Does Android keep the .apk files? if so where?

Question

After android installs an application from the Marketplace, does it keep the .apk file?

Is there a standard location where Android would keep such files?

Answer 1

Use this to list all .apks under /data/app/

adb bugreport | grep 'package name="' | grep 'codePath="/data' | cut -d'"' -f4

Answer 2

Another way to get the apks you can't find, on a rooted device is with rom tool box.

Make a backup using app manager then go to storage/emulated/appmanager and check either system app backup or user app backup.

Answer 3

• data/app
• system/app
• system/priv-app
• mnt/asec (when installed in sdcard)

You can pull the .apks from any of them:

adb pull /mnt/asec

Answer 4

if you are using eclipse goto DDMS and then file explorer there you will see System/Apps folder and the apks are there

Answer 5

If you're looking for the path of a specific app, a quick and dirty solution is to just grep the bugreport:

$ adb bugreport | grep 'dir=/data/app' 

I don't know that this will provide an exhaustive list, so it may help to run the app first.

Answer 6

Well I came to this post because I wanted to reinstall some app I liked much. If this is your case, just go to Google Play, and look for My Apps, the tab All, and you will find a way to reinstall some app you liked. I faced a problem that I could not find by search one app, but it was there in My apps so I could reinstall in my new mobile ;)