NeoApplications
[Bug] HELP PLEASE - can't install "Google" search app (com.google.android.googlequicksearchbox)
Description I am using a slightly older version of NeoBackup (8.3.4) and I accidentally uninstalled "Google" on my phone.
When I try to restore it from a neobackup, I get the below error:
System Information(please complete the following information):
- Device: Pixel 4a
- Android Version: 10
- ROM: (AOSP, MIUI, OOS...) Stock 10 w/Magisk
- App's Version: 8.3.4
If restoring other apps is fine and only restoring system apps e.g. Google services is failing it could be a system limitation, but am not sure. Could you please try restoring other system app, maybe non-critical ones like calculator.
Plus, why using an obsolete version?
Thank you for your reply.
I received the above error when I tried doing a restore using an APK-only backup (I didn't back it up with any data, etc).
Luckily, I had a spare Pixel4a and did a full backup of the Google app from it (w/data, etc), and I was then able to restore it on my main phone and everything is working ok now. I don't know why the APK-only backup didn't work.
"Plus, why using an obsolete version?" - I am from the "If it isn't broken, don't fix it" camp. I tend to wait a while for any surprises to settle down before I upgrade an app, like the recent "All my backups are not visible" posts of the new version.
Google system apps are more complicated than user apps or some simple system apps that only happen to be stored in the system partition.
That's why there are gapps packages. E.g. these apps are especially written or compiled for each Android version (therefore you have different gapps for each Android version, you can also see it in the version numbers). I also think, they need some initialization after the install, probably via scripting done in the gapps package.
Not sure what you mean with "uninstalling". System apps cannot be uninstalled in a normal way, so you used a root tool, I guess? Uninstalling means removing the attached data folders. And if installing the apk you don't get them back (e.g. because there is not scripting done).
If you are missing some system app, you should either reinstall your custom ROM, or the gapps package that your ROM uses. This usually can be done without any problems. But it needs to be the same ROM or gapps that you had before, that is mandatory.
Btw. Google apps should not store any important info on the device. It's all in the cloud. So reinstalling gapps should always work, in the worst case, you need to login again to the Google account.