Hi,
Following the announcement about increasing the number of re-downloads allowed for paid apps, I went back to thinking about how to download SIS files for the paid apps which I had paid for. The normal "/download" trick which works for free apps doesn't work for paid apps, so that was out. I noticed, however, that there were broken SIS files in the root folder of my E7 mass memory where I had aborted installation of an app mid-download. It occured to me that Ovi/Nokia Store must be downloading the app somewhere before installing and on both my E7 and my new 700 it is in the root folder of the default installation drive. Ovi Store deletes the SIS file as soon as the installation is complete, but it is possible to make a copy of the file while the installation is happening if you are quick. This is what I do:
1. Start File Manager and navigate to root folder of E:
2. Create a folder where you will save the SIS files, ideally beginning with 'A' to make it easy to navigate to in a hurry.
2. Uninstall the app you want to download if it is already installed.
3. Start Nokia Store and go to My Stuff and find relevant app.
4. Press button to initiate the download/installation.
5. Just before the download completes, use the task switcher to switch to the File Manager, where you should be able to see the installation file.
6. Long-press on the file and select 'Copy to folder' then select the folder you created in Step 2.
You can check the copy works by running it. I successfully used this method to download all the paid apps which I had previously purchased.
Hope this is useful!
Al
One of the bad things about the Ovi/Nokia Store (or any other "ecosystem" store) is the limited number of downloads per item. Heck, I don't like being labelled a pirate just because I download the same thing multiple times... hasn't Nokia heard of people doing hard resets on their phones because of bad Betalabs stuff or to get a clean system after a major firmware update?
If you pay for programs outside the Ovi Store, at least you get to keep the SIS file to reinstall if you need to. You can't pirate the SIS file from the Ovi Store either because it's locked to your phone's specific IMEI number.
That said, is there a way to make a backup of your paid programs using Nokia Suite? Then we won't have to bother with the Store at all. Belle's coming soon and I envision another round of re-installation hell 😞
hummrubb wrote:
That said, is there a way to make a backup of your paid programs using Nokia Suite? Then we won't have to bother with the Store at all. Belle's coming soon and I envision another round of re-installation hell 😞
On Symbian, app developers have to explicitely enable backup of all application files. By default they are not backed up. Most developers probably don't even know how to enable their app for backup/restore.
Just bumping this because a few of the paid apps I had on my Nokia 700 weren't available for my new 808 on Nokia Store but I was able to successfully download them using this method and then install most* of them on the 808.
Al
* Some apps appear to be IMEI locked. Picsel Smartoffice and Yacht II are a couple that come to mind. I guess I'll have to hassle the Yacht II authors to publish for the 808.
bat400,
thanks for the tip. It worked well with some of my paid apps.
However, as you say in your last post, quite a number paid apps are AES-encrypted (more details here).
So it is not possible to re-install those .sis files on another device, and actually not even on the same device, after a hard reset.
Too bad. Well, at least it works for some apps.
This are actually useful tips, thanks for it