# Package Manager: an on-device Android app manager where Shizuku replaces root

> Package Manager is a free, ad-free Android app that lists system and user applications separately, exposes package and permission detail, and gates debloat and disable behind root or Shizuku.

**SmartPack/PackageManager** — Source code of Package Manager, an Application to Manage your Apps.

- Repository: https://github.com/SmartPack/PackageManager
- Website: https://smartpack.github.io/PackageManager/
- Stars: 852 · Forks: 121
- Language: Java
- License: GPL-3.0
- Published: 2026-10-20 · Updated: 2026-10-20 · Language: en
- Canonical page: https://hysenlabs.com/projects/smartpack-packagemanager

## Two lists on one screen: system apps and user apps

Package Manager is an Android application for managing the apps already on a device, and its whole interface is built around one split: system applications on one side, user applications on the other. That separation is the product's organizing idea, because the two categories behave differently on Android. A user app can be uninstalled from the ordinary system UI, while a system app sits in a read-only partition that only privileged access can change. The project describes itself as free, ad-free and open source, and the source is GPL-3.0. It is a Java project built with Gradle, published on Google Play in a free and a Pro variant, with a third copy on F-Droid. Who it is for is fairly specific: someone who has picked up a device with preinstalled software and wants to see, and possibly remove, what came with it, or a developer checking how an app is packaged on a device.

## What the app details panel actually exposes

The detail view is where Package Manager stops being a launcher and starts being an inspector. According to the feature list, each app entry shows the package name and the app name, the APK path including the .apk, .apks, .apkm and .xapk extensions, the permission list marked as granted or denied, manifest and certificate information, install and update dates, and the paths to the app's data directory and its native libraries. The certificate entry is the practically useful one for anyone checking whether two builds of the same app come from the same signer, and the native library path tells you whether an app ships its own compiled code rather than relying on the platform. The common actions stay deliberately small: launch an app, open its Play Store link, and uninstall, which the documentation limits to user apps.

## Installing bundles and split APKs from the phone

Several advanced features push Package Manager beyond the stock system interface. It can install app bundles and split APKs, which matters for the packaging formats used by the newer app stores where a single download is split into a base module plus configuration modules. The APK path shown in the details view is where those formats become visible, since the extension tells you which kind of payload an app arrived as. There is also an experimental feature for exploring the contents of an APK, and export of apps either one at a time or in a batch. Export is the one to understand before you touch it, because it is the way to preserve something you are about to remove. The README does not document what the exported archive contains, whether exported apps keep their data directories, or how an export is restored, so treat the format as unspecified and check it on a spare device.

## Debloat and disable, and why Shizuku sets the ceiling

The capability that distinguishes this app from any launcher is the pair of advanced operations: debloating, which uninstalls system apps, and disabling or enabling any app. Both are marked in the project description as requiring root access or Shizuku integration. That is the real constraint on the whole product. Root gives full device access and everything the app does, but it is a permanent change to a phone and the README lists it as a requirement for the advanced features rather than a suggestion. Shizuku is the lighter path, since it restarts the Android package management service with higher privileges over ADB rather than granting root to the phone, and the app works with either. The requirements section is explicit that an Android device is the baseline, and that root or Shizuku is needed for some advanced features. Users without either are left with the read-only side of the tool, which is still the detail view but not the interesting half.

## Three ways to get it, and no build instructions

The README points to three downloads rather than a source build. The free version and the Pro version both come from Google Play, under the package identifiers com.smartpack.packagemanager and com.smartpack.packagemanager.pro, and a third copy is listed on F-Droid as com.smartpack.packagemanager. For a first run, the sensible sequence is to install from F-Droid if you want the openly distributed build, open it, and grant whatever access level you intend to rely on, then use the user apps list to check what is installed before touching the system list. The README does not document what the difference between the free and Pro builds is, so do not assume which one carries the debloat and disable actions. The repository is buildable in principle, since it holds build.gradle, settings.gradle, gradle.properties, the gradle wrapper and a local.properties file, but no build-from-source steps are given, so anyone compiling from source has to work out the Android SDK configuration independently.

## A Gradle project with a fastlane pipeline and a navView module

The repository layout tells you how the project is organized. The application code sits under app/, a separate navView directory holds the navigation component, and the fastlane directory carries the release metadata and the phone screenshots used in the store listings, which is why the README can show a Google Play badge carrying the current version number. A docs directory and a Credits.md sit at the root next to the standard Gradle files, and the wrapper is committed, with gradlew and gradlew.bat for Unix-like and Windows shells. Localization is handled by a strings.xml file under the app resources, and the project also accepts translations contributed through a POEditor project, so an outside contributor can add a language without touching the build. The default branch is master rather than main, a small detail that trips up tooling that assumes the other convention.

## GPL-3.0 and a v8.0 release on 2026-08-25

Maintenance information is unusually clear for a project of this size. The repository is not archived, and the last push was on 2026-08-25, the same day the v8.0 release was published, with v7.9 on 2026-06-05 and v7.8 on 2026-04-22 before it. Three releases in four and a half months points to a steady ship cadence rather than a one-off effort, though the exact content of each version is not described in the README, so there is no changelog to consult for what changed between v7.8 and v8.0. The licence is GPL-3.0, with the copyright line reading Copyright (C) 2020-2026 sunilpaulmathew. The licence text itself states that the app can be redistributed and modified under the terms of the GNU General Public License, either version 3 or later, which is the condition that shapes how a fork has to be distributed. That is a licensing fact rather than advice, and anyone building on this code needs to read the GPL text for their own situation.

## Conclusion

Package Manager fits Android users who want to see what every installed package really contains and who are willing to grant root or pair Shizuku when they want to remove preinstalled apps. It does not fit a device you cannot touch, since the privileged operations are the point and there is no unrooted path to disabling a system app. Before installing, check whether the F-Droid build matches the feature set you need, read the requirement line in the README about root access or Shizuku, and confirm your data is backed up, because a debloat operation removes a system app from the device and the last push was on 2026-08-25 with v8.0 published the same day.

## FAQ

### Does Package Manager need root to uninstall system apps?

No, but it does need root or Shizuku for the privileged operations. Debloating system apps and disabling or enabling any app are marked as requiring one of the two, while ordinary functions such as viewing app details and uninstalling user apps do not.

### Which package formats can Package Manager install?

It can install app bundles and split APKs, and the app details view shows the APK path with the .apk, .apks, .apkm and .xapk extensions, so the packaging format of an installed app is visible.

### Where can I download Package Manager?

From Google Play in a free version and a Pro version, and from F-Droid as com.smartpack.packagemanager. The README does not document what separates the free and Pro builds.

### What licence is Package Manager released under?

GPL-3.0. The licence text in the README states that the app may be redistributed and modified under the terms of the GNU General Public License, either version 3 of the License or any later version.

## Sources

- [License: GPL-3.0](https://github.com/SmartPack/PackageManager/blob/master/LICENSE)
- [Project website](https://smartpack.github.io/PackageManager/)
- [README](https://github.com/SmartPack/PackageManager/blob/master/README.md)
- [Releases](https://github.com/SmartPack/PackageManager/releases)
- [SmartPack/PackageManager on GitHub](https://github.com/SmartPack/PackageManager)

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Hysen Labs editorial analysis, written from the project's own repository and release notes. Cite the canonical page: https://hysenlabs.com/projects/smartpack-packagemanager