To me the multi-partition idea is unworkable because you don't know ahead of time how much space a user wants for apps and how much for data.
You're proboably better of using a filesystem in a file (e.g. something like loopbackfs) so that the apps area size can be altered without the need to affect the vfat partition. Al. --- * Written an Android App? - List it at http://andappstore.com/ * ====== Funky Android Limited is registered in England & Wales with the company number 6741909. The registered head office is Kemp House, 152-160 City Road, London, EC1V 2NX, UK. The views expressed in this email are those of the author and not necessarily those of Funky Android Limited, it's associates, or it's subsidiaries. -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of lbcoder Sent: 08 May 2009 19:15 To: Android Discuss Subject: [android-discuss] Re: Soo..Apps on SD cards Its actually little more than TRIVIAL to implement this. 1) ditch vfat on the sdcard. That filesystem is obsolete junk anyways. Change to something modern that supports permissions, i.e. ext2. 2) encrypt said filesystem using a key available in two locations; / data/app-private (or any other path owned by root with 700 permissions) and user's google account. Being located in /data/app- private, it will be secured using the same scheme as current protected apps. 3) Multiple options here: a) unionfs internal and external filesystems into common area where applications are run from (this is how apps2sd2 hack works), b) extend system to load applications from multiple locations. I prefer (b) since it would allow the apps to be separated in the drawer. 4) simple addition to the software handling mechanism in order to allow apps to be moved between internal and external filesystem. Note: there are 3 components to keep track of for each application; the apk file, the dalvik cache, and the application home directory. NOTE: before anyone says something about this scheme making it impossible to access the contents of the sdcard from a computer, though this is true, there are simple options to deal with this, for example, keep 2 partitions on the sdcard, an encrypted one and a non- encrypted one. Preferably, the encrypted one would ONLY be used to store what would otherwise be stored in /data/app-private. On May 8, 1:18 pm, Mark Murphy <[email protected]> wrote: > badgaz wrote: > > I know this has been discussed many times before but it is a > > particular point of Android that is irritating me. > > > There is no doubt that the demand is there for such as feature > > (http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=1151&q=sd > > card&colspec=ID ) but Google are keeping quiet about it. This issue is > > restricting the success of the Market and making buying apps a > > difficult choice for customers when they know they'll probably end up > > having to delete it sooner rather than later. Some people seem > > concerned about the piracy implications of this but with the only > > current resolution being to root your device this issue is only making > > piracy worse and a secure method to install apps on an SD card would > > allow people to embrace the Market much more and improve sales. > > > There are a lot of G1s out there and I'm sure the HTC Magic is going > > to sell just as well. Lets get this issue fixed and get them buying > > apps on the Market yes? > > It feels like I just posted something like this five days ago... > > As has been discussed many times, it is not that easy to implement. It's > not impossible, just not that easy, particularly to work within the > existing Android security framework. Moreover, there are only so many > people on the core Android team with the expertise to implement it, and > there are other demands being made of their time. > > If you'd like to help make it happen, you could: > > -- Contribute engineering time and skill and write a patch > > -- Start and promote a fundable or pledgie or something to raise funds > from interested people, so the funders can hire somebody to build it > > -- Find ways to help simplify contributions to the open source project, > and hope that with fewer barriers, more people will submit patches, and > one of them will implement the feature you seek > > -- Pray that ADC II has a prize pool set up for firmware contributions > (instead of only for apps), and then try to help out some team working > to win an ADC II prize that is building an apps-on-SD feature > > -- Wait patiently for Android device manufacturers to offer more > built-in capacity, and then buy their devices instead of ones with > limited built-in capacity > > I am sure there are other constructive tactics; these are just a few. > > -- > Mark Murphy (a Commons > Guy)http://commonsware.com|http://twitter.com/commonsguy > > _The Busy Coder's Guide to Android Development_ Version 2.0 Available! --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Android Discuss" group. 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