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Where are the application files located?

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I have a new Galaxy S. If I go to Market and install an application, everything is done automatically without giving me options. So, my questions:

a. What is/are the files that are downloaded?
b. Where are files saved to?
c. What happens during installation? Is there just one binary? Or a binary with lots of other files? How can I find out the files that belong to a particular application.

If it is a paid application, how can I save it so that I can reinstall again. I am having so much trouble learning this new phone that I have to restore it to factory state already twice on the first day.

Thanks.
 
a. *a.apk is the file extension used in Android apps.
b. 3 places: system/app (installation location AFAIR) data/ app (you can take the 8.apk file from here if you installed an app) and data/app_private (APKs of apps marked as private in the Market).
c. No idea, you do not need to know either.

No need to do it at all. If you buy something, whatever Android phone you use with your GMail account you bought the app through the app will be visible in the Donloads section of the Market.

When you buy your first app, it will install automatically and in the Downloads section it will show as Installed.
Uninstall the app and go to the Downloads section again and you will see the app there with the status Purchased and you can install it right away, the only condition being you are using the same GMail ID you used when you bought the app.
 
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Uninstall the app and go to the Downloads section again and you will see the app there with the status Purchased and you can install it right away, the only condition being you are using the same GMail ID you used when you bought the app.

Thanks. How do I locate the "package" or the files? How do I save it before I wipe out my phone?
 
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Some File Managers may be hiding the Data/app dir as I am 100% sure it is there and I have it myself, just checked.

Get something like Root Explorer and you will see the dir.

This is my first experience with Android. Why is Google, or whoever is responsible, playing this hide and seek? What is the purpose?
 
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This is my first experience with Android. Why is Google, or whoever is responsible, playing this hide and seek? What is the purpose?

It is not Google, it is the File Managers. Some of them are simply made to not allow you to access some stuff on the phone. Others are full of features and I recommend one of them. I have been using Root Explorer and it is one of the most important apps on my phone. Money well spent.
 
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