Mods Finding files created or used by app [Root only]

[paranoid_android]

Haven't been able to find a discussion on this, so I'm wondering if someone can comment on how I can figure out what files are used and created by a given app. For example, if I download a new email client, how can I identify the file(s) where the email content is stored? Do I necessarily have to be rooted to do this?

Thanks.

 

[Rukbat]

You have to be telepathic to do it in some cases. There's no rule that the app developer has to use a name for his data file that has anything to do with his app. (I use a name for my password file that looks like something else entirely. Look for a password data file on my phone - rooted or not - and unless you know what I was thinking when I created the file, you'll never find it. (You'll find the file, but you won't realize hat it's my password file and, since everything in it is encrypted, even reading it won't tell you what it is. If you know file formats it's even worse, because it claims to be a picture file, and the beginning of it looks exactly as it should for that format picture file.)

You'r trying to do something that's not ordinarily done - because in so many cases it can't be done.

 

[codesplice]

As Rukbat mentioned, it may be difficult to locate where a particular application stores its files - but there are a few general locations that you might wish to check:

&#8226; /data/data/<package name>
- Every application on your phone (including system applications) should have a folder here, and it's where most of the app's data should be stored. You will need root to browse this directory, and it's quite likely that email (as in your example) would be stored inside a SQLite database instead of a plain text file (you can use SQLite Editor to access these files).

&#8226; /sdcard/Android/data/<package name>
- Some applications will store their cache, temporary files, or extra game data in this location. You shouldn't need root to access these, but I doubt that email would be stored here.

&#8226; /sdcard/
- A few applications will store extra configuration data or files "in the open" on the /sdcard/ partition, likely inside a folder named for the app or its developer. You won't need root to access this folder.

There's another way that you can find every file/folder belonging to an application, but it may take some doing. If you look at the file permissions for the /data/data/<package name> folder, you should be able to determine the owner of the folder - this will be a username associated with that application (something like u0_a167, perhaps). You could then run a search on the file system for any folders owned by that user. Again, this would be a bit more advanced, and you'll naturally need root.

Hope this helps a bit.

 

[paranoid_android]

Much appreciated. Was hoping there might be a utility like those in Linux/Windows that can trace the file-open activity that a given process invokes.

Thanks again--I'll have a go at those suggestions.