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I've tried installing CyanogenMod on my Samsung Galaxy S3 device.

I was amazed by its smoothness and speed, but I've missed some of the apps of the official Samsung ROM, such as the camera, the keyboard, and the contacts list.

I've tried installing them using the recovery mod (like installing a zipped ROM), but it didn't work.

Is it possible to install Samsung apps on vanilla roms (like CyanogenMod) on my device? If so, how?

I also wonder if a similar thing can be done on other devices (like installing HTC apps on and HTC device which has a vanilla ROM installed in it).

ale
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android developer
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    Theoretically, one should be able to side-load them. But as those manufacturers often use their own frameworks, those apps might fail without the frameworks being installed as well. And with those frameworks installed, you might again lose at least some of the smoothness... – Izzy May 11 '13 at 12:25
  • so, in the unknown future, i'm bound to choose between new empty-from features vanilla version of android and an old samsung version ? this is quite annoying. i thought that i can have both. no wonder some people prefer nexus, at least the get the same features no matter what they do. – android developer May 11 '13 at 14:08
  • I didn't say you cannot have both. I never tried, it could be possible as I wrote. Moreover, there might be custom ROMs available which have that combination already -- see Where can I find stock or custom ROMs for my Android device? for where they might be found. – Izzy May 11 '13 at 14:36
  • do you know of such a thing? – android developer May 11 '13 at 15:35
  • Not for Samsung (I never owned a Samsung phone), but I remember from the HTC Wildfire that there were such Custom-ROM compilations in all directions -- from minimalistic (AOSP and no bloatware, e.g. CyanogenMod or OpenFire) to absolutely "sense-ified" (e.g. WildPuzzle). So I'm pretty sure the same is valid for other major manufacturers' devices. – Izzy May 11 '13 at 15:47
  • AFAIK, this is not possible. For example, HTC App depends on HTC framework and Sense Versions. I guess, this holds for samsung devices as well. Samsung Uses TouchWiz UI and the Apps depends on Touchwiz framework to run. But, On otherhand nothing is impossible, if these frameworks in vanilla are moded to use these Apps, you can. – Cyborgz May 11 '13 at 18:03
  • my guess is that it's illegal then? because if they made it possible, it would work on any device , no? this is quite disappointing, as i've thought that i don't care about new versions from the manufacturers , and could simply use the vanilla roms like CM and add whatever apps i wish from the official samsung rom. i wonder though if third party apps could harness the API (if it even exists) of the manufacturers . i know that samsung has one for the s-pen for example, but not sure about others and what other features are available in the APIs. – android developer May 11 '13 at 19:14
  • Copyrights are a separate thing. I never heard any of those manufacturers offer their app for free download -- so that means they had to be extracted from existing devices. Just because they come pre-installed with your device does not make them "freeware". As long as you extract them from your device, and re-install them on the same device (after flashing a custom ROM), that should be fine or at maximum "gray zone". But as soon as you upload/share them, you should have explicit permission from the manufacturer to do so. – Izzy May 29 '13 at 13:00

1 Answers1

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Unfortunately, it's not possible. Those apps rely on parts of the TouchWiz framework to operate. No TouchWiz, no apps. The only way would be to install a custom TouchWiz based rom. It would give you some of the performance improvements of CyanogenMod but with access to the Samsung apps.

Darcon
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