This is simply a FYI since I just wrote the response below to Andy Burns.
<https://groups.google.com/g/comp.mobile.android/c/38FsdarILLc/m/8LeyuoEmAwAJ>

Since I'm a team player, and since I tested all the free package managers,
I just wanted users to know about these best (IMHO) package utilities.

These are in the order of shortest URI to longest (i.e., random order).
<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.csdroid.pkg>
<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ubqsoft.sec01>
<https://f-droid.org/packages/io.github.muntashirakon.AppManager/>
<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.codex.appinspector>
<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=twoxmars.packagenameviewer>
<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=cz.seeq.prog.android.packageviewer>

As always, if you know of another free ad free package analyzer, manager,
or inspector - please let the team know so all benefit from your knowledge.

---< cut here for the post to Andy Burns just now >---
Andy Burns <usenet@andyburns.uk> wrote

MuntashirAkon isn't on the Google Play Store.

I use "Package Name Viewer 2.0" <https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.csdroid.pkg>

Thanks for that suggestion - which I also have for viewing package names.

All my tools are free, ad free & most are gsf free and tracker free.
(Yes, it takes intelligence and good search engines to find them.)

I've tested every free package manager ever suggested in this ng.

When I last extensively tested all the purported "Package Managers",
each one gave _different_ results (which is sometimes surprising),
where one of the most important is to show the name non truncated.

I just ran a rough search on my system for package managers, inspectors & viewers which found the following (although there may be others installed).

a. <io.github.muntashirakon.AppManager> version 3.0.4 (416)
No trackers.
<https://github.com/MuntashirAkon/AppManager>
<https://f-droid.org/packages/io.github.muntashirakon.AppManager/>
b. <com.csdroid.pkg> version 3.2.0 (38)
Has one tracker [com.android.billingclient.api.ProxyBillingActivity].
<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.csdroid.pkg>
c. <cz.seeq.prog.android.packageviewer> version 1.7.2 (11)
No trackers.
<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=cz.seeq.prog.android.packageviewer>
d. <twoxmars.packagenameviewer> version 3.4.1 (7)
No trackers.
<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=twoxmars.packagenameviewer> e. <com.google.android.packageinstaller> version 13-8768315 (33)
No trackers
f. <com.codex.appinspector> version 3.1.33 (33)
4 trackers & Play App Signing
<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.codex.appinspector>
g. <com.ubqsoft.sec01> version 1.29.6-201910301402 (49)
No trackers.
<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ubqsoft.sec01>
and maybe a few more... if they don't have the keyword in the name.

However... most package managers only do mainly one thing.
Muntashirakon App Manager does so many things, I can't count them.

Look at these screenshots which helped me find bugs in Aurora Store
(which the Aurora developers kindly fixed at my request on XDA).
a. <https://i.postimg.cc/FzD9Lcbf/afp07.jpg>
b. <https://i.postimg.cc/W3xmPFqk/afp08.jpg>
c. <https://i.postimg.cc/FFfGnmkS/afp15.jpg>

Intercepting and subsequently editing and then reapplying intents is
just one of the very many extremely useful tasks MuntashirAkon does
that a typical "package manager" doesn't come close to being able to do.

It's really an all-purpose utility more so than an App Manager, per se.

There is really no comparison - Muntashirakon is likely one of the top five best apps ever written for Android, with the other four being, oh, maybe.
1. NewPipe
2. Aurora Store
3. Skyica App Finder
4. NetGuard (you turned me on to this one... thanks!)
5. MuntashirAkon App Manager

It's telling that not a single one of those is allowed in the Google Play
Store repository - which is one reason why sideloading is so fantastic.
--
Yes. I'm aware that a less-functional NetGuard is in the Google repo.

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Wally J <walterjones@invalid.nospam> wrote

As always, if you know of another free ad free package analyzer, manager,
or inspector - please let the team know so all benefit from your knowledge.

Here is another one that I just installed and will be testing for you.

This APK Editor & Explorer comes highly recommended on the XDA web site.
<https://f-droid.org/packages/com.apk.editor/>

Tutorial: <https://apk-editor.github.io/general/>

APK Explorer & Editor
An open-source APK explorer/Editor & Split APK/App bundle Installer for Android!
New in version v0.27
* Fixed signed APK's failing to install after building.
* Switched to Material3 daynight theme.
* Shows progress while loading main UI.
* Fixed some crashes on app launch.
* Updated build tools and dependencies.
* Added Hindi, Lithuanian, Thai and Arabic (SA) translations.
* Updated other translations.
* Miscellaneous changes.
APK Explorer & Editor (AEE) includes a set of open-source tools mainly designed to explore the contents of an installed application on an Android device.

Additionally, AEE offers a feature-rich APK/Split APK's/App bundle installer which allows users to pick and install files from device storage.

Please Note: This is the full version of AEE.
The Google Play version lacks editing capabilities as well as features
such as APK/App Bundle signing.

Features

* A beautifully designed list view of installed applications.
* Explore and navigate through the contents of an installed application.
* Export and easily manage (install, share etc.) APK's/Split APK's into device storage.
* Includes a feature-rich APK/Split APK/App bundle installer (easily pick and install files from device storage)
* Easily extract an app icon by single-clicking on it.
* Provides basic information about important resource files.
* View graphics, texts, binary XML, and many more.
* Save/Export individual resource files to device storage.
* Edit text/binary XML files using an in-built text editor (still, a bit buggy especially when working with big APK's).
* Delete or replaces resources.
* Assemble modified smali files into new classes (.dex).
* Create signed APK's/App Bundles after the above-mentioned processes.
* Resign APK's/bundles with AEE custom key.
* Elegantly designed user interface with an auto-dark/light theme.
* A lot more.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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A package manager is like a clock - you never know if it's wrong when you
only have one - and you need a few to be statistically close to correct.

Here's another package manager that I used to use that found stuff
which others didn't find - which is why you need more than one.
*apps_Packages Info*
<https://f-droid.org/packages/com.oF2pks.applicationsinfo/>

This package manager came up as I was searching the canonical Android
newsgroup archives for the package manager I use in Android 9.
<https://i.postimg.cc/rFJBkPSn/carrierservices01.jpg>
<https://i.postimg.cc/d0zCJVgy/carrierservices02.jpg>
<https://i.postimg.cc/L5VgkB5t/carrierservices03.jpg>
<https://i.postimg.cc/wjrykBqG/carrierservices04.jpg>
<https://i.postimg.cc/V6QJ3Hb9/carrierservices05.jpg>

I had forgotten about it... and I vouch for it (at least when I used it in Android 9) as it found packages that the other package managers missed.

Of course, that was before I found out about MuntashirAkon's package
manager - which is almost exclusively what I use as my atomic clock.
<https://f-droid.org/packages/io.github.muntashirakon.AppManager/>

This one is almost a copy of the MuntashirAkon Package Manager.
<https://f-droid.org/packages/com.smartpack.packagemanager/>

In summary, while you can ask a lot of a package manager, the _first_ thing
it must do is find all your apps - and very few package managers do that.

People think a PM lists all apps because it's like having only one clock.
--
Same with how people think Google Play Store updates all their apps.
It doesn't even come close.

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On 10/9/23 15:24, Wally J wrote:

A package manager is like a clock - you never know if it's wrong when you only have one - and you need a few to be statistically close to correct.

In this analogy, would opening the terminal and listing the packages
manually be like syncing from a time server?
--
user <candycane> is generated from /dev/urandom

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candycanearter07 <no@thanks.net> wrote

A package manager is like a clock - you never know if it's wrong when you
only have one - and you need a few to be statistically close to correct.

In this analogy, would opening the terminal and listing the packages
manually be like syncing from a time server?

I think Termux and local adb (ladb) and adb with a PC would "probably" list
all the packages - but I've never tested the CLI against the GUIs.

adb shell pm list packages <--- list all packages on the device
adb shell pm list packages -f -3 <--- list third-party packages
adb shell pm list packages <--- list only the disabled packages
adb shell pm list packages -s <--- list only the system packages
adb shell pm list packages -u <--- list only uninstalled packages
adb shell dumpsys package packages <--- list package information
adb shell pm dump com.facebook.appmanager <--- info on a package

If you want to find only the default saved APKs, then use this command.

adb shell dumpsys package packages | findStr /i ".apk$" <-- locates all the saved APKs

If you want the filespec to the default saved APK of just one package.

adb shell pm list packages | findStr /i "osmand" <--- run a search

Now you know the full name to find the APK for that specific package.

adb shell pm path net.osmand.plus <--- specific package apk filespec

Then you can copy that APK by hand if that's what you really want to do.

adb pull /data/app/long-horrible-path-net.osmand.plus/osmand-base.apk

With this method you can copy all the APKs over in one robocopy command.

dir *apk

08/03/2023 01:46 PM 111,158,599 osmand-base.apk

But nobody would copy an apk that way (unless they're writing scripts).
That's why they made all those free Android APK extraction tools. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=de.onyxbits.listmyapps https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.jenos.shareapkfile https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=sk.styk.martin.apkanalyzer

They run the same commands above but in an intelligent "robocopy" way.
If I ever write for a tech magagazine, maybe they can pay me to do that.
--
The whole point of Usenet is to find people who know more than you do.

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Wally J <walterjones@invalid.nospam> wrote

Then you can copy that APK by hand if that's what you really want to do.

adb pull /data/app/long-horrible-path-net.osmand.plus/osmand-base.apk

BTW, it's possible to clone an app and then modify it to then
install the modified app instead of the original app - if you like.

We can try this out... randomly assuming an app with "webview" in the name.

First, find out if a package with that keyword exists on your phone.

adb shell pm list packages | findStr /i "webview"

package:org.bromite.webview

Then find where the APK is located on your phone for that package.

adb shell pm path org.bromite.webview

package:/data/app/~~kZ3Rpcv9VTxGjyoSYkpRrw==/org.bromite.webview-rUqJpqiRYaQXtDSgk0ibMg==/base.apk

If desired, copy that package from Android over to your PC.

adb pull /data/app/~~kZ3Rpcv9VTxGjyoSYkpRrw==/org.bromite.webview-rUqJpqiRYaQXtDSgk0ibMg==/base.apk

/data/app/~~kZ3Rpcv9VTxGjyoSYkpRrw==/org.bromite.webview-r...le pulled, 0 skipped. 27.0 MB/s (99330457 bytes in 3.507s)
C:\> dir *base*
10/09/2023 06:54 PM 99,330,457 base.apk

If desired, grep that package for whatever keywords float your boat.

aapt d xmltree base.apk res/xml/config_webview_packages.xml

E: webviewproviders (line=17)
E: webviewprovider (line=19)
A: availableByDefault=(type 0x12)0xffffffff
A: description="Android WebView" (Raw: "Bromite WebView")
A: packageName="org.bromite.webview" (Raw: "org.bromite.webview")

If desired, clone that package so that you can change things & reinstall.
https://clonemy.app/
Input: base.apk
Output: base2.apk

If desired, modify the app using freeware Windows APK editing tools.
APK Editor Studio
<https://qwertycube.com/apk-editor-studio/>

Then you can install the cloned edited package back onto your phone.
Note: I didn't test this in this case as I'm just explaining how.
--
The whole point of Usenet is to find people who know more than you do.

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On 10/9/23 17:47, Wally J wrote:

C:\> adb shell pm list packages <--- list all packages on the device
C:\> adb shell pm list packages <--- list only the disabled packages

Did you make a typo here? These commands look the same.
--
user <candycane> is generated from /dev/urandom

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