Can I delete .apk files after installing app on my android phone

Question

A considerable amount of space is used up by .apk files on my phone with apps which cannot be moved to the sdcard (Adobe Flash and Google Maps). In those directories, there are .apk files. Can I delete these to save space and have the application work as it did before?

Solution 1

Consider the APK file as a JAR file, and the act of installing an app to the phone as you adding that jar to your resources library in Eclipse.

The installation is the "link"... reading the manifest, building intents, adding your widgets to the widget list, your app to the app list etc. You still need the APK file, as this contains your executable binaries. If you delete the APK file, your app disappears!

I hope this helps explain the concept :)

Sam

Solution 2

I deleted an apk before and the app worked just like it did before. So no, it does not need to be on there.

Solution 3

I always delete .APK files after installing to save space... apps always work just fine. To me, the "do you need to keep an installer after installing a program" analogy is the correct one.

Solution 4

I think you can delete the apk file after installing it to the phone. Ask a simple question.. after installing an application do you need to keep the installer?

Solution 5

Generally, the pkg.apk files are the installed apps and can't be deleted even if you try. I tend to find a number of apk files from Amazon that can be safely deleted, but I always delete one at a time, and make sure I have a backup!

View more solutions

Comments

[CommonsWare]

The APK is not "the installer", it is the application itself.

[amiekuser]

Sorry I might be wrong but as far as my understanding goes i take the apk and put it in the phone storage... install the apk in the phone. Why do i need the apk file anymore? Please explain it will clear my concepts too!!

[Adam]

Thanks for the response. I'm familiar with .jar files and this analogy explains it well. Thanks again. Now I just need to find a way of getting more space on my phone :(

[Sam Hogarth]

Me too. I've found moving all applications to the SD card (or those that let you do that) helps quite a bit with phone space, but the larger apps tend to be the ones which don't allow SD storage.

[Shubham AgaRwal]

a sample program with an answer would be a plus.

[Shubham AgaRwal]

a sample program with an answer would be a plus.