Two ways to do this; ES File Explorer, or Titanium Backup. I have found that the ES File Explorer method is a bit easier, and has a higher success rate, but I will describe both here for you.
To make an app a part of your system ROM, which saves space on your Internal memory, follow these steps, using DropBox as the example;
1/ Open ES File Explorer and go to Favorites
2/ Click on the phone icon, then go to the /data/app folder. You should see any of the apps that are currently installed to your Internal memory there.
3/ Long-click the app you want to move, and Cut it.
4/ Hit Back on your Avail twice, then go into the /system/app folder.
5/ Paste the apk into this folder.
That's it. Easiest method I can think of. By using this method, I have been able to get DropBox, used in this example, down from about 4MB on my internal to about 1MB, with the rest installed to my system's ROM, which makes it load a lot faster, and makes it available from the moment I boot up my phone.
Not all apps work as system apps. Swype always crashes. Ivona Text-to-speech always crashes. You can try it out with your apps, and see which ones work the best.
The other method is to use Titanium Backup. It is essentially the same process.
1/ Open Titanium Backup, and go into your apps list overview.
2/ Long-click on the app you want to convert to a system app.
3/ Scroll down and select 'convert to system app'.
4/ Remember to clear your data afterwards; this process usually adds another 3-4MB to Titanium Backup, each time you convert an app to or from a system or user app.
Some apps are already system apps, but can be made even smaller, somehow, by converting them to a user app, then moving them with ES File Explorer to the /system/app directory. Maps is a great example of this. My Google Maps is at 6.8.1, and only takes up 5.11MB since I converted it to a user app and moved it to my SD card.
Some apps are smaller as system apps, some are smaller as internal apps. There really isn't any kind of discernible pattern to it; just takes a lot of trial-and-error.
The PlayStore cannot be converted to a working user app, by any method I have tried. I have reliably tested Go Launcher EX and all of its widgets, so all of them work great as system apps, and are usually smaller than the original stock launcher.
Skyvi does not work as a system app. No-Frills CPU Control does. It's kind of all over the place. But, it would take a bit of time to post every single app I have tried. I recommend to figure out which apps you want to be bootable immediately, and try to determine how much memory you want to be available in your system ROM and internal memory, and adjust your apps accordingly.
with about 129 total apps, between user and system, I have about 64MB of 230MB free on my system ROM, and about 106MB free on my Internal memory. If you want detailed information about how much size the apps I have are, and which format (system ROM or internal) I have them ask, let me know, and I will provide the information.
Hope this helps some of the other memory hoarders among us.
To make an app a part of your system ROM, which saves space on your Internal memory, follow these steps, using DropBox as the example;
1/ Open ES File Explorer and go to Favorites
2/ Click on the phone icon, then go to the /data/app folder. You should see any of the apps that are currently installed to your Internal memory there.
3/ Long-click the app you want to move, and Cut it.
4/ Hit Back on your Avail twice, then go into the /system/app folder.
5/ Paste the apk into this folder.
That's it. Easiest method I can think of. By using this method, I have been able to get DropBox, used in this example, down from about 4MB on my internal to about 1MB, with the rest installed to my system's ROM, which makes it load a lot faster, and makes it available from the moment I boot up my phone.
Not all apps work as system apps. Swype always crashes. Ivona Text-to-speech always crashes. You can try it out with your apps, and see which ones work the best.
The other method is to use Titanium Backup. It is essentially the same process.
1/ Open Titanium Backup, and go into your apps list overview.
2/ Long-click on the app you want to convert to a system app.
3/ Scroll down and select 'convert to system app'.
4/ Remember to clear your data afterwards; this process usually adds another 3-4MB to Titanium Backup, each time you convert an app to or from a system or user app.
Some apps are already system apps, but can be made even smaller, somehow, by converting them to a user app, then moving them with ES File Explorer to the /system/app directory. Maps is a great example of this. My Google Maps is at 6.8.1, and only takes up 5.11MB since I converted it to a user app and moved it to my SD card.
Some apps are smaller as system apps, some are smaller as internal apps. There really isn't any kind of discernible pattern to it; just takes a lot of trial-and-error.
The PlayStore cannot be converted to a working user app, by any method I have tried. I have reliably tested Go Launcher EX and all of its widgets, so all of them work great as system apps, and are usually smaller than the original stock launcher.
Skyvi does not work as a system app. No-Frills CPU Control does. It's kind of all over the place. But, it would take a bit of time to post every single app I have tried. I recommend to figure out which apps you want to be bootable immediately, and try to determine how much memory you want to be available in your system ROM and internal memory, and adjust your apps accordingly.
with about 129 total apps, between user and system, I have about 64MB of 230MB free on my system ROM, and about 106MB free on my Internal memory. If you want detailed information about how much size the apps I have are, and which format (system ROM or internal) I have them ask, let me know, and I will provide the information.
Hope this helps some of the other memory hoarders among us.
