How to: Install a user app as a system app?

[fullscore21]

I stupidly deleted the stock launcher on my Alcatel One Touch A851L (4.1.2 android). I also somehow damaged something while messing with root, and now my phone can't reboot normally: if I press reboot, the phone goes to a blue screen. I have to remove the battery in order for it to start up again...but when it starts up again, it freezes after about 5 minutes. The only way I can fix this is by doing a factory reset EVERY TIME this happens. Then I have to send an .apk file of a third party launcher via Bluetooth, or else I won't have a launcher. Just a black screen. Therefore, I'm on edge 24/7 hoping my phone won't spontaneously reboot...like it did today.

I'm tired of having to send .apks via Bluetooth every time this happens, especially since I don't always have access to a Bluetooth device. So, I want to install apps to my phone system, not as user apps, but as system apps. And I want them to STAY there, even if I have to do a factory reset (regular user apps get deleted after a factory reset). I definitely need to install a launcher as a system app.

Is this possible? Or would the app still end up being deleted after a factory reset?

 

[Rukbat]

After backing up anything important if you haven't already, reflash the stock Alcatel ROM, and a) it should stop needing resets and 2) have a launcher in it. (Whether you can "install" an app as a system app depends on how well you know Linux - it can be done, but not easily enough to tell you how here. (Putting it into a system folder might work - or it might cause you further problems.)

 

[fullscore21]

@Rukbat,

Unfortunately, this device doesn't have its stock ROM available. I even contacted Tracfone directly, and they said they didn't have it.

But I found a solution! I found out that I can install any app as a system app using a Root Explorer. All I did was find the .apk file of the third-party launcher I wanted to install, copy it, then paste it to my Root> System> App folder. Then I rebooted, and got a message that said "android is upgrading". Then the phone turned back on, and the app is now installed as a system app. I did a factory reset, and the apps were still there. Now, even if my phone spontaneously crashes and I'm forced to factory reset, I don't have to worry about being launcher-less!

 

[Hope Barrosse1]

i dont like alcatel