Installing Apk without Prompt (Root Access)

Question

I am creating an app for Android Tv 's in which Apk downloads its updates and intsalling but i tried both of the cases

   String command;
        command = "adb install -r " + filename;
        Process proc = Runtime.getRuntime().exec(new String[] { "su", "-c", command });
        proc.waitFor();

And this too:

Intent intent = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_VIEW);
          intent.setDataAndType(Uri.fromFile(file), "application/vnd.android.package-archive");
                startActivity(intent);

On first case file downloaded successfully and installing in background after done it will run commands successfully and restart using receiver but its not updating app it shows old version !!

On second case it ask from user Install Or Cancel , Sometimes (users did'nt find mouse or remote) for tv so I don't want to show this prompt too. !! Can Someone please recommends me the better option which install without any clicks it may background or foreground not matter . Please Help !! Thanks

Answer 1

You need to be rooted, but here's some code I used on 6.0 to do this. I have not tested it on previous or newer versions, and its using Android private APIs so it may die at any time. Also, the app will be force closed if it updates itself, so you're best off running this in a second app so it can restart your activity when its updated.

ApplicationManager.java:

import java.io.File;
import java.lang.reflect.InvocationTargetException;
import java.lang.reflect.Method;

import android.content.Context;
import android.content.pm.IPackageInstallObserver;
import android.content.pm.PackageManager;
import android.net.Uri;
import android.os.RemoteException;

public class ApplicationManager {

    public final int INSTALL_REPLACE_EXISTING = 2;

    /**
     * Installation return code: this is passed to the {@link IPackageInstallObserver} by
     * {@link #installPackage(android.net.Uri, IPackageInstallObserver, int)} on success.
     * @hide
     */
    public static final int INSTALL_SUCCEEDED = 1;

    /**
     * Installation return code: this is passed to the {@link IPackageInstallObserver} by
     * {@link #installPackage(android.net.Uri, IPackageInstallObserver, int)} if the package is
     * already installed.
     * @hide
     */
    public static final int INSTALL_FAILED_ALREADY_EXISTS = -1;

    /**
     * Installation return code: this is passed to the {@link IPackageInstallObserver} by
     * {@link #installPackage(android.net.Uri, IPackageInstallObserver, int)} if the package archive
     * file is invalid.
     * @hide
     */
    public static final int INSTALL_FAILED_INVALID_APK = -2;

    /**
     * Installation return code: this is passed to the {@link IPackageInstallObserver} by
     * {@link #installPackage(android.net.Uri, IPackageInstallObserver, int)} if the URI passed in
     * is invalid.
     * @hide
     */
    public static final int INSTALL_FAILED_INVALID_URI = -3;

    /**
     * Installation return code: this is passed to the {@link IPackageInstallObserver} by
     * {@link #installPackage(android.net.Uri, IPackageInstallObserver, int)} if the package manager
     * service found that the device didn't have enough storage space to install the app.
     * @hide
     */
    public static final int INSTALL_FAILED_INSUFFICIENT_STORAGE = -4;

    /**
     * Installation return code: this is passed to the {@link IPackageInstallObserver} by
     * {@link #installPackage(android.net.Uri, IPackageInstallObserver, int)} if a
     * package is already installed with the same name.
     * @hide
     */
    public static final int INSTALL_FAILED_DUPLICATE_PACKAGE = -5;

    /**
     * Installation return code: this is passed to the {@link IPackageInstallObserver} by
     * {@link #installPackage(android.net.Uri, IPackageInstallObserver, int)} if
     * the requested shared user does not exist.
     * @hide
     */
    public static final int INSTALL_FAILED_NO_SHARED_USER = -6;

    /**
     * Installation return code: this is passed to the {@link IPackageInstallObserver} by
     * {@link #installPackage(android.net.Uri, IPackageInstallObserver, int)} if
     * a previously installed package of the same name has a different signature
     * than the new package (and the old package's data was not removed).
     * @hide
     */
    public static final int INSTALL_FAILED_UPDATE_INCOMPATIBLE = -7;

    /**
     * Installation return code: this is passed to the {@link IPackageInstallObserver} by
     * {@link #installPackage(android.net.Uri, IPackageInstallObserver, int)} if
     * the new package is requested a shared user which is already installed on the
     * device and does not have matching signature.
     * @hide
     */
    public static final int INSTALL_FAILED_SHARED_USER_INCOMPATIBLE = -8;

    /**
     * Installation return code: this is passed to the {@link IPackageInstallObserver} by
     * {@link #installPackage(android.net.Uri, IPackageInstallObserver, int)} if
     * the new package uses a shared library that is not available.
     * @hide
     */
    public static final int INSTALL_FAILED_MISSING_SHARED_LIBRARY = -9;

    /**
     * Installation return code: this is passed to the {@link IPackageInstallObserver} by
     * {@link #installPackage(android.net.Uri, IPackageInstallObserver, int)} if
     * the new package uses a shared library that is not available.
     * @hide
     */
    public static final int INSTALL_FAILED_REPLACE_COULDNT_DELETE = -10;

    /**
     * Installation return code: this is passed to the {@link IPackageInstallObserver} by
     * {@link #installPackage(android.net.Uri, IPackageInstallObserver, int)} if
     * the new package failed while optimizing and validating its dex files,
     * either because there was not enough storage or the validation failed.
     * @hide
     */
    public static final int INSTALL_FAILED_DEXOPT = -11;

    /**
     * Installation return code: this is passed to the {@link IPackageInstallObserver} by
     * {@link #installPackage(android.net.Uri, IPackageInstallObserver, int)} if
     * the new package failed because the current SDK version is older than
     * that required by the package.
     * @hide
     */
    public static final int INSTALL_FAILED_OLDER_SDK = -12;

    /**
     * Installation return code: this is passed to the {@link IPackageInstallObserver} by
     * {@link #installPackage(android.net.Uri, IPackageInstallObserver, int)} if
     * the new package failed because it contains a content provider with the
     * same authority as a provider already installed in the system.
     * @hide
     */
    public static final int INSTALL_FAILED_CONFLICTING_PROVIDER = -13;

    /**
     * Installation return code: this is passed to the {@link IPackageInstallObserver} by
     * {@link #installPackage(android.net.Uri, IPackageInstallObserver, int)} if
     * the new package failed because the current SDK version is newer than
     * that required by the package.
     * @hide
     */
    public static final int INSTALL_FAILED_NEWER_SDK = -14;

    /**
     * Installation return code: this is passed to the {@link IPackageInstallObserver} by
     * {@link #installPackage(android.net.Uri, IPackageInstallObserver, int)} if
     * the new package failed because it has specified that it is a test-only
     * package and the caller has not supplied the {@link #INSTALL_ALLOW_TEST}
     * flag.
     * @hide
     */
    public static final int INSTALL_FAILED_TEST_ONLY = -15;

    /**
     * Installation return code: this is passed to the {@link IPackageInstallObserver} by
     * {@link #installPackage(android.net.Uri, IPackageInstallObserver, int)} if
     * the package being installed contains native code, but none that is
     * compatible with the the device's CPU_ABI.
     * @hide
     */
    public static final int INSTALL_FAILED_CPU_ABI_INCOMPATIBLE = -16;

    /**
     * Installation return code: this is passed to the {@link IPackageInstallObserver} by
     * {@link #installPackage(android.net.Uri, IPackageInstallObserver, int)} if
     * the new package uses a feature that is not available.
     * @hide
     */
    public static final int INSTALL_FAILED_MISSING_FEATURE = -17;

    // ------ Errors related to sdcard
    /**
     * Installation return code: this is passed to the {@link IPackageInstallObserver} by
     * {@link #installPackage(android.net.Uri, IPackageInstallObserver, int)} if
     * a secure container mount point couldn't be accessed on external media.
     * @hide
     */
    public static final int INSTALL_FAILED_CONTAINER_ERROR = -18;

    /**
     * Installation return code: this is passed to the {@link IPackageInstallObserver} by
     * {@link #installPackage(android.net.Uri, IPackageInstallObserver, int)} if
     * the new package couldn't be installed in the specified install
     * location.
     * @hide
     */
    public static final int INSTALL_FAILED_INVALID_INSTALL_LOCATION = -19;

    /**
     * Installation return code: this is passed to the {@link IPackageInstallObserver} by
     * {@link #installPackage(android.net.Uri, IPackageInstallObserver, int)} if
     * the new package couldn't be installed in the specified install
     * location because the media is not available.
     * @hide
     */
    public static final int INSTALL_FAILED_MEDIA_UNAVAILABLE = -20;

    /**
     * Installation parse return code: this is passed to the {@link IPackageInstallObserver} by
     * {@link #installPackage(android.net.Uri, IPackageInstallObserver, int)}
     * if the parser was given a path that is not a file, or does not end with the expected
     * '.apk' extension.
     * @hide
     */
    public static final int INSTALL_PARSE_FAILED_NOT_APK = -100;

    /**
     * Installation parse return code: this is passed to the {@link IPackageInstallObserver} by
     * {@link #installPackage(android.net.Uri, IPackageInstallObserver, int)}
     * if the parser was unable to retrieve the AndroidManifest.xml file.
     * @hide
     */
    public static final int INSTALL_PARSE_FAILED_BAD_MANIFEST = -101;

    /**
     * Installation parse return code: this is passed to the {@link IPackageInstallObserver} by
     * {@link #installPackage(android.net.Uri, IPackageInstallObserver, int)}
     * if the parser encountered an unexpected exception.
     * @hide
     */
    public static final int INSTALL_PARSE_FAILED_UNEXPECTED_EXCEPTION = -102;

    /**
     * Installation parse return code: this is passed to the {@link IPackageInstallObserver} by
     * {@link #installPackage(android.net.Uri, IPackageInstallObserver, int)}
     * if the parser did not find any certificates in the .apk.
     * @hide
     */
    public static final int INSTALL_PARSE_FAILED_NO_CERTIFICATES = -103;

    /**
     * Installation parse return code: this is passed to the {@link IPackageInstallObserver} by
     * {@link #installPackage(android.net.Uri, IPackageInstallObserver, int)}
     * if the parser found inconsistent certificates on the files in the .apk.
     * @hide
     */
    public static final int INSTALL_PARSE_FAILED_INCONSISTENT_CERTIFICATES = -104;

    /**
     * Installation parse return code: this is passed to the {@link IPackageInstallObserver} by
     * {@link #installPackage(android.net.Uri, IPackageInstallObserver, int)}
     * if the parser encountered a CertificateEncodingException in one of the
     * files in the .apk.
     * @hide
     */
    public static final int INSTALL_PARSE_FAILED_CERTIFICATE_ENCODING = -105;

    /**
     * Installation parse return code: this is passed to the {@link IPackageInstallObserver} by
     * {@link #installPackage(android.net.Uri, IPackageInstallObserver, int)}
     * if the parser encountered a bad or missing package name in the manifest.
     * @hide
     */
    public static final int INSTALL_PARSE_FAILED_BAD_PACKAGE_NAME = -106;

    /**
     * Installation parse return code: this is passed to the {@link IPackageInstallObserver} by
     * {@link #installPackage(android.net.Uri, IPackageInstallObserver, int)}
     * if the parser encountered a bad shared user id name in the manifest.
     * @hide
     */
    public static final int INSTALL_PARSE_FAILED_BAD_SHARED_USER_ID = -107;

    /**
     * Installation parse return code: this is passed to the {@link IPackageInstallObserver} by
     * {@link #installPackage(android.net.Uri, IPackageInstallObserver, int)}
     * if the parser encountered some structural problem in the manifest.
     * @hide
     */
    public static final int INSTALL_PARSE_FAILED_MANIFEST_MALFORMED = -108;

    /**
     * Installation parse return code: this is passed to the {@link IPackageInstallObserver} by
     * {@link #installPackage(android.net.Uri, IPackageInstallObserver, int)}
     * if the parser did not find any actionable tags (instrumentation or application)
     * in the manifest.
     * @hide
     */
    public static final int INSTALL_PARSE_FAILED_MANIFEST_EMPTY = -109;

    /**
     * Installation failed return code: this is passed to the {@link IPackageInstallObserver} by
     * {@link #installPackage(android.net.Uri, IPackageInstallObserver, int)}
     * if the system failed to install the package because of system issues.
     * @hide
     */
    public static final int INSTALL_FAILED_INTERNAL_ERROR = -110;

    private PackageInstallObserver observer;
    private PackageManager pm;
    private Method method;

    private OnInstalledPackaged onInstalledPackaged;

    public interface OnInstalledPackaged {

        public void packageInstalled(String packageName, int returnCode);

    }
    class PackageInstallObserver extends IPackageInstallObserver.Stub {

        public void packageInstalled(String packageName, int returnCode) throws RemoteException {
            if (onInstalledPackaged != null) {
                onInstalledPackaged.packageInstalled(packageName, returnCode);
            }
        }
    }

    public ApplicationManager(Context context) throws SecurityException, NoSuchMethodException {

        observer = new PackageInstallObserver();
        pm = context.getPackageManager();

        Class<?>[] types = new Class[] {Uri.class, IPackageInstallObserver.class, int.class, String.class};
        method = pm.getClass().getMethod("installPackage", types);
    }

    public void setOnInstalledPackaged(OnInstalledPackaged onInstalledPackaged) {
        this.onInstalledPackaged = onInstalledPackaged;
    }

    public void installPackage(String apkFile) throws IllegalArgumentException, IllegalAccessException, InvocationTargetException {
        installPackage(new File(apkFile));
    }

    public void installPackage(File apkFile) throws IllegalArgumentException, IllegalAccessException, InvocationTargetException {
        if (!apkFile.exists()) throw new IllegalArgumentException();
        Uri packageURI = Uri.fromFile(apkFile);
        installPackage(packageURI);
    }

    public void installPackage(Uri apkFile) throws IllegalArgumentException, IllegalAccessException, InvocationTargetException {
        method.invoke(pm, new Object[] {apkFile, observer, INSTALL_REPLACE_EXISTING, null});
    }

}

I believe the permission you need is <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.INSTALL_PACKAGES" /> but its hard to tell since this was a kiosk mode app that installed dozens of permissions because it was impossible to update the list properly.

Answer 2

Final after a day(after reading so many articles and exploring stackoverflow each and every question regarding Installation apk behind!!) , Implemented successful , Thanks to gaoyan , who posted his code to github and helps alot: Life Saver Link:

https://github.com/gaoyan10/android-silent-installer

Deserve 20+ points!! Hehehehe Lol!!!!