Question

I have the code which lists all the installed applications:

    final PackageManager pm = getPackageManager();
    //get a list of installed apps.
            List<ApplicationInfo> packages = pm
                    .getInstalledApplications(PackageManager.GET_META_DATA);

            for (ApplicationInfo packageInfo : packages) {

                Log.d("Tag", "Installed package :" + packageInfo.packageName); 

            }

How do I differentiate between system apps and apps installed from the market? I guess I figured the unconventional method of searching for “android” in the package name and mark it as a system app. Is there a conventional way for me to find only third-party(from the Market) apps?

Answer 1

You could call getInstallerPackageName() on all the packages you’ve retrieved. While this can be tampered with, it should be sufficient for your purposes.

You could also use something like:

List<ApplicationInfo> apps = getPackageManager().getInstalledApplications(0);
for (int i=0; i < apps.size(); i++)
{
    if ((apps.get(i).applicationInfo.flags & ApplicationInfo.FLAG_SYSTEM) != 0)
    {
         //System app
   }
}