How to Install Apps as System Apps in Android

Most users won’t need this tutorial, but for those who play around with tools/hacks and other suck apps that require you to push an app to the system apps directory, I’m sure this will be very helpful.

The systemapps directory in your phone is write-protected and you can’t install anything in there or modify the files. But ofcourse, if you have a rooted Android phone (system access), then you can easily modify system files.

How to Install Apps in systemapp Folder Manually

In this tutorial, I will be using Root Explorer. It is a paid app, and the best one available for such tweaking with system files. You can buy Root Explorer from the Android Market for $4. Follow the steps below:

1. Download and install Root Explorer. [Android Market]

2. Transfer the file that is to be pushed to systemapp directory to your SD card. We’ll call the file as sample.apk.

3. Now open Root Explorer and go to sdcard adn copy sample.apk file.

4. Navigate to systemapp now and press the “Mount R/W’ button to make the directory writable.

5. Paste the sample.apk file here. Now long press the file and select Permissions.

6. Set the file permissions as:

Owner: Read, Write
Group: Read
Others: Read

7. Tap OK to save the file permissions. Under the file sample.apk, you should now see “rw-r–r–”.

8. Press the “Mount R/O” button now and restart your phone.

After your phone restarts, you should now see the app sample.apk already installed in your phone. This is how you can install any app in systemapp folder if you have a rooted phone.