android - How to get list of ALL apps (including System Apps)?

Question

I am doing the following to get the list of apps and I am only getting apps that were installed but not ALL apps, including system apps.

I have tried the following:

    packageList1 = getPackageManager().getInstalledPackages(PackageManager.GET_META_DATA);

and this:

    packageList1 = getPackageManager().getInstalledPackages(0);

For both cases, I am getting the same list of apps that I have installed on the phone.

Answer 1

You are already getting a list of all installed applications including the system apps by calling this:

List<ApplicationInfo> apps = getPackageManager().getInstalledPackages(0);

Those with the flags:

• ApplicationInfo.FLAG_UPDATED_SYSTEM_APP
• ApplicationInfo.FLAG_SYSTEM

are system apps. You can check for the flags like this:

List<ApplicationInfo> apps = getPackageManager().getInstalledApplications(0);
for(ApplicationInfo app : apps) {
    if((app.flags & (ApplicationInfo.FLAG_UPDATED_SYSTEM_APP | ApplicationInfo.FLAG_SYSTEM)) > 0) {
        // It is a system app
    } else {
        // It is installed by the user
    }
}