Tell me more ×
Android Enthusiasts Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for enthusiasts and power users of the Android operating system. It's 100% free, no registration required.
up vote 0 down vote favorite

I know that .odex files are optimized .dex files.

I have seen a lot of .odex files below the path /system on my phone. I am just curious if there are also .odex files for my installed apps.

I searched the file system but I wasn't able to find .odex files for my installed apps. But I assume that they exist - the question is just where they are stored.

BTW: My phone is a rooted Samsung Galaxy Nexus with Android 4.1.2

share|improve this question
I think only prepackaged system apps will have .odex files because any other app isn't optimized specifically for your device, although I could be wrong on that. – Matthew Read♦ Oct 29 '12 at 20:17

1 Answer

up vote 1 down vote accepted

When your ROM is booted up for the first time, Android's Dalvik goes through every apk and extracts the dex file from it. It places the dex files in the cache folder - located at /data/dalvik-cache. This is the directory that gets cleared when you clear the dalvik cache in your recovery tool

share|improve this answer

Your Answer

 
discard

By posting your answer, you agree to the privacy policy and terms of service.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.