XPost: comp.sys.mac.system, alt.comp.os.windows-10, comp.mobile.android   
   From: marion@facts.com   
      
   On Thu, 10 Apr 2025 13:06:14 +0200, Carlos E.R. wrote :   
      
      
   >> Think about what Windows?Android/Linux users would say if you told them   
   >> it's impossible for them to back up their saved program installers.   
   >   
   > Ok, I understand your point.   
      
   Hi Carlos,   
      
   Thank you for understanding that what iOS users put up with in the   
   subterranean caves called the "ecosystem", nobody else would accept.   
      
   On iOS, an app backup is impossible.   
   That's bad.   
      
   > However, I don't do backups/restore on Android either.   
      
   An example is I have the last known good version of Paint Shop Pro on   
   Windows, which, if it were iOS, would be *impossible* to have saved.   
      
   On iOS, installing the last known good version of anything is impossible.   
   That's bad.   
      
   > I simply let Google Play reinstall everything in the   
   > list.   
      
   On all my Android devices, I have the last known good version of PulseSMS,   
   which, let's just say, is the best SMS/MMS messenger on the planet (IMHO).   
      
   Since PulseSMS was bought by MapleMedia, I use the last known good version.   
     LNGV   
      
   Installing a lastknowngoodversion on your iOS devices would be impossible.   
   That's bad.   
      
   > This is what most people do.   
      
   There are a lot of people who have older (non-subscription) versions of   
   Microsoft Office which install just fine on each of their Windows PCs.   
      
   If their PC were iOS, installing that old MS Office would be impossible.   
   That's bad.   
      
   > I do make backups.   
      
   I have a backup of my Adobe Acrobat Professional version 6 on my PC.   
   I've installed it on every PC in my household for, oh, maybe 15 years.   
      
   If my PCs were iOS, installing that older version would be impossible.   
   That's bad.   
      
   > That is, I connect the phone to the Linux computer   
   > (some how, the method varies) and copy every file in sight.   
      
   It's amazing how well Linux works when you connect even an iOS device.   
     Ubuntu iFuse is just magical   
      
   Linux has "iFuse" which allows very easy file transfer from iOS also.   
     Linux, win10 & iOS together   
      
   Linux works great with iFuse!   
   That's good.   
      
   > Some files refuse to be copied, though.   
      
   There are partitions in Android that are NOT readable to the 0 user.   
      
   An example is /etc, but even system partitions are accessible to adb.   
    C:\> adb pull /system/etc/hosts .\hosts.txt   
         [That should copy the hosts file over even if you're unrooted.]   
      
   > And this allows me to do a data restore of some apps.   
      
   Understood that restoring data to some apps can be tricky because of the   
   Android sandboxing - and due to whether an APK is "debuggable" or not.   
      
   Android 12 and up is much harder to access non-debuggable app sandboxes.   
      
   > Applies specially to photos and maybe to WhatsApp.   
      
   There's a user-accessible folder for WhatsApp that has all the media, but I   
   haven't checked if there's a user-accessible folder for all the messages.   
      
   > But a true backup/restore strategy like I have on Windows or Linux?   
   > Nope.   
      
   With adb, you can backup/restore all your APKs with a single command.   
      
   Here's the command to backup a single APK for example.   
    C:\> adb pull $(adb shell pm path com.app) .   
      
   It's getting increasingly difficult with each Android version for data.   
    C:\> adb backup -apk com.your.app.package -f mydata.ab   
      
      
   Note: You can't selectively choose which data within the app's sandbox to   
   back up using this method. It's an all-or-nothing approach (if allowed).   
      
   In Muntashirakon, you can check if the flags allow backup of the data.   
    android:allowBackup="false"   
      
   For every app that allows backup, you can back up the app & data en masse.   
   (using adb backup -apk -noshared -all) resulting in an archive (.ab file).   
      
   Then you can restore the app and the app data from that complete backup.   
    C:\> adb restore com.app.ab   
      
      
   > About Android saving the APK.   
      
   What's unique about Android is if the app is installed (either by the OEM   
   or by the carrier or by you) the APK *will always be saved* automatically.   
      
   That's good.   
      
   > I have never used that to reinstall an app.   
      
   And, you can find & backup that original installer *in every single case*!   
      
    C:\> adb shell pm list packages | findstr osmand (or use grep on Linux)   
         package:net.osmand.plus   
      
   > In fact, there are cleaning utilities that delete the old APKs to   
   > make up free space.   
      
   No they don't. Not unless you're rooted.   
      
   --- SoupGate-DOS v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)