Determine that android package is preinstalled by vendor

Question

I wonder whether there is a way to know that my app is preinstalled by vendor (and not installed from Android Market). Application is also available in Android Market and can be updated from there.

One solution is to create a file in the local file system (we can build a special app version for vendor). But there is a case that application can be updated from the market before its first run, and file is not created.

So is there any other way? Probably, installation path?

Also it's interesting whether Android Market app checks this preinstalled app for updates automatically like it's performed for Google Maps.

I answered this in a separate question: [preinstall with token file][1] [1]: http://stackoverflow.com/a/20457631/3070254 — gemigis, Dec 08 '13 at 19:12

score 5 · Accepted Answer · edited Feb 10 '16 at 12:56

5

You have to get the ApplicationInfo of your package (with the PackageManager) and then check its flags.

import android.content.pm.ApplicationInfo;

if ((ApplicationInfo.FLAG_SYSTEM & myApplicationInfo.flags) != 0)
   // It is a pre embedded application on the device.

edited Feb 10 '16 at 12:56

Gorio

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answered Sep 15 '11 at 17:57

devMatt

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Thanks! And do you have any experience with FLAG_UPDATED_SYSTEM_APP? – Roman Mazur Sep 16 '11 at 07:34
No, sorry. I've never used it. You might test it with native apps like Android Market or Google Maps. – devMatt Sep 16 '11 at 07:58
Has anyone validated this on an actual device? – greg7gkb Sep 03 '12 at 18:58

score 3 · Answer 2 · answered Jan 21 '14 at 08:48

For a more complete example, one could use this:

private String getAllPreInstalledApplications() {

        String allPreInstalledApplications = "";

        PackageManager pm = getPackageManager();
        List<ApplicationInfo> installedApplications = pm
                .getInstalledApplications(PackageManager.GET_META_DATA);

        for (ApplicationInfo applicationInfo : installedApplications) {
            if (isApplicationPreInstalled(applicationInfo)) {
                allPreInstalledApplications += applicationInfo.processName + "\n";
            }
        }

        return allPreInstalledApplications;
}
private static boolean isApplicationPreInstalled(ApplicationInfo applicationInfo) {
    if (applicationInfo != null) {
        int allTheFlagsInHex = Integer.valueOf(
                String.valueOf(applicationInfo.flags), 16);
        /*
         If flags is an uneven number, then it
         is a preinstalled application, because in that case
         ApplicationInfo.FLAG_SYSTEM ( == 0x00000001 )
         is added to flags
          */
        if ((allTheFlagsInHex % 2) != 0) {
            return true;
        }
    }
    return false;
}

Determine that android package is preinstalled by vendor

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