August 15, 2010
By Gülay Birand
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How to uninstall a pesky, unresponsive APK
Now that you’ve followed the steps in my previous post on installing an APK on your Android phone, you should be able to uninstall it too. Sometimes, working with non-market, alpha or beta apps can provide unreliable results and lock up and require more unorthodox methods for removal.
I ran into this last week and it took me quite a while to figure out how to get this resolved. After some trial and error and with the help of a co-worker, I finally figured out the best way to do this.
Before doing anything else, try to use the “White Killer” app in order to stop the application. White Killer, albeit unfortunately named, can be found in the Market Place and once installed conveniently, lists all of the apps on your device. You can kill all or just one. How convenient!
Unfortunately, White Killer did not do the trick for me this time around, so I had to resort to drastic measures by mounting the device to my computer as a “drive.” I then uninstalled the app from the device. As usual, my instructions are based on Mac OS but if you need help with Win, just let me know. And please, proceed with caution, once you enter shell.
Here are the steps (I’m assuming you have a device with debugging enabled tethered to your Mac):
- Open Terminal
- Enter the following lines of code:
$ cd AndroidSDK $ cd tools $ ./adb remount remount succeeded $ ./adb shell # cd /system/app # rm [AppName].apk - Now enter
# lsand Voila! The stubborn app should no longer be in the list of apps on your device.
TIP: If you don’t know the file name of the app you’re trying to uninstall, simple enter # ls after # cd /system/app and look for it there.
