[Q] How to sideload apps on the Desire Z

[Q] How to sideload apps on the Desire Z - G2 and Desire Z General

I know this is a pretty retarded question but I did some googleing and found nothing on the desire z about sideloading and I'm not sure if following the steps for another phone would be a good idea. I was also wondering about getting rid of the bloat ware, what kind of apps do I need to do that and do I need to sideload those apps?
This is my first android phone. My last phone was a palm pre and all their homebrew stuff was very simple and put into 1 app you can download and get everything from (apps, overclocking, themes and custom kernels all from 1 place) so this is kinda big step because it seems to involve a lot more then 2 or 3 taps on a screen.
Thanks for any help you can give a newbie!

if you search you will see some info about how to remove bloatware, but its not pretty (IMO) and I think you need to root your phone.
As for side loading, if you go to setting>applications>manage applications there is a check box that allow you to load apps from any source. Just be sure its checked. I downloaded an app (TN5250 emulator) from www.mochasoft.dk and it installed just fine.

After you downloaded it did you have to move it to the SD card? Or are you able to download right to the phone?
Edit: Also, does anyone know if you can install stock android? What benefits would you get from doing so? The only thing I would care about is not having 40 pre loaded useless app/shortcuts. A few of them are uno, tv & radio, tunes & apps, twitter, superuser, search people (i can just go into people and press the search button, what is the point of this undeletable sortcut?), peep, navigation, lets golf, learn more. This is an awesome phone but there are so many useless things added and it makes it hard to find the handful of apps that I would actually use. Some of these "apps" are just shortcuts to webpages, why do I need this and why can't they go away?!

Related

Noobie here... Seeking some advice post root

Hi everybody,
I just moved from an iphone 3g (which i had jailbroken) to an incredible thanks to at&t contract finally finishing. Hv rooted the inc on my mac using the unrevoked method. Everything works fine (still have stock eclair 2.1 and sense running). Hv installed a bunch of apps from the market but hv not sideloaded anything yet or uninstalled anything (htc sense etc etc) yet. I would really appreciate some guidance from the community on the following since i am very new to the platform as a whole.
1. I dont want to lose the ability to update to the official froyo release (whenever it happens) so will I have to unroot (if thats even possible) to get the froyo update? If yes, whats the correct way so that I can bookmark that.
2. I want to be able to use the tethering without paying 20$ extra per month to VZ (in fact would probably use USB tethering to my macbook more often than wifi tethering/hotspot, but obviously I would like both! ). How should i do that? Obviously the stock app will just alert verizon, right? Is there another app that will work now that i hv rooted? Any special instructions to follow?
3. Would like to optimize the capability of the device by removing crapware and useless stuff which comes with the phone. Hv not yet even figured out what each app does yet. I will use my inc primarily for entertainment - games, social networking, browsing, streaming music, videos, google voice, true VoIP (not official VZ skype), GPS navigation, tethering (when no wifi) but will be OTA syncing my office exchange email account, contacts, calendar as well to make this a backup phone to my official bberry. Any suggestions on which apps to remove? Also how should I remove them without bricking the phone. Is there a cleaner method?
4. I actually like Sense even though it seems it uses up some memory - any way i can remove the useless parts of Sense (since I wont be using USB sync and I am sure some other stuff in sense is just bloatware) without losing the other features that look great - to be honest the phone looks too plain without sense (nexus 1 looked really naked). I would like to retain the look and feel of the sense ui.
5. How do I get swype on this? I played with it when i was shopping for android phones on the captivate (which unfortunately was on at&t) and I am amazed at how great that was! I badly badly badly badly need that!!
6. Any standard add-ons, apps which you would recommend for my intended usage?
7. Now that I am rooted which post-root apps should i install to make the inc more useful? Any obvious ones which you would recommend?
8. The people sense widget is just too much, anything a bit saner which is like a launchpad but without the screen wastage?
9. In jailbroken iphones, you could install lockinfo which was a spectacular agglomeration of all things (missed calls, voice mails waiting, email msg list, twitter feed, facebook feed, weather, calendar, tasks, sms msgs) in 1 simple scrollable screen. Anything similar in Sense/HTC widgets/App store? Just one glance would tell me everything.
Sorry, since I am new I decided to ask all questions in 1 shot. Obviously dont expect to have all questions answered by 1 person but if the devs/users can point me in the right direction, with links and some comments, I will greatly appreciate it.
Thanks and hoping to be a contributor to the android community sometime soon as I was in the iphone community until i just could not take at&t anymore.

1.yes you need to unroot to recieve otas
2.there is an app incthe market called wifi tether that is free.
3.look in the theme/app sectiom. there is a skinned version there.
4. adb in recovery os the only way to remove crapware
7-8 . there are not many apps for root users lile there was with cydia.
also, there are many widets avaliable in the android market. there is lots of good apps in the market. explore.
if you have any other questions feel free to pm me amy time.

jdkoreclipse said:
1.yes you need to unroot to recieve otas
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, if you are running the stock rom ou will recieve OTAs. The OTA doesn't magically detect "this phone is rooted."

rpearl said:
No, if you are running the stock rom ou will recieve OTAs. The OTA doesn't magically detect "this phone is rooted."
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
doesnt somethong change the ctacerts and otacerts?
Sent from my Incredible using XDA App

No. it's also not suggested and is reported to have negative side effects.

One important thing, Install Rom Manager from the market.
With this app you can do a backup of the Rom (stock sense and rooted) you're running now and install others to try, if you don't like them just restore the one you had before and done, you can as many back up as you want.
Also check in the theme section and you'll find lots of themes to make your phone look and work beautiful, this also allows you to get to recovery without having to turnoff your phone and install anything you want from the sd card.
Also, if you don't like some of the crap ware that Sense has, there's a post for removing the apps you don't want on Sense and it tell you which ones are safe to remove.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=710009
Hope this helps a little.
Some apps for us the rooted...shootme or drocap to take pictures of your screens, titanium backup, wifi tether, etc.

Appreciate the help everybody! Only thing I am still seeking an answer for is swype on my inc if anybody can guide me.
Thanks

khanam said:
Appreciate the help everybody! Only thing I am still seeking an answer for is swype on my inc if anybody can guide me.
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Here you go. I use the red skinned Swype, looks great and works great.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=701198

Thanks! Just realized one more thing. I cant seem to be able to use skype over wifi only. Is this verizon's way of using up my minutes one way or another?

[Q] Recommendations for Desire Z?

Previously an Iphone user and now have come over to the Android scene. Really loving the Desire Z so far but still learning about the phone.
I am looking for input and recommendations on how to achieve the following things and the processes for doing this. The phone is a Bell Desire Z which I have unlocked and am using it on Rogers. I have also been able to use VISIONary to perm root the phone but haven't done S-OFF.
1. What program is used for loading music onto the phone?
2. My main goal is to have a phone which is super stable, fast, good battery life and best reception. It seems there are tweaks for all of these but some seem still in development or are complicated to perform. I have added the vision_oc.ko to my phone and ran the insmod command to overclock it but it resets on a reboot. How can I make this permanent? I have seen a few mentions of Radio tweaking but don't know what is safe and an improvement over what I have now.
3. If I was to flash a new ROM to the phone would I lose all of my email accounts, contacts, installed applications etc? Would I have to reinstall or re-add all of these things?
Thanks in advance for helping me

Stealth1985 said:
Previously an Iphone user and now have come over to the Android scene. Really loving the Desire Z so far but still learning about the phone.
I am looking for input and recommendations on how to achieve the following things and the processes for doing this. The phone is a Bell Desire Z which I have unlocked and am using it on Rogers. I have also been able to use VISIONary to perm root the phone but haven't done S-OFF.
1. What program is used for loading music onto the phone?
2. My main goal is to have a phone which is super stable, fast, good battery life and best reception. It seems there are tweaks for all of these but some seem still in development or are complicated to perform. I have added the vision_oc.ko to my phone and ran the insmod command to overclock it but it resets on a reboot. How can I make this permanent? I have seen a few mentions of Radio tweaking but don't know what is safe and an improvement over what I have now.
3. If I was to flash a new ROM to the phone would I lose all of my email accounts, contacts, installed applications etc? Would I have to reinstall or re-add all of these things?
Thanks in advance for helping me
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When it comes to loading music, all you need to do is connect the phone with the usb cable to your computer and make sure after it's connected, to slide down the notification bar on top of the screen and in the left hand side, there's a usb connected icon that you press and choose the "hard drive" option so your computer has access to the memory of your phone. Goto "My Computer" and the 8gb microSD card should be there and you just open it, then you can just copy and paste whatever music you like into the microSD card of the phone. There's no itunes for Android, so you do it as if you're copying music from one folder of your computer to another
Regarding having the S-OFF and flashing roms, you must follow the tutorial thread. It is very straight forward for everything you want to do.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=835777

Thanks, would prefer to have something to organize my music if possible. I believe I saw something being developed in the android general forum but it was in BETA still.
For the ROMS, I am curious if there is something without downsides. Many of them seem to kill some features of the phone like wifi etc. I basically want to remove all the BELL crap, overclock, improve radio and that's about it.
If I insert a new SD card, what do I lose? is there a way to re-install all the apps I previously had without having to go through 1 by 1?

Stealth1985 said:
Thanks, would prefer to have something to organize my music if possible. I believe I saw something being developed in the android general forum but it was in BETA still.
For the ROMS, I am curious if there is something without downsides. Many of them seem to kill some features of the phone like wifi etc. I basically want to remove all the BELL crap, overclock, improve radio and that's about it.
If I insert a new SD card, what do I lose? is there a way to re-install all the apps I previously had without having to go through 1 by 1?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I used the tutorial to get S-OFF and then I used this ROM and it just took away all the Bell crap off the phone and added the HTC Locations option which downloads the maps onto the microSD card. Follow the steps and you wont have any problems
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=837390
With this ROM, you dont have to lose anything on your phone. You will not have to erase your phone before applying this ROM. Regarding the overclocking, I would wait. I personally am not in a rush to do it because I want sometime to pass and get a feel for how people's Desire Z's are doing while overclocked. Just a cautious move from my end. The Desire Z and G2 developement forums both offer GUIDES for all the tinkering you want to do with your phone.

Got it rooted, S-Off and flashed with the ROM from Paul Obrien.
Hoping someone comes out with a stable overclock for the phone. Did you have any issues removing some of the apps included after using titanium backup? I tried to remove soundhound and it took me to a screen with the android and exclamation mark.

I didnt use titanium backup. I did a nandroid backup and used an app called "mybackup pro" before flashing the new ROM. Then I used Root Explorer and deleted soundhound that way.
If you dont know how to do that, Get "Root Explorer". You open up Root Explorer and go into the "system" folder then the "app" folder and you will press the "mount R/W" button on top and then find the app you want to get rid of and hold down on the screen and you will be given an option to delete that file. Thats it

Remember when you put your music folders on yor phone to rename the album art AlbumArt.jpg that will insure ask your album art is shown
JD
Sent from my HTC Desire Z Beast

A while ago there was a music app called DoubleTwist, which also had a Windows program to go along with it. I believe you could use it like iTunes to sync music and playlists

maybe you can try winamp for the music.
Its free.

Thanks, will try root explorer to get rid of the junk I don't want.
How do I stop apps from randomly starting. Everytime I open app kill it shows that a bunch of apps ive never opened are running. Is there a tutorial on how to setup the phone for best battery life?
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA App

Stealth1985 said:
Thanks, will try root explorer to get rid of the junk I don't want.
How do I stop apps from randomly starting. Everytime I open app kill it shows that a bunch of apps ive never opened are running. Is there a tutorial on how to setup the phone for best battery life?
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
AutoStarts from market may help you.

dont kill running apps. android does that without your interaction.

[Q] Going after minimalistic set of programms/feature on N7

Hi, a new guy here!
I recently became a happy owner of 32Gb wi-fi only N7. I’m familiar with software dev (windows developer for 20 years with some work on unix) and customization/modding/flashing process (mostly for satellite receivers). However this is my first tablet and my first Android device so I could use some help 
I successfully unlocked, rooted and installed custom recovery on my N7. I would like to get to a bare bones state of the N7 and then slowly add new features/programs to it when it becomes necessary for me. So I would like to remove all non essential parts that were preinstalled on my N7.
I was under impression that I could uninstall programs using N7 UI after device gets rooted. However it seems that for majority of the apps I still only have an option to disable.
I shelled into N7 and looked around. It seems that all (majority?) of the apps are in /system/apps folder. Can I simply remove the apps and their files from that folder? Does this folder only contain user apps or does it also have system apps that are essential for N7 to function? Is there a chance to brick it by removing something (everything?) from that folder?
I searched on a forum for a list of apps that are safe to remove. I thought it would exist since it seems to be something many of us would be interested in doing. I didn’t find the list. If there is such a thing and someone could direct me there, it would be great!
Given that I can remove apps by deleting them from that folder safely, I still have a question what each app does and how important it is. Is safe to assume that any app that has a wheel with a drive belt on it as an icon in apps screen on N7 is system app and has to stay?
I have two keyboard app installed – one is Android keyboard and one is ASUS keyboard. Judging by the name 2 of these are essential since Android is the OS and ASUS is the manufacturer. But do I really need two of them?
If there is a resource/thread that discussed something similar, please let know. I look forward to learn from anyone on this forum! 

_Diver said:
Hi, a new guy here!
I recently became a happy owner of 32Gb wi-fi only N7. I’m familiar with software dev (windows developer for 20 years with some work on unix) and customization/modding/flashing process (mostly for satellite receivers). However this is my first tablet and my first Android device so I could use some help 
I successfully unlocked, rooted and installed custom recovery on my N7. I would like to get to a bare bones state of the N7 and then slowly add new features/programs to it when it becomes necessary for me. So I would like to remove all non essential parts that were preinstalled on my N7.
I was under impression that I could uninstall programs using N7 UI after device gets rooted. However it seems that for majority of the apps I still only have an option to disable.
I shelled into N7 and looked around. It seems that all (majority?) of the apps are in /system/apps folder. Can I simply remove the apps and their files from that folder? Does this folder only contain user apps or does it also have system apps that are essential for N7 to function? Is there a chance to brick it by removing something (everything?) from that folder?
I searched on a forum for a list of apps that are safe to remove. I thought it would exist since it seems to be something many of us would be interested in doing. I didn’t find the list. If there is such a thing and someone could direct me there, it would be great!
Given that I can remove apps by deleting them from that folder safely, I still have a question what each app does and how important it is. Is safe to assume that any app that has a wheel with a drive belt on it as an icon in apps screen on N7 is system app and has to stay?
I have two keyboard app installed – one is Android keyboard and one is ASUS keyboard. Judging by the name 2 of these are essential since Android is the OS and ASUS is the manufacturer. But do I really need two of them?
If there is a resource/thread that discussed something similar, please let know. I look forward to learn from anyone on this forum! 
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't have the energy right now to address every app one at a time, but I'll nudge you in the right direction. That should help you start tinkering.
The Nexus 7 is very popular in this community because it's intentionally more open, and less bloated, than much of the competition.
That being said, sure there are apps you could uninstall if you decide to. Some of the custom ROM's will have probably already have done this for you, but may create little unexpected quirks here and there.
The first thing you'll want to do is backing everything up thoroughly. I would use Titanium Pro (you'll see it referred to as Tibu a lot), to backup all apps and settings. Then I would use the Google Nexus 7 toolkit (found in the forums here) to do a backup, as well as make a nandroid backup.
Ok, so you're ready to tinker. Well, if you bought Titanium Pro from the app store, you've already got all you really need. First, use titanium to freeze an app you don't feel you need, and don't think is required. Re-boot, go about your daily routine, and see if all is ok. Continue on in this manner. Once you've frozen everything you're interested in, and made sure all is well, you can probably go ahead and uninstall them through Tibu. Freezing them should generally make them not start up anyways, so unless the tiny amount of space they take up is a concern, that's really all you generally need to do *.
* Ok, sometimes you have to fully uninstall things you don't want, but this should get you plenty to tinker with for now.

bladebarrier,
Thanks for your response. I understand the approach you suggested – disabling apps one at a time and then when they all disabled and device is working to my liking for a while I could uninstall them.
However, I’m somewhat frustrated with a sheer number of apps that I have out of the box and I can’t find a good description of what they do. For example:
Mobile Network Configuration
Google Partner Setup
Google Services Framework
Searching online doesn’t yield definitive answers if it’s something I need or will N7 work without them. I have google play store and google play services installed – does store app require services? Reading a bit about it doesn’t make it seem so, but I’m not 100% sure. So I was wondering if there is a list of apps that are required for N7 well being and that cannot be removed no matter what.
For example, Black Viper has an excellent example of what I’m looking for but for windows nt services: (can't post a link)
This page explain what each service is, what it does and if it’s safe to disable it depending on configuration you’re seeking – minimal set, typical, out of box of experimental. I would love to find something like that for N7 system apps 
I installed CWM recovery when I rooted and as far as I can understand I does NAND backups. I plan on moving the backup file from the device to my desktop and keeping it there for safety reason.
The Tibu process that you described, as far as I understand (and I might be wrong here) is basically equivalent of disabling the apps using native N7 setting app, rebooting, using it for a while and then removing .apk and .odex (or simply app_name.*) files from system/apps folder. Tibu just makes it easier. Did I get that right?
And it’s still removing one app/widget at the time. I’d like to clean it out completely first and start from that point. So Tibu will probably not help me there. So my main Q is still out there – can I brick it by removing everything from system/app? Are there only user apps there or essential system apps as well? With CWM back up file on hand will I be able to recover if my experiment goes bad? 
> * Ok, sometimes you have to fully uninstall things you don't want, but this should get you plenty to tinker with for now.
One of the reasons I want to have them removed is to clean up the list of apps I have on N7. Right now I have 5 pages of apps and I have little idea what they do and if I need them – I had Korean keyboard installed for example.
As I mentioned I’m a newb in this area, so maybe my approach is a bit dumb, so please be patient with me

littleemp said:
Removing Google framework services is a big no-no. To be honest, the easiest way to accomplish what you want is installing a custom ROM like CyanogenMod, especially since you've done all the prep work for such a thing.
Once you install any official CM build it is as close to app-less as you can get on a modular OS like this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
that's what i suspected! i thought that google framework would be something essential, but there is not much easily available information there to arrive at that conclusion
since i'm new to this, i thought i should stay away from any rom flashing until i get a bit more familiar with a device, terminology and stuff like that. i'm looking at the "[ROM] CyanogenMod 10.1 [OFFICIAL]" thread and i'm not sure about half of the terms - GAPPS, PSA, Nightlies i do know what ROM is, I do know what kernel is, virtual machine, etc. But it's applied to the platform that I have little experience with, so it makes me a little bit uneasy

_Diver said:
bladebarrier,
Thanks for your response. I understand the approach you suggested – disabling apps one at a time and then when they all disabled and device is working to my liking for a while I could uninstall them.
However, I’m somewhat frustrated with a sheer number of apps that I have out of the box and I can’t find a good description of what they do. For example:
Mobile Network Configuration
Google Partner Setup
Google Services Framework
Searching online doesn’t yield definitive answers if it’s something I need or will N7 work without them. I have google play store and google play services installed – does store app require services? Reading a bit about it doesn’t make it seem so, but I’m not 100% sure. So I was wondering if there is a list of apps that are required for N7 well being and that cannot be removed no matter what.
For example, Black Viper has an excellent example of what I’m looking for but for windows nt services: (can't post a link)
This page explain what each service is, what it does and if it’s safe to disable it depending on configuration you’re seeking – minimal set, typical, out of box of experimental. I would love to find something like that for N7 system apps 
I installed CWM recovery when I rooted and as far as I can understand I does NAND backups. I plan on moving the backup file from the device to my desktop and keeping it there for safety reason.
The Tibu process that you described, as far as I understand (and I might be wrong here) is basically equivalent of disabling the apps using native N7 setting app, rebooting, using it for a while and then removing .apk and .odex (or simply app_name.*) files from system/apps folder. Tibu just makes it easier. Did I get that right?
And it’s still removing one app/widget at the time. I’d like to clean it out completely first and start from that point. So Tibu will probably not help me there. So my main Q is still out there – can I brick it by removing everything from system/app? Are there only user apps there or essential system apps as well? With CWM back up file on hand will I be able to recover if my experiment goes bad? 
> * Ok, sometimes you have to fully uninstall things you don't want, but this should get you plenty to tinker with for now.
One of the reasons I want to have them removed is to clean up the list of apps I have on N7. Right now I have 5 pages of apps and I have little idea what they do and if I need them – I had Korean keyboard installed for example.
As I mentioned I’m a newb in this area, so maybe my approach is a bit dumb, so please be patient with me
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Tibu requires root access, in order to perform what we're discussing. I'm relatively new to JB, but I can't imagine any stock settings replicating its capabilities.
As far as a whole bunch of apps being in your list, that's sort of the way Android works. Think of it like "superfetch", or whatever that term was in Windows Vista. Basically, two things happen when you boot. Android looks at a list of apps that are designed to start on boot, and also apps that it expects you may want to run in the future. Both of these are designed to make the device run smoother overall, and it will kill apps if extra ram is required and they are not in use. Certain Android apps require themselves to run at all times. Some of these are apps like Tasker (if you're using tasker profiles), some of these are system apps that make the device function, some of these are apps that maintain widgets or background monitoring (weather apps, gmail, calendar).
Now, there are two ways to go about sorting what is bloat, and what is there because Android decided to load it. You can install an app called Autostarts, that will give an insight into apps that start up when certain criteria are met. You can also use it to stop those apps from queuing up at those trigger points. This is another root required app, and while I purchased it long ago, may have a free version as well. It's time consuming to use, and not perfect, which is why Tibu is better for flat out locking down unwanted apps.
Back to my initial thoughts though, you will see apps in your system list that you haven't touched since boot, because Android tries to anticipate your needs. People used to use "task killers" to close the apps, and came to realize that unless one is causing a real problem, it's just going to go back into the cached app list again anyways, thus reducing battery life when it has to load it over and over again. "Task killer" is a dirty word around XDA, unless you're using it to close an app that doesn't just go into the background like a good little app should.
Basically, you're going to start playing whack-a-mole if you want your list to remain as small as possible, at all times, and yet still actually use the device for anything interesting. You can reduce it, via various methods, and if this were a device from say "insert-name" brand, and was loaded with bloat apps, by all means you should clean those out. However, I think you'll find that while google does install things that aren't needed, or even used by everyone, it's mostly not a big issue.
Check out Better Battery Stats, in the XDA forums. It's an app that shows a pretty good picture of what is actually going on when you're not looking, and can provide data on how to improve your performance. It's probably a better way to start delving into what processes are actually being used, and which ones are just basically harmless. You'll also learn a good bit about how Android works from the Dev's explanations of many of the processes.
---------- Post added at 08:36 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:32 PM ----------
_Diver said:
that's what i suspected! i thought that google framework would be something essential, but there is not much easily available information there to arrive at that conclusion
since i'm new to this, i thought i should stay away from any rom flashing until i get a bit more familiar with a device, terminology and stuff like that. i'm looking at the "[ROM] CyanogenMod 10.1 [OFFICIAL]" thread and i'm not sure about half of the terms - GAPPS, PSA, Nightlies i do know what ROM is, I do know what kernel is, virtual machine, etc. But it's applied to the platform that I have little experience with, so it makes me a little bit uneasy
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Make sure whichever ROM you use, if you decide to, supports your HSPA+ model. There is a separate development section in the Nexus 7 forums, for those of us that have the HSPA+ version. We are the minority, as the Nexus 7 was initially released as a wifi only tablet.

bladebarrier said:
Tibu requires root access, in order to perform what we're discussing. I'm relatively new to JB, but I can't imagine any stock settings replicating its capabilities.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i do have SU privileges, so what i was talking about was disabling an app thru N7 setting screen and then when i deem the app ok to remove, going to adb shell and removing the actual file.
i just did this:
mount -o remount rw /system
rm iWnnIME_Kbd_White.apk
rm iWnnIME.apk
and it removed the japanese keyboard. however when i go back to app screen under settings, i still see it but now it has a grey icon with a SD symbols in the corner. so it appears it recognizes that the app is gone, but it's still referenced in the list. i pushed the files back using NRT and it all back to the way it was. so looks like my idea of cleaning the list by removing the apk might not fly.
and now I wonder how Tibu uninstalls the apps.
bladebarrier said:
People used to use "task killers" to close the apps, and came to realize that unless one is causing a real problem, it's just going to go back into the cached app list again anyways, thus reducing battery life when it has to load it over and over again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I understand the notion of apps being in the cache and being removed when more RAM is needed, however the purist in me just doesn't want the junk apps to be there in first place However there is a lot of validity to these of your words:
bladebarrier said:
Basically, you're going to start playing whack-a-mole if you want your list to remain as small as possible, at all times, and yet still actually use the device for anything interesting.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My wife got Kindle Fire HD recently and she's been using it happily. While I was thinking why would anyone want a closed up system (well, more closed up system then Nexus), she's been using it and I've been frustrated with my N7 so i might just let it go and enjoy the japanese and korean keyboards anyway
bladebarrier said:
Make sure whichever ROM you use, if you decide to, supports your HSPA+ model.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i'm wifi only

ngshniq every
i think i found what i was after: http wiki.cyanogenmod.org/wiki/barebones (url modified since i still can't post urls). this wiki page has the list of app with a short description and if it's safe to remove. it also has additional information that explains why i still saw the reference to the app in the list when apk file was deleted:
looks like i need to pay attention to 2 additional files:
/data/system/packages.xml
/data/system/packages.list
i bet I would find a reference to the apps in these and i would need to remove it in order to have the app disappear from the app list. i'll play around a bit more and report back

One thing, could you explain your reasoning behind wanting to delete everything but the essentials? Do you have a particular goal in mind or is it because of your windows background? Because if so, you should know that android operates very differently when compared to windows, and such, the requirements to keep your device working in tip top shape vary greatly.
In my opinion, with your current limited knowledge of each process/app inner workings, what you're trying to do surefire way to break something beyond repair and needing to use a factory image to get back to zero. A custom ROM will be much safer and yield the exact same results that you're looking for. (Eventually, once you understand what each thing does, then this manual approach could satisfy your needs)
Note: GApps are the basic Google apps to flash on top of the barebones system. Gmail, Play store, and the framework.
Nightlies are experimental builds compiled nightly by a bot with the latest CyanogenMod code available.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk HD

My goal was to simplify my approach to N7 by removing anything that I don’t need now and slowly adding all necessary components as I get familiar with it. But it seems at this point that this approach is a bit more complicated as thought it would be.
So I think I would leave it alone for now and revisit this later 

_Diver said:
My goal was to simplify my approach to N7 by removing anything that I don’t need now and slowly adding all necessary components as I get familiar with it. But it seems at this point that this approach is a bit more complicated as thought it would be.
So I think I would leave it alone for now and revisit this later 
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
From what you've done manually, you're clearly far ahead of a new user when it comes to understanding linux/unix.
If you want to lock down parts of what google implements, purely to keep it minimalistic, I would agree with the above poster. Go for one of the popular ROM options that are available, like CM, and work your way backwards. The Nexus 7 only has as much bloat as you allow it to have via the settings. This is another reason why Better Battery Stats is an excellent way to make sure your device isn't draining battery, yet isn't locked down. The other day I noticed an app that kept fetching my position, even though the case was closed (magnetic sleep mode). It turned out I forgot to disable the tracking in google maps (why it was defaulted to ON, I have no idea). BBS showed me what was running during the sleep phase, and I fixed it when I woke up the next morning after wondering why my battery dropped.
The Kindle Fire is a great option, because it doesn't require any of this fussing about. My woman loves hers. LOVES IT. Personally, I like to tinker a bit, and I'm too invested in Android apps to not have access to the play store. The Nexus 7, is for people like what you find here. We like to tinker, and make everything custom. At the same time, you could spend all day trying to figure out why EntriesRefresh_wakelock is your highest partial wakelock count, at 60seconds per 7 hours, or you can find that you just went 7 hours and only used 6% of the battery, even though you've been connected to wifi, texting, emailing, and checking the weather and news, the whole time. Not bad, honestly.
The biggest investment you can do for your Nexus, is probably getting a case that magnetically puts it to rest when you close it. After that, learn about the settings that drain battery in the background. Then, get Tasker and play around that (it's like programming, without the need to learn the code). After that, go to a custom ROM, or dig out Tibu, and basically start customizing which apps you will use. If that doesn't pass the time long enough, you can literally make your own ROM and put together exactly what you want. Whether the performance will be that much better or not, and whether you'll spend most of your day trying to look for coding errors, is up to you. I don't have the patience to code, but you're a coder, so what is broccoli to me, may be bacon to you.

[Apps] for I'm Watch Smartwatch

I started on the wrong foot, but finally found that it likes Android 1.6 Apps!
- Angry Birds!!!!!! (with music and usable, albeit, it just takes a little time to Start just Once Initially, the everything is quite normalish after initial start..... But the initial Splash screen looks so cool on the smartwatch it is worth the wait).
- Dolphin Browser
- Opera Mini Browser
Hints:
- To download anything in Opera Mini, select the DCIM folder, it seems it does not like to download on initial root. Warning, it is not fast downloading.
- When typing remember that it is a good idea that when typing in the small keyboard, that if you are fast, and keep pressing a key and notice it was not the one you intended, before releasing the key, if you do it fast enough, you can move your finger towards the correct key before releasing your finger. This is much faster than having to delete a wrong entered letter. If you keep pressing and fail to move fast, it would suggest alternative based on the wrong letter and you can no longer move to next, but if you click elsewhere, it won't type the wrong letter.
- Dolphin Browser is great because you can define shortcuts for common menus (remember you don't have a menu key), with its gestures. I made a gesture for settings and other to go to downloads and for full screen!
More Apps come!!
Please Share your Apps!!!

More Apps!
- Aptoid works quite fine to install new apps.
- Backgammon Free
- Bazooka Rabbit works! (albeit, not all the screen appears, but it is playable).
- ES File Explorer
- .... more to try ...

Are you running the latest 2.1 os?

I'd be interested to see these apps in action on the watch. Anyone want to make a youtube video?

Rooted it
speedyink said:
I'd be interested to see these apps in action on the watch. Anyone want to make a youtube video?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just recently got my imwatch and I'm already using the amazing side loader machine to load random apps onto it. I'll try to get a video going of it if I can but otherwise not many apps seem to work on it. If you can give me some ideas and a link to the apk to make things easier I will have more examples to show.

Great little thread. Lets hope more people post the names of more suitable useful apps.

saint3251 said:
I just recently got my imwatch and I'm already using the amazing side loader machine to load random apps onto it. I'll try to get a video going of it if I can but otherwise not many apps seem to work on it. If you can give me some ideas and a link to the apk to make things easier I will have more examples to show.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'd be interested to see how some apps work compared to my Motoactv. So some examples would be emulators such as gbcoid, snesoid and n64oid. Maybe some android games such as Hill Climb, and Hardest Game Ever. Apps, I dunno, maybe root explorer (or just explorer), a browser (I use boat browser mini), and mxplayer playing a video would be cool to see. Everything but the emulators I just got off the Google Play store. If you can't access the store on the I'm Watch yet I remember being able to take apps off my phone. Just download the app on your phone, then use a file manager to browse to /data/app/, then send it to your computer (I use bluetooth). I can send you the emulator apk's, just PM me your e-mail.

Use bluestack make it easier to grab the apk and download multiple apps at the same time,
Games or apps compatible with android 1.6 will have a much better chance of working...

Good info

apps
Got some more apps that seem to work on the i'm watch after the 2.1.2 adb update
go jkeyboard works
mobicalc
advanced task killer
voice search kinda works, cant find netwrok connection. would like someone to get that working.
dropbox works
graffiti pro keyboard works
dolphin browser works
gesture search
but there arent many people who are rooting and or doing things for the watch,. So if you can give me any ideas as to what to do to it or how I'd appreciate it,. Such as unlocking the bootloader
What I'm finding is that anything where you can draw or speak is more useful for this watch.\
rooting with super on click was the best way of doing it honestly .

Ok so I found a useful group of apks that make customization something a greater thing.
email me @ [email protected]
for the link. (don't have enough posts for links)

Thanks!

There is a new ADB version out. The last was 2.1.2 but now there is a 2.2.0 which I am going to update to now and attempt to see if it changes much.
Heres hoping.

how do you install those apps on the watch , i just got me a i'm watch 2 weeks ago and this sounds interesting:good:

eddol20 said:
how do you install those apps on the watch , i just got me a i'm watch 2 weeks ago and this sounds interesting:good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well theres two ways to do it.
1. you can do the whole rooting process by getting the ADB software from imwatch and using super one click to root it then install it through a sideload manager.
2. you can download all the apks in there and go to the im market and get Sideload Manager app from there. Then you'd put the apks in the DCIM folder and go through the Sideload Manager and install it that way.
Note: You should disconnect from the pc when trying to install through sideload manager app for option two.

Hello, could anyone help me check "Endomondo" and/or "Runtastic" apps can work on the I'm Watch pls?
Very BIG thanks !

I'm watch with last july firmware
Hi all with this smartwatch. How is it with the last update? Better sound in conversation?
Or still buggy?
Thanks all

cob94440 said:
Hi all with this smartwatch. How is it with the last update? Better sound in conversation?
Or still buggy?
Thanks all
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's still pretty buggy. But from the things I've seen android phones have apps that are capable of handling and changing the volume and etc on there.
Don't quote me but its just what I've heard. I have an iPhone 5 so I can't really share from experience.

saint3251 said:
It's still pretty buggy. But from the things I've seen android phones have apps that are capable of handling and changing the volume and etc on there.
Don't quote me but its just what I've heard. I have an iPhone 5 so I can't really share from experience.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same problem ... The calling from watch is bad ((

How do you get hangouts to work with this watch? Also other apps like whats app and KIK

Any 'must do' actions following a NookManager root/install?

Hello,
After rooting with NookManager are there any 'must do' (or highly recommended) actions? For example, I've seen other items in the 'Nook Touch Android Development' and 'Nook Touch Themes and Apps' sub-forums including the likes of 'NoRefresh'. Which of these come recommended to do/install following the root? If it matters; the use case for the Nook is *solely* as an eReader following the root. I would not want battery life to be impacted for the benefit of using the device as a more conventional tablet, for example.
Additionally (though a separate request/question) are there are any particular recommended applications - Perhaps those that have been modified for use on an eInk display, older versions which have better compatibility or any other reason to install direct rather than from the Play Store?
Thank you.

LavaChild0809 said:
Hello,
After rooting with NookManager are there any 'must do' (or highly recommended) actions? For example, I've seen other items in the 'Nook Touch Android Development' and 'Nook Touch Themes and Apps' sub-forums including the likes of 'NoRefresh'. Which of these come recommended to do/install following the root? If it matters; the use case for the Nook is *solely* as an eReader following the root. I would not want battery life to be impacted for the benefit of using the device as a more conventional tablet, for example.
Additionally (though a separate request/question) are there are any particular recommended applications - Perhaps those that have been modified for use on an eInk display, older versions which have better compatibility or any other reason to install direct rather than from the Play Store?
Thank you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just did all this stuff a few days ago, so bear in mind im no expert, but then again, my nook hasnt broke XD.
I would assume you have installed gapps? you wont be able to get anything on the market without it, well you can just download the apks but you may as well get the apps, you can delete the ones you dont want after. I think you arent meant to install gapps if you have deleted any b+n apps so do gapps first anyhow.
So what i would really reccommend is delete a load of the useless apks which have no use now, things like phone and camera do this by getting root browser from the play store, and navigating to system/app/ x. There is also dumb b+n stuff like social.apk which can go. You can move apps out rather than straight up delete if you arent sure if its safe to delete, one that i would avoid deleting is latinime, thats the keyboard. Look around the forums for some lists people of made for what you can delete, i cant list them off hand.
Something i would also recommend is getting a slightly better library app which someone in the forum made, you can get it here http://www.temblast.com/android.htm, its much better than the b and n library app, to install just put it on your sd (the apk) and launch via the homescreen on relaunch (its a file browser) then it will install. This is the same for any other apk's you want to install. Other apps which i like, super sudoku, works great and the browser is decent in all honesty. Advanced task killer is also handy for killing processes which are running, the stock android one is a bit pants.
I would reccomend sorting out your buttons as hotkeys, you should have nook touch mod manager, what i personally have done is left top button (android back) , left bottom button (relaunch) , left bottom button long press (to reader/currently reading) , the buttons on the right are default, n opens up library and my long press n doesnt do anything currently.
Thats all i can think of at the moment, if you have any questions, shoot away!

Thanks for the reply. I intend to remove B&N Apps using NookManager - Am I okay to do this after installing Gapps? Any reason why installing Gapps after removing the B&N Apps would cause an issue?

LavaChild0809 said:
Thanks for the reply. I intend to remove B&N Apps using NookManager - Am I okay to do this after installing Gapps? Any reason why installing Gapps after removing the B&N Apps would cause an issue?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
im not sure, but it is stated in the gapps thread http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2086582, i would just follow the instructions word by word to be honest, i didnt have any issues.

Database Users

welcome