Injecting apps into a ROM

[cole2kb]

Okay, here's what I want to do.

Every time I flash a new ROM, I have many apps that I use daily that I have to re-install, each time, and it's very cumbersome. I hate Titanium Backup, it never works right for me, and I find the whole process just as slow as re-downloading everything. Not to mention, I do an SD card wipe each flash.

I want to know what I would have to do as far as injecting APKs into a ZIP file for whatever ROM I flash, so they will be there on first boot, along with any first-boot scripting necessary to install them. So, if someone can point me to a thread / instructions or give me some tips on how to do this. I'd appreciate it. Thanks!

edit -- For those that have used nLite to modify and script a Windows installation, that's basically what I want to do with my phone (by hand), and maybe eventually write a Windows program to automate it for me, and potentially distribute it if it works well enough.

 

[anthonycr]

Download 7zip to your computer, open the Rom.zip and place the apks you want installed on boot in the /system/app folder. Its as simple as that. Flash and enjoy

Sent from my VM670 using Tapatalk

 

[cole2kb]

Download 7zip to your computer, open the Rom.zip and place the apks you want installed on boot in the /system/app folder. Its as simple as that. Flash and enjoy

Sent from my VM670 using Tapatalk

My nerdy side was hoping for a more complicated process, lol. Thanks. I will definitely try that out next flash I do. Just to be super sure, does it have to be 7zip? I already have WinRAR.

 

[flapjack.fiasco]

I believe that you can use WinRAR, as long as you can modify files in the zip without extracting them. You should give 7zip a try though, it's pretty quick, and I believe it has better compression algorithms than WinRAR.

Sent from my LG-VM670 using Tapatalk

 

[EarthnFire78]

You should also give MyBackup Root a try. It does pretty much what Titanium Backup does, but it is simpler to use. One other thing the system app folder should never be more then 60MB in sizes, and some apps cannot be placed in system.

 

[cole2kb]

I believe that you can use WinRAR, as long as you can modify files in the zip without extracting them. You should give 7zip a try though, it's pretty quick, and I believe it has better compression algorithms than WinRAR.

Sent from my LG-VM670 using Tapatalk

Will do. I just go to WinRAR first because it's been my go-to for years out of habit. I'm not specifically partial to it.

You should also give MyBackup Root a try. It does pretty much what Titanium Backup does, but it is simpler to use. One other thing the system app folder should never be more then 60MB in sizes, and some apps cannot be placed in system.

I'd like to avoid apps of that nature because I do an SD Card wipe in between flashes.

Is there a way to get the APKs to install on first boot while they reside on the SD card? Just some script I could write to get root privileges so it skips the installation dialogs and does it automatically?

edit -- If this is getting too complicated for a short answer, I don't want to be a huge bother. I'm thinking maybe I should dive into a ROM zip file or a GApps package and see what it does to install the APKs in recovery, and make my own sort of thing for that? Feel free to just point me somewhere else if it's easier, I don't expect anyone to do all the work for me.

 

[JerryScript]

If you link your apps to sd as tdm has suggested in other threads, you can create a script in init.d that can restore the link at boot after flashing a new ROM.

 

[markusf21]

I don't have this phone anymore so please let someone else weigh in before you try this. With my current phone's rom.zip you can have it flash apps to data instead of system. You would have to add the folder in the right place and modify the update script. It should also be possible to make a flashable zip to install them for you in recovery.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-T989 using Tapatalk 2 Beta-5

 

[cole2kb]

It doesn't have to be in recovery, i.e. if there is a boot script I can write instead to do it all there, that's fine, I have to copy my ROM over anyway, it'd only be one more step to copy APKs to my SD card so they can be installed from there at first boot.

Maybe this is a more simple question: Is there a script I can write to execute myself that will install APKs without the conformation dialog? Maybe either installing all APKs in a certain folder, or if I have to write entries for each one, that's fine too.

 

[tdm]

If you link your apps to sd as tdm has suggested in other threads, you can create a script in init.d that can restore the link at boot after flashing a new ROM.

Awww.. You went and gave away my secret.

 

[cole2kb]

Awww.. You went and gave away my secret.

Lol, no worries there, I had no idea what he meant. I'll probably just have to keep doing what I'm doing. I appreciate the info though everybody.