Database Users

Which apps (bloatware) are okay to remove?

I rooted my phone, installed lagfix, and removed some bloatware from the phone via Titanium. The phone was stupid fast after doing this, almost everything loaded up instantly. However I started to notice some things weren't functioning properly. Apps on the marketplace would not download, I would try to download Launcher Pro and nothing would happen, nothing downloaded. Tried this with other apps, same thing. I rebooted the phone and noticed upon reboot that a force close/app error happened, not sure which app it was but it had google in it. I have no idea what app it could have been since I only removed apps if I knew what they were like Slacker, Kindle, Sims etc. Maybe removing the Sims caused the error?
I also noticed that emails wouldn't send (or would take a long time) even when I was on wifi. And the XDA app wouldn't work. I would go to make a post, click the text input box, but it wouldn't let me move the text cursor. I would press the keyboard and nothing happened.
I removed a crap ton of apps but they weren't anything major. I also removed the samsung widgets since I would never use those. Guess I should have asked on the forums before removing so much stuff.
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Which apps are okay to remove? Any ideas on which app could have caused the market to mess up?

From what you listed, those are all safe apps to dump. I would have thought any issue is more likely to come from the lag fix than nuking "safe" apps. There are several threads discussing the apps that are safe to get rid of, take a look in the stickie for a link if you can't find it via seach.

Cool thanks!

SykesAT said:
From what you listed, those are all safe apps to dump. I would have thought any issue is more likely to come from the lag fix than nuking "safe" apps. There are several threads discussing the apps that are safe to get rid of, take a look in the stickie for a link if you can't find it via seach.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I 2nd that, I accidentally installed both lag fixes and got the force close thing. I had to nandroid restore and reinstall.
Sent from the best phone from TMO... Vibrant

DELETE THE BLOAT!
Download Root Explorer (i'm not associated with) and go to System/App to remove a lot of the bloatware that came on the phone. I strongly encourage researching what can & can NOT be removed. ALWAYS make a backup. Here is a good thread about removing the bloat. Remember, I am not responsible. It will be some time before we have a custom ROM that removes this crap for us.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Read the Tips and Tricks sticky. There's a lot of good stuff in there.

Which is the best for removing bloatware; Titanium, Root Explorer, or Root Manager?

Arcadia310 said:
Which is the best for removing bloatware; Titanium, Root Explorer, or Root Manager?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I used root explorer, to "move" apps to a backup folder on sd card. Then went into Android settings -apps-manage apps --filter - all and uninstalled the apps.
Two step process. First step puts them out of sight, second properly gets rid of them. FYI, you can not do step 2 without doing the first step.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using Tapatalk

SykesAT said:
I used root explorer, to "move" apps to a backup folder on sd card. Then went into Android settings -apps-manage apps --filter - all and uninstalled the apps.
Two step process. First step puts them out of sight, second properly gets rid of them. FYI, you can not do step 2 without doing the first step.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That makes sense. What if I move lets say 10 "bloatware" apps onto the SD card, delete them from the phone, then something goes wrong or something stops working. I can just move it back and it'll be fine right? And you don't literally mean you can't do step two without doing step one right?
I did filter all in the manage apps but I have two questions.
1. I went to a random app ThinkFree Office, there was no option to delete it there. I thought you could only delete bloatware in an app like Titanium?
2. When you delete an app it creates that long "com.app.uselessword here.word" listing right? In order to truly remove an app you would have to delete it in Titanium/Root Explorer then delete the thing I said right?

Unless you do step 1 you can not delete them in apps manager. Not sure why and it makes it a PITA.
when I dumped my bloat files were compeately gone from system/app. there was no com.app.uselessword here.word type listing.
I have not used Ti to remove apps so I can not speak as to how it works, if it truley uninstalls then it could be a one step process (I would still back the apk odex files first).
Again I have not tried to reinstall but I would imagine it works in reverse, move apk/odex to system/app and install.

Help remove unwanted applications

So I just got my x10 today and I wanted get rid of all the crap that comes preinstalled such as moxier applications and creatouch and so on. Could someone help me out please and tell me a step by step?
Ive rooted my phone already btw.

Install Titanium Backup and start removing.

do i get that as an apk or on the market?

soldiers33 said:
do i get that as an apk or on the market?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You get it in the market.
Maybe you should use the search function.. just saying

I installed titanium back up and busybox like it asked but it still says not rooted. But busybox says its rooted.

Try installing SuperUser too.

thanks for that it works now. But for some reason when I try to uninstall creatouch it hangs and doesnt respond. Also anyone knw where the list of safe to remove applications are? Tried searching cant find it

soldiers33 said:
But for some reason when I try to uninstall creatouch it hangs and doesnt respond.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That will keep reinstalling itself, so you need to also remove the apk from data/app-private with RootExplorer.
soldiers33 said:
Also anyone knw where the list of safe to remove applications are? Tried searching cant find it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can use THIS list as a guide, but everyone is different so what I might remove someone else may not and vice versa so use your own judgement when removing apps.

=]
soldiers33 said:
Also anyone knw where the list of safe to remove applications are? Tried searching cant find it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
[sorry tried posting link, but im new and it doesn't allow me]
also do not touch the google stuff!!! specially gtalk. it's essential for communication between your phone and the android market, without it which you will not be able to download anything (as i learnt yesterday)

how do i remove them? with titanium backup? or a manual way? If so how?

soldiers33 said:
how do i remove them? with titanium backup? or a manual way? If so how?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
With Titanium.

I wish you told me earlier. Now I have to reinstall everything.

I personally find that removing all the apps under the apps-private folder is the easiest and safest method. I just deleted them there and they are gone forever.

will try that out after my phone reinstalls. Oh well lesson learnt, so now ill be more cautious

soldiers33 said:
So I just got my x10 today and I wanted get rid of all the crap that comes preinstalled such as moxier applications and creatouch and so on. Could someone help me out please and tell me a step by step?
Ive rooted my phone already btw.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
busy box and titanium backup are the tools you need xD

XperiaX10iUser said:
That will keep reinstalling itself, so you need to also remove the apk from data/app-private with RootExplorer.
You can use THIS list as a guide, but everyone is different so what I might remove someone else may not and vice versa so use your own judgement when removing apps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That Link has the best solution...pick the apps you consider unwanted, move them to a temp folder, use your phone for a week, if there are no issues...rm the temp folder...
Before rm'ing, optionally you can do a backup of the temp folder to your PC, in case you need any apps later....
I find this method very reliable and issue-free

[Q] How to remove inbuilt applications from T-mobile Vibrant?

Hi Guys,
I am using unlocked version T-mobile Vibrant in INDIA.
You must be aware that apps like amazonmp3, kindle, slacker will be of NO USE here.
I have already Rooted my device + having Root Explorer installed.
Can someone please help me to remove these apps from my phone.
Cheers,
Nikhil

nikhilkalantre said:
Hi Guys,
I am using unlocked version T-mobile Vibrant in INDIA.
You must be aware that apps like amazonmp3, kindle, slacker will be of NO USE here.
I have already Rooted my device + having Root Explorer installed.
Can someone please help me to remove these apps from my phone.
Cheers,
Nikhil
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
uninstall using titanium backup

Or using root explorer go into the system/app directory and delete anything you don't want.

lralexl said:
uninstall using titanium backup
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't know if I'm alone on this, but Titanium Backup (free) won't uninstall these apps for me. Something about not being able to locate the .apk file... In any case, I'm sure it'd work with Root Explorer, but haven't had the time to mess w/it (and don't want to pay for it ahead of having the time to play w/it). Guess I'm just hoping for a bloat-free CM next month might remove the need...

[Q] what are the advantages and disadvantages of rooting and are there any risks?

Could somebody please tell me what the advantages and disadvantages of rooting the flipside are, and MOST IMPORTANTLY, are there any risks??
Will I be able to take of all of these ATT apps?
Will I be able to move my apps from the phones memory to the SD card?
Can the phone be unrooted?
Will all of my apps still work?
What is the best route to root? I have the z4root.
I am much indebted to anyone who will answer these questions. Thanks.

z4root will work fine, it's nice an easy to use. Rooting won't give you an easy way to move apps to the sd card, but you can remove the AT&T (and other system) apps. You can either do it by hand, or with any number of apps on the market. I prefer titanium backup, personally. All of your existing apps will work, there's no change there.
The only real disadvantage is that you'll have the power to screw up your phone. You can potentially screw up bad enough that you'll need to reflash the stock .sbf file. Generally, this takes some real screwing around, but just thought I'd point it out.

Thank u for your thourough answer. What do you mean by screw it up. How could I do that and how do i avoid it. Are you saying by virtue of the fact that i'm rooting that i'll screw it up, or it's something that i may do afterwards that may do it? Thanks.
also, are there any other advantages to rooting other than taking off the apps?

The act of rooting itself shouldn't screw anything up, but having root means you could possibly do something later that would. Generally, you'd have to be messing with stuff you have no business messing with. With root, you can remount the system directory as read/write, and then end up deleting or modifying a file that won't let the phone boot, which means you'd need to reflash. Stay away from the command line if you don't know what you're doing, and don't grant root access to apps you don't trust, and you're reasonably safe.
Other than removing system apps, like the AT&T garbage, you can also backup and restore apps and their data, which is great for if you need to reflash, if you switch phones, etc. There's not a TON of stuff that requires root, but honestly, removing the AT&T junk is definitely a good reason to root, the phone feels much faster after scrapping a lot of the blur and AT&T stuff.

I'm assuming then that any android/att/Motorola updates will not be problem either? BTW, do you if and when Motorola will bupdating the flipside to 2.2? Thanks.

There shouldn't be any problem updating with an official update if/when we get one, but you'll need to re-root and remove the AT&T stuff again. There's no word on when we'll get 2.2, but I'd assume we'll get it at some point.

Ok. I just rooted! Yeah, it worked! But i cannot figue out how to delete the att bloatware. I go into the apps manager and click on one of the att apps, and there is still no option to uninstall; only to clear the cache. Also, I downloaded the titanium and I cannot figure out how to do it from there either. Plus, I still had to sideload the titanium which i tbought that i would not have to do once i rooted.

mordechai said:
Plus, I still had to sideload the titanium which i tbought that i would not have to do once i rooted.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You need to enable Unknown Sources before you can install non-Market apps
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=867637
This is also an example of how you can mess up your phone by having root access.

That is part of the problem that i do not have that option in two.one. that is why i had to sideload all of those programs. are you saying that i screwed up my phone. i tried clicking on the link but this googlw ad comes up and i cant get past it.

Ok, i got through to the link. But the guy seems pretty shaky as to whether you should follow his instructions. Is this legit or what?

Maybe one of you guys can help. I'm new to alot of this but my last droid x was rooted and it was great I used z4root worked perfectly. But now I have a new X and a z4root apk. On my laptop, now what? Last rooted X, I was fortunate enough to catch z4root on the market, like a day before they updated. HELP!!!!!
Sent from my DROIDX using XDA App

There are instructions in another post in this forum on how to enable Non-Market Apps, also known as Unknown Sources. With Titanium Backup, make sure that you grant it root permissions when it asks, and that it says something like this on the overview:
Root access: OK (BusyBox 1.17.2 from system)
HyperShell (FAST!): YES
Fast/Auto app install: Yes (using HyperShell)
SQLite: YES (SQLite 3.7.2 included)
Then just click on Backup/Restore at the top, and you'll get a list of all your apps. If you don't have backup/restore at the top, your sd card isn't mounted on the phone, unplug your usb cable and hit Menu > More > Reload application.
From Backup/Restore, you get a huge list of all the apps on your phone. Just scroll down to the AT&T stuff, tap them, and click uninstall in the top-right corner. If you're not sure if you want to uninstall something, because it might belong to something important, click Freeze instead. Freezing will stop the app from running, and stop it from showing up in your tray, but you can easily unfreeze it to restore it if it turns out it was important.
Here's the list of stuff I have frozen/uninstalled:
AdService 1.0
all of the "AT&T" apps
all of the "com.motorola" apps
Data Manager and Data Manager Service
Help Center
Home (I use ADWLauncher, don't remove this if you don't already have an alternative launcher installed)
MediaSync
Mobile Video
all of the "MotoBlur" apps
My Uploads
Phone Portal
Quick Contact
Social Messaging, Social Messaging Service, Social Networking, and Social Status
Sticky Note
Video Editor Lite
Vlingo Voice
Weather 2.1
WHERE
Work Contacts
Mobile Banking
Magic Smoke Wallpapers
Kodak Perfect Touch
AT&T Address Book
Quickoffice
YPmobile
As for enabling unknown sources, it's a bit of a pain, you'll need to be comfortable with a command line to do replace the files, and comfortable with a hex editor if you want to edit your own instead of reusing someone else's files. I managed to screw up my phone in the process and had to completely reflash and start over, it wasn't fun.
His instructions do work, but his .sh file doesn't work, you'll need to paste the commands one by one into your command prompt. I preferred to edit my own files, so I wouldn't have the same market ID, and that's just slightly more complex. I can help you through it either way though, just make a post over in that thread if you're having problems.
bubba90744 said:
Maybe one of you guys can help. I'm new to alot of this but my last droid x was rooted and it was great I used z4root worked perfectly. But now I have a new X and a z4root apk. On my laptop, now what? Last rooted X, I was fortunate enough to catch z4root on the market, like a day before they updated. HELP!!!!!
Sent from my DROIDX using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You just need to get z4root installed on your phone, it should be pretty straightforward. The Droid X shouldn't be blocking non-market apps, so just download it from your phone and run the .apk to install.

So do I hook my phone up to my laptop, and put the apk. on my sd?
Or download the apk. directly to my phone from the site?
Sent from my DROIDX using XDA App

I found the link, but the directions are too complicated for my novice understanding of technology. It looks like I am stuck. I don't want to try what he's saying and take any chances. Are there any other alternatives? Or do you have any other suggestions as to how to make the most of the space that I do have with the att bloatware, because I am constantly running out of room. It is a strange phenomenon that I don't understand, that when I turn on the phone it will have around 40mb to play with, and after a few hours it is down to 16 and then 10, and then before I know it, the phone is telling me that my memory is full. So then I reset and it's back to ~40 again. Do you have an explanation? Thanks.

[Q] Any way to root VM Intercept? Please help I've tried everything!

Hey people,
I've been trying for a while now to root my sister's Intercept (virgin mobile). I've looked all over the place and no method seems to work. Does anyone know of a way to do it?
I've tried:
z4root apk (said phone is rooted but su wasn't installed and all other apps said it wasn't, including root checkers)
intercept root apk (same as above)
SuperOneClick (latest version) (stopped in the middle and never completed, always fails)
Gingerbreak apk (just reboots the phone and doesn't do anything)
Any ideas? Please, any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance!

The intercept root apk worked like cake for me. I would try doing a factory reset then using that apk first thing after rebooting. It doesn't work with FB01 (Sprint) Intercepts after a February 29, 2012 update, but it should still work with EC07 (VM).
This is the one I used: http://intercept-root.googlecode.com/files/InterceptRootV1-35.apk
Once you've used the app once and reboot your phone, open it again and if it worked you should see options to either unroot or install CM01 custom recovery (recommended if you want to flash roms onto it).
Good luck!

Gonna try it out when I get a chance. Thanks!

The z4root dont work on the intercept anymore. and the inerceptroot.apk on my phone would say that it was failed or what not and i would use root apps and they would still work (even without superuser)

I have been using a optimus v but I have an intercept that's rooted with super one click. Its a brand new phone just opened it and runs like crap slow and just tards out. Rooted it to try and fix it still a no go. Any clues
Sent from my LG-VM670 using xda premium

I have the sprint version, interceptroot.apk worked until the latest FB01 update, after that I had to us samsung SWupdater to load customer recovey

Intercept root apk should work with the VM intercept. I recently tried that method on mine, but I had to do it a couple of times before it actually rooted it.
Sent from my LG-P509 using xda premium

jaredw444 said:
I have been using a optimus v but I have an intercept that's rooted with super one click. Its a brand new phone just opened it and runs like crap slow and just tards out. Rooted it to try and fix it still a no go. Any clues
Sent from my LG-VM670 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Id just start from scratch and find a stock rom to flash. I used to have a VM intercept for a painful 2 years. Sometimes you just need to start over with a fresh rom.

BudDroid said:
Id just start from scratch and find a stock rom to flash. I used to have a VM intercept for a painful 2 years. Sometimes you just need to start over with a fresh rom.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Its still stock rom never fa
lashed anything on the phone. Its actually started working like a normal intercept. Had it off for about 2 weeks then turned it on recently and works alot better. I'm pretty much using the phone as a play toy seeing what I can change and explore all the files to get a better idea about android. Maybe I can find a way to make the intercept a good phone.e( highly unlikely, since it is an intercept)
Sent from my LG-VM670 using xda premium

Intercept root
i have an intercept from VM and it was easily rooted with interceptroot.apk Google it, a safe copy will be found on sdx-developers website.
this should get you started, make sure you download the file with your phone, click the home button. Next, click the settings button on your phone, go to applications and then in the following menu, go to development and turn on usb debugging and use the back icon, next allow unknown sources in the menu you are now into again, and click the home button yet again.
Make sure you have some sort of file browser, I personally prefer the app "file expert" but others have their own preferences. (you can use any file tools, like: es file explorer(free), file explorer(free and paid), file expert(free and donate versions), root explorer(free and paid verisons). Anyways, go to your sdcard with the file tool, locate the folder called download, and tap the icon that says "intercept-root.apk" make sure its version 1.35!
You should be asked if you'd like to install, select install. *** NOTE: if you have an antivirus on your phone(whats the point?) you'll get a pup warning, it does not mean its a virus, just a Potentially Unwanted Program, which means that you might not want to install just because it will void your warranty.. if you don't mind, JUST IGNORE! ****
next, you will have a few options, might I suggest permanent root so you don't have to keep rooting your device, it will also have other options and install a handy icon inside your applications menu screen for safe keeping!
You should be all good to go, to find out, go to the google play store and download a program thats free called "root checker basic" It will let you know if your good to go or not.
That concludes the fast off the top of my head tutorial! happy rooting!
*** Update ***
This intercept root apk file also has the option to install the CM01 recovery mod (flash) if your into modding or wanting to flash the phone to a new network sometime (why????) you might want to use this too, make sure to read up on it, I personally have not done it and choose not to, at least yet.. This is important if you want to install roms, kernels (like crappy-kernel) and opens more features to your phone, but can render it into a paper weight if your not careful and PAY ATTENTION!
hope this helps everyone.