Comments on: Multi-User App Share Enables Users to Share Apps Through Android 4.2′s Multi-User Feature

By: fiveHellions

fiveHellions — Sat, 08 Dec 2012 01:57:00 +0000

here is a link to the apk. i will have to think about making it available in the play store for phones as well. not sure if it will confuse alot of people that dont have a rom with multiple users.. https://dl.dropbox.com/u/43302928/MultiUserAppShare.apk

let me know how it works on your gnex

By: Ivon Liu

Ivon Liu — Sat, 08 Dec 2012 00:14:00 +0000

Hi, I really want to try it. It says that the app isn’t compatible with my GNex, probably because most GNex’s don’t have multi-user. However, my ROM, Paranoid Android, DOES support multi-user, so could I either have an apk or have the app available to phones as well? Thanks.

By: Kie

Kie — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 23:35:00 +0000

From what I understand it is not rooting that wipes the data, it is the unlocking process. Chances are most phones you have rooted in the past you didn’t have to unlock. It is possible to back up your data without root through ADB. Search around a google for it, there are some good guides out there.

By: Kevin McDole

Kevin McDole — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 22:47:00 +0000

And here I thought this would be the default behavior…

By: Evan T

Evan T — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 21:37:00 +0000

You could just sign into your wifes partition with your Google account. Or create a third account for both of you and make all movie and media purchases through it, then you could have it as a secondary account on both. No root required.

By: JasonIvers

JasonIvers — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 21:36:00 +0000

That’s an easy answer… because you only want to share data for a limited subset of apps. You might want to share data for some game or other, but not GMail (or whatever other apps).

By: fiveHellions

fiveHellions — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 20:41:00 +0000

Slight correction:

It doesn’t share data between users. That is still separate per user. So it doesn’t save any space.

It is no different then if the second user went to the play store and re downloaded all the apps (only has 1 copy of app but different data directory for each user). This app just makes it easier to give the second user apps instead of them having to go get each one of them from the play store.

By: Kurtis Tamez

Kurtis Tamez — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 20:23:00 +0000

There are numerous ways to protect data, and your bank account.

Lock Apps like the Play Store (PIN to open designated Apps) to keep little one’s from messing things up:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.domobile.applock

Titanium Backup obviously can backup and restore the game data (progress) as well.

As mentioned You can put a PIN on App purchases as well.

Lots of options out there. I have my gmail connected to my 9 year old Son’s phone in just this way.

By: ddevito

ddevito — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 19:50:00 +0000

android is full of win

By: Michael McAfoos

Michael McAfoos — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 19:24:00 +0000

After I re-read the article I realized it also claims to let users share the data for an app. This isn’t possible in the stock implementation I suppose.

I’m not completely clear on WHY you’d want to do that. Isn’t that the same situation as just not having separate users at all? Not having separate saves for games, not having separate logins for social networking applications, etc etc. I could do that by sharing my tablet with someone and just not having a second user set up.

By: Michael McAfoos

Michael McAfoos — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 19:15:00 +0000

No duplicate download and installing is needed with the stock implementation. I think a lot of people have misunderstood how multi-user works. If I install the facebook app, and then the 2nd user goes to install the facebook app, it doesn’t really re-download the apk and isn’t taking up double the space. It instead just “unlocks” it for the 2nd user so to speak.

So maybe this application could allow you to share paid apps across accounts without requiring both accounts to have purchased it, but for free apps, I don’t believe it serves any purpose at all.

By: Bill Anderson

Bill Anderson — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 19:09:00 +0000

When user A has an app installed, and then user B installs the same app, a second copy is not downloaded. They both use the same APK file, so this Multi-User App Share will save no space there. Allowing them to share the same data space, however, is a feature.

By: Jason Hansen

Jason Hansen — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 19:09:00 +0000

I don’t think it shares data, it just makes it so that other user has it installed.

By: Raven

Raven — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 19:04:00 +0000

Too bad that it requires root, although I technically understand why. I really wish that Android 4.2 included some easy way of sharing data between users. I have not even figured out how to share movie and music files between users without resorting to some root trickery. And, ironically, my Nexus 7 is the only one of my 5 Android devices that I do not have rooted yet.

So, has anyone figured out a way of rooting a Nexus 7 without unlocking it and wiping all of the data? Now that my wife and I are sharing it really don’t want to wipe the data. I have never had any trouble rooting any of my other devices without wiping so it sucks that the supposedly easily hackable Nexus isn’t easily rootable without wiping.

By: Raven

Raven — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 18:51:00 +0000

I have dealt with this too. Thankfully, at least for all of the Rovio games like Angry Birds there are Angry Birds Backup apps available that let you copy the progress to other devices or users without even being rooted. So, for whatever games that you are concerned about, you may want to check if someone has made a Backup app for them.