unit, was able to install to SD (class 2 8gb) and ran everything fine. I do not think it is a case of the speed of the SD just Motorola trying to keep customers restricted.

 

[hookbill]

I've seen .tar files and I believe that is used in the rooting process. If I'm wrong someone will come and correct me, which is fine. That's where I think I remember seeing them.

 

[forkup]

Open the tar file with winrar, extract the apks, copy the ones you want to try to /system/app then chmod to 644, reboot.

 

[LifeIsABeach]

I really cannot fathom why this should be. My E90, a three year old unit, was able to install to SD (class 2 8gb) and ran everything fine. I do not think it is a case of the speed of the SD just Motorola trying to keep customers restricted.

Motorola doesn't want people saving to the SD card due to pirating of apps. They are working on a way to put some protection in place (although I am sure someone will defeat that soon after). Cyanogen is the one who warns against using Class 2 cards.

Apps2SD - CyanogenMod Wiki

 

[hobby31]

As someone who has done this on a tmobile g1, there is a difference in the class of cards. I used a class 2 card and did have "hicups" and slowdowns with it. I went and got a class 4 and everything ran smoother. I imagine with the Droids faster processor, the slower card would slow things down even more.

Now, putting apps on the sd card is a little more complicated on the android system as the android system is linux based and uses ext3 or ext4 file system, I believe. The sd card is formated in fat32 as to be compatable with windows. When I did it on the g1, the card had to be reformated with 2 separate partitions, one a ext3 and the other a fat 32. If you format the whole card to ext3 windows will not recognize it when you hook it to a windows based pc. You can thank microsoft for that.
Once you had the card partitioned you had to type a few commands into the terminal and move the apps folder and cache folder over to the card and then create sym links to them.

Now, I don't think there is a big push to get that done on the Droid. I think the belief is that the developers of the apps will start utilizing the card. An example is the game ExZeus. It downloads a small amount to the Droids file system then download the rest to the sd card and accesses it as it needs it.

I also think I saw that Cyanogen was working on an "apps2sd" for the Nexus and Koush is supposed to incorporate it into his next release for the droid. But I'm not sure.

 

[appdaddy]

I found out what it was, it is droidmodifer 1.0 is that a good/safer one to flash on my droid?

 

[christim]

http://www.droidforums.net/forum/droid-applications/27473-goodies-other-phones-droid-us.html is the thread where there is a link to the tar file. It is a system dump of that phone system, and there are others in the op of that thread. The apk's within can be used on rooted as well as non-rooted phones. The apk's that run well are listed in the original post as well. If you find others, post in that thread and the op should be updated shortly with your findings.

While you can't run apk's from your phone you can use Astro or other tools to back up your apk's onto your card, saving phone memory space. You would do the following:

1- Use astro to back up to your card.
2- Uninstall all apps (using astro) on your phone. - this deletes the apk's off your phone to save a little space.
3- Using Astro install the apps via the apk's now stored on your card. This leaves the install files on your card with the running program files stored on the phone itself instead of everything stored on the phone.
** first time I did this I uninstalled Astro too. Had to reinstall it to continue

Your phone does not have to be rooted to do the above steps.

 

[tehpriest]

I don't have the details to hand but I believe the E90's processor is just as fast and is also dual core so it is not because of the processor that it needs a class 4 or 6 card. As I said after three years of use I never noticed any slowdown when using the apps on the SD as compared to those on the main memory. Even with the original 2007 S60 firmware three years ago. Surely the Droid/Stone should be far ahead of this with the 2010 2.01 Android firmware yet it cannot match it. To me that is unbelievable.

Now, I don't think there is a big push to get that done on the Droid. I think the belief is that the developers of the apps will start utilizing the card. An example is the game ExZeus. It downloads a small amount to the Droids file system then download the rest to the sd card and accesses it as it needs it.

This is more or less how it is done only you can choose whether the main data goes on the SD or main.