Database Users

[Q] Removing apps that came with CM6

I'm not sure if this is the right place to post this. Feel free to move it.
I am wondering how to remove some things that came with CM6 when I installed it. When I go to applications > manage applications I cannot delete anything other than the things I've installed. Here is a list of things that I want to delete.
Amazon mp3
The stock browser
Stock Camera
stock messaging
stock music player
Google Talk
Google Voice
All the wallpapers
Home screen tips
I don't have a use for any of these and would rather free up the space and keep down the clutter from things I don't use.

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=735255
*************** NOTE ***************
Removing some of these may cause instability/FC issues with your phone. Just fair warning.
***
After reading that thread; the files you need to delete are... (located in System/App)
com.amazon.mp3.apk
Browser.apk
Camera.apk
(Not sure about messaging - might be mms.apk)
music.apk
talk.apk
I'm not totally sure about the others.

deleting mms.apk will remove your ability to receive texts. i know cause i tried to replace it with handcent at one point. removing music and amazon should be fine.

Thanks for the replies. I'm gonna try to remove the Amazon mp3 and Music now. What do you think would happen if I move the apps to my SD card and then access and delete them from my computer? Does this run the same risk of instability issues? In theory, I should be able to back them up on my computer and restore them if things go wrong, agree?

Anthony1s said:
Thanks for the replies. I'm gonna try to remove the Amazon mp3 and Music now. What do you think would happen if I move the apps to my SD card and then access and delete them from my computer? Does this run the same risk of instability issues? In theory, I should be able to back them up on my computer and restore them if things go wrong, agree?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ya. You can back them up to your SD card or PC, whichever is easier.
Sent from my Liberty using XDA App

Here's what I did along with some instructions from attn1. (he's the best!) Maybe this information will be helpful to someone. I am running CM6 A012 on my phone.
I booted up the Ubuntu LiveCD that I used to root my phone.
Rebooted my phone into Clockwork Recovery... power & volume down > wait for system check > Recovery
Once in ClockWork Recovery I linked my phone via USB to my computer and clicked 'partitions menu' then 'mount /system'
I accessed the terminal in Ubuntu and I couldn't get permissions to access the phone's files
In terminal, attn1 had me type the following commands before I could access the app list.
1) echo $PATH
2) sudo su
3) cd /opt/android-sdk-linux_86/tools
4) ./adb kill-server
5) ./adb remount
After that, to list the apps type: ./adb shell ls -l /system/app
To remove apps type: ./adb shell rm /system/app/filename.apk
To check if they're removed type: ./adb shell ls /system/app/filename.apk
I removed Music.apk, com.amazon.mp3.apk, and Browser.apk. When trying to remove Gmail.apk, Ubuntu wouldn't let me do anything else. I am assuming that the LiveCD has a time limit on it for the trial version. I then unmounted my phone on ClockWork and the rebooted it. The apps that I removed are gone from my phone and everything related to them still works fine.
Here is a link I used to find out which .apk files were safe for removal. http://forum.sdx-developers.com/android-2-1/(list)-apk's-and-odex's-safenot-safe-to-delete/
I will do some more research and try to remove other .apk files in a couple hours. I didn't try the 'move to SD' method that I mentioned above and would still like someone's opinion on it.

I forgot to mention. It's probably best to do a nandroid back up before doing all this. I didn't do one that time and will do it next time. I will also leave a list of everything I removed for future reference. If anyone else has a list, I would appreciate seeing that. This is my first time doing all this so I am constantly bugging attn1 for knowledge.
It didn't seem right to complain about AT&T bloatware, but still have to deal with the apps cyanogen installed.

Correct me if I am wrong. I did it this way and so far haven't found any issue YET. BTW, I didn't delete mms.apk though. Use Winrar (or other programs, not tested) to open cm6-liberty-A0xx-signed.zip. Navigate to system/app and then remove the apk files from there. Close winrar and install the modified cm6-liberty-Axxx-signed.zip like normal. It saves me a lot of time dealing with adb.

penpower said:
Correct me if I am wrong. I did it this way and so far haven't found any issue YET. BTW, I didn't delete mms.apk though. Use Winrar (or other programs, not tested) to open cm6-liberty-A0xx-signed.zip. Navigate to system/app and then remove the apk files from there. Close winrar and install the modified cm6-liberty-Axxx-signed.zip like normal. It saves me a lot of time dealing with adb.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You know, that's a much easier idea. Even testing by taking one .apk out at a time would be faster, I think. And my Winrar is expired and it still let's remove files! I would just have to remember to save a backup on the .zip before and after removing each .apk.

Anthony1s said:
1) echo $PATH
Not required. Only had you do that because I knew shad0wf0x put the tools in the path, but didn't know exactly where. Just made it easier for moving there once you did the next step.
2) sudo su
3) cd /opt/android-sdk-linux_86/tools
Required.
4) ./adb kill-server
Not required - only had you do it because the server was initially started from the regular user account and wasn't connecting properly.
5) ./adb remount
After that, to list the apps type: ./adb shell ls -l /system/app
To remove apps type: ./adb shell rm /system/app/filename.apk
To check if they're removed type: ./adb shell ls /system/app/filename.apk
This is fine....
I removed Music.apk, com.amazon.mp3.apk, and Browser.apk. When trying to remove Gmail.apk, Ubuntu wouldn't let me do anything else. I am assuming that the LiveCD has a time limit on it for the trial version. I then unmounted my phone on ClockWork and the rebooted it. The apps that I removed are gone from my phone and everything related to them still works fine.
Here is a link I used to find out which .apk files were safe for removal. http://forum.sdx-developers.com/android-2-1/(list)-apk's-and-odex's-safenot-safe-to-delete/
I will do some more research and try to remove other .apk files in a couple hours. I didn't try the 'move to SD' method that I mentioned above and would still like someone's opinion on it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
FYI there is no expiration on the Ubuntu LiveCD. If it stopped working for you, it was for some other reason.

Thanks for correcting that attn1. I haven't tried to do anything further yet, but will after a nap. Does anyone know if you edit the ROM in Winrar, do you have to sign it or w/e?

Anthony1s said:
Thanks for correcting that attn1. I haven't tried to do anything further yet, but will after a nap. Does anyone know if you edit the ROM in Winrar, do you have to sign it or w/e?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When I modified both of N1 and Aria CM rom, I don't have to sign it again.

Ok here is the basics of what I did. I didn't modify the CM .zip from my computer because I thought it would take more time to nandroid backup and reflash the ROM. If I install a new ROM, I am more likely to do that. I loaded the Ubuntu LiveCD and proceeded with what I was doing before. I still had to put in every command that attn1 taught me.
Here is a list of everything I removed.
- Music.apk Successful. No problems.
- com.amazon.mp3.apk Successful. No problems.
- Browser.apk Successful. No problems.
- Gmail.apk Successful. No problems.
- CMWallpapers.apk Successful. No problems.
- LiveWallpapers.apk Successful. No problems.
- MagicSmokeWallpapers.apk successful except the 'Many' live wallpaper option doesn't load without this. I didn't care cause I was getting rid of all of them.
- LiveWallpapersPicker.apk Deleting this changes some things. When you go to menu >wallpaper it takes me directly to Astro File Manager instead of the wallpaper menu. I can still access and change my wallpaper though the Gallery app
I didn't remove Camera.apk because I read somewhere that it will mess up your camera even if you have another app install. I also didn't remove any Google apps yet. I might try those any other day. They aren't bothering me right now.
I was thinking about moving my nandroid backup to my computer to save space, but I didn't. I realized that if my SD is full, I won't have space on it to move it back when I needed it.
Thanks for all the tips.

what are the apps you upgraded to after deleting these?
i dont want to delete the stock once i've been using if there alternatives arent any better.

dh4645 said:
what are the apps you upgraded to after deleting these?
i dont want to delete the stock once i've been using if there alternatives arent any better.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For Music, I'm using Mixzing. For Browser, I'm using Dolphin HD. For E-mail, I'm using K9. For Messaging, I'm using Handcent. For Camera, I have a bunch of different apps.
I heard that your camera and messaging won't work without the 'Camera' and 'Messaging' that are currently on the phone. I'm assuming that your email won't work without the 'Email'. I deleted Gmail without any problems though. All the rest that I removed were just Wallpapers that came on the phone. I can pull up the wallpapers that I want from gallery still.
I don't think I freed up much memory space. My main concern was to get all those 'Music' widgets off my widget list and make everything else less cluttered.

So you can still get and send email from your email account after removing gmail or do you have to buy/download another email client. I am trying to figure out the differences between the gmail and email apps at the moment. The email app seems to have changed in Froyo to something less than it was. Are you using the standard "email" app after you delete gmail app?

anika200 said:
So you can still get and send email from your email account after removing gmail or do you have to buy/download another email client. I am trying to figure out the differences between the gmail and email apps at the moment. The email app seems to have changed in Froyo to something less than it was. Are you using the standard "email" app after you delete gmail app?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I use k9 mail. Everything worked after i removed gmail.apk
Sent from my Liberty using XDA App

What I did before I installed the addon apps is opened the zip file and just deleted the apk files I didnt want.
I forgot to delete Twitter tho. Doh.

Hey, tried running Skyfire browser after uninstalling the default browser?? Cause all I am getting is a black screen when trying to run Skyfire.Other browsers work fine, but no Skyfire.
Know of any way to reinstall the defautl browser???

mharrissmith said:
Hey, tried running Skyfire browser after uninstalling the default browser?? Cause all I am getting is a black screen when trying to run Skyfire.Other browsers work fine, but no Skyfire.
Know of any way to reinstall the defautl browser???
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think I read somewhere that Skyfire is meant to run on top of the default browser, kind of like an add-on.
For the stock browser, download cm6 and unzip it. Then go into the unzipped file >system>app>browser.apk. Just push Browser.apk to /system/app on your phone via adb and you're good to go.
EDIT: just realized you might not be running cm6. Not sure if theres a difference between the browser in cm6 and the one from the stock rom. If there is a difference you just follow the same procedure from whichever rom you're running.

[SOLVED] How to Delete System Apps after Loosing Root Access From 1.72.405.3 ROM

Ok so after much lots of frustration realising I'd lost access to the delete system apps after installing HTC 1.72.405.3 (in LeeDrOiD 1.3) I've finally figured out a way to do it and without needing to use ROM Cleaner then re-flash a ROM wich would remove all my data/apps/ect I've loaded. Now this may well be a guide for you guys like me who are very new to Unix commands and the whole Android system. I hope that it helps someone coz honestly the last couple of days I've searched high and low and haven't gotten any answers that worked until I worked it out tonight.
Just as a quick note I was able to delete apps from the /system/app folder before this update when I was still on 1.32.405.6 using Visionary+ in loading R/W access to the system folder on boot and a simple file manager like Astro or AndroZip to delete. Since updating to 1.72.405.3 without Radio S-Off I've tried the following methods and found they don't work:
- Flashing rmk40's Super User/Root patch for 1.72.405.3 as in this thread http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=886999
- Visionary+ selecting R/W system access then using a file manager like Astro or AndroZip to delete.
- Terminal Emulator after getting "supposed" super user access after typing su then going to the /system/data folder and typing rm Facebook.apk ect... also using the other unix commands to try and change the system apps from read only to writable still no access.
- Using Root Explorer which is granted "supposed" super user access does not want to mount as R/W the system/app folder and of course then won't let me delete the apps.
- One click Radio S-Off doens't work as obviously I'm already locked out as I've loaded 1.72.405.3 (LeeDrOiD 1.3) before running Radio S-Off.
- Re-flashing to a previous 1.32.405 ROM then trying to run Radio S-Off followed by all the steps above. Nope nuthin...
Okay and here is is here's how it's done. I had to have the Android SDK installed with USB drivers (HTC Sync has the USB Drivers). I then in windows I opened up command prompt and using the good old DOS commands like "cd\program files (x64)" I go to my android sdk folder platform-tools. Once in the platform-tools let the foreign Unix commands begin
Without the exclamation marks type I type "adb remount shell"
Then "adb shell rm /system/app/Facebook.apk"
Now Facebook.apk being an example of the app you want to delete. I use a file browser such as Astro on my phone to go the the /system/app folder and easily look around and get the file names of the apps I want to delete. An important thing to remember for all the other's unfamiliar with Unix commands like myself, this ain't DOS. Unlike DOS, files and commands are case sensitive so if you try to delete the Facebook app and type it in "facebook.apk" all lower case it won't delete. Make note of any letters uppercase or lowercase in the folder name and file and type it in correctly in the Unix commands or they won't work.
The other two important things to note before you go on a Spring cleaning, delete frenzy (like I will be after I finish typing this up ) is: 1) If you delete some certain system apps (for example TelephonyProvider.apk) Android will **** itself and after booting enter a loop where you can't access anything & you can't stop it complaining about blah blah app failed. So make sure you have on your microSD card either a Nandroid backup done recently using the Backp/Restore function under the Bootloader installed with Clockwork Recovery or a working ROM that you've tried and know works such as the stock ROM or a custom ROM from LeeDrOiD, Cyanogen, ect. If you get into one of those non recoverable loops you'll need to flash the ROM and of course loose any data and apps not backed up. Okay this brings me to my next point. 2) If you want to copy any of the system apps off to your microSD card either to backup or just if you're not 100% sure if you may want to install it again later then in command prompt type this:
"adb shell cp /system/app/Calculator.apk /sdcard/"
Obviously here Calculator.apk is the app we are copying but you can choose any app to copy. Also /sdcard/ means it will go to the root folder of your MicroSD card.
Stick it to tha man and have fun cleaning up your ROM and deleting all that crap bloatware your service provider and HTC don't wanna give you access to and now without the cripple of HTC update 1.72.405.3 stopping you!

Are these persistent changes? If so I think you will be the saviour of many on here!

Are you sure the apps are not back when you reboot your phone?

I'd be pretty surprised if they're persistent.

sorry i can't see how this has worked. unless by some weird chance when trying to get s-off, gain root and what esle you have try to do. has caused you to be able to r/w to the system partition.

cattleprod sorry i can't see how this has worked. unless by some weird chance when trying to get s-off, gain root and what esle you have try to do. has caused you to be able to r/w to the system partition.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok I assure you it has worked and continues to work. One possible major difference I've just been told supposedly the stock HTC RUU 1.72.405.3 reverts you back to original hboot eng s-on. Me on the other hand I never loaded a stock HTC ROM 1.72.405.3 or an update. I loaded LeeDroiD 1.3 which has in it the base as 1.72.405.3 but also his modifications to that. So never lost clockwork recovery hboot. I can still load ROMs fine, I just lost functionallity from Visionary+ or anything else for that matter on the phone to access System folder R/W access. Using ADB on my PC as described above however did solve this. Unfortunately the other issue is after loading LeeDroid 1.3 it's permanently done something to my phone and even after flashing back to previous stock 1.32ROM the 1click Radio S-Off patch does absolutely nothing. Luckily Vodafone supposedly offers a free SIM unlock and there are also cheap alternatives on ebay.
dr.m0x I'd be pretty surprised if they're persistent.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Eddie1506 Are you sure the apps are not back when you reboot your phone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
andyharney Are these persistent changes? If so I think you will be the saviour of many on here!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes guys these are all persistant. I've rebooted quite a few times and none of the apps I've deleted have come back. These are the apps I've deleted from the "/system/app" folder and they 4 sure have not come back to annoy me: Facebook (crackbook as I like to say ), Twitter & Flickr including any widgets of the same name, stock or shares trading apps, default internet browser (replaced it with Dolphin HD), Flashlight (replaced it with moddified HTC one that says "torch" as I'm not a fan of US English), HTC Likes, HTC coin, probably some others I can't remember now.
So anyway go for it just use your clockwork recovery (modified hboot) to do a full backup first as if you remove the wrong system apps it goes in a non working error loop.
I'm only real new to the whole Android thing. Only had the phone 4 bout 2 weeks and never hit up any Unix commands before then. I'm happy to help out if I can though. Just message me and when I'm on next I'll try to help.

[q] help removing pre-installed bloatware after rooting

my mt4g is rooted but i cant delete or move the bloatwares.
astro>system>app (it says: error deleting files)
i dont understand whats going on bcus the steps seem simple but somehow its neither deleting nor allowing it to be moved to my sd card.
any help would be most grateful. thanks in advance.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
and one last question. now that my phones rooted, s=off, may i delete visionary, the terminal emulator, and superuser???
>> i have more tasks running now that its rooted along with my inability to remove the bloatware

For your first question, astro cannot delete system apps if you're not mounted r/w, which you wont be by default. Root Explorer gives you the option to mount r/w and then delete apps. alternatively, you may want to install titanium backup and use the "freeze" feature so you can easily restore them if you want in the future.
You can remove visionary, and the terminal emulator if you want, but you'll need the superuser app to grant root permission to any apps that require root in the future.

Don't arbitrarily delete bloat. Use Titanium to freeze apps you don't want like option94 suggested. Some of those apps are tied into the sense ui and deleting them can make things screwy. After freezing in Titanium, if everything is working well, you can delete if you want. Make a nandroid backup before you do anything permanent. I would leave the stock rom alone and flash a rom like iced glacier which is basically optimized stock with all the bloat removed. Don't forget the make backup part.
Sent from my HTC Glacier

thanks i didnt quite understand what 'mount r/w' means or what it really does but as long as changing it to 'mount r/o' makes those unnecessary apps go away, im happy. thanks again

r/w = read/write - you'll be able to make changes
r/o = read only - you wont be able to make changes.

help with modifying cm roms

i really like cyanogen, but i dont like a lot of the bloat that comes with it (adw launcher especially) but when i try and remove it from the .zip and put launcher2 in, sometime cwr wont install it, but sometimes it does, is there a specific method to create the .zips? ive also tried to install launcher2 through adb, but it always fails

After you install the rom remove it with titanium backup. Easy. I wouldn't muck around with zip files.

Root uninstaller works well to
Sent from my 'SilverBullet' HTCDesireZ running CM7

Mine is in terminal/adb
I get LP installed and go into adb shell
Remount the systen
Then do rm /system/app/adwlauncher.apk
And I go on my merry way,
Can do this in terminal too

This is what I have been using. Removes adw and themes and add stock launcher.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=933517

Are you unzipping the ROM or just opening it? If you unzip it then yes, you will run into some huge issues unless you know what you're doing.

Dual Boot CM7/CM9 App Access

I have Racks' dual boot CM7/CM9 SD running on my NC. I have downloaded all of my apps using CM7. I don't have access to them when I boot to CM9. Is there a quick/easy way to use the apps in CM9? Do I have to DL them all again after booting to CM9 or is there another trick?
thanks
~mike

What you could do is download a file explorer with root permissions (e.g. Root Explorer) on the cm9 system then follow the below directions:
1-Open up Root Explorer and browse to /mnt
2-Now create a new folder called cm7data
3-now open up terminal emulator and enter the following commands
Code:
$ su
# busybox mount /dev/block/mmcblk1p3 /mnt/cm7data
4-Now go back to Root Explorer via the recent apps menu
5-Browse to /mnt/cm7data/app
6- In there you will find all the apps you have downloaded to the CM7 from.
7-You can install the apps from here
8-I'm not sure how apps with license check will react towards this, but give it a try I guess.
9-After you're done make sure you go back to Terminal Emulator via the recent apps menu and perform the following commands:
Code:
# busybox umount /mnt/cm7data
# exit
$
10-That's it!
Or you can just redownload all the apps for CM9 because some apps might be tablet specific. Why run phone apps on a tablet when you can run tablet apps.
-Racks
Sent from my NookColor using Tapatalk

A quick coda to Racks' excellent suggestions. I keep copies of all my critical apps in a file on my SD (uploaded via Wifi File Explorer from DB on computer). That way they're available for reloading any time I choose from either boot. And if card gets wiped, I can re-upload them. Been doing this since waaaay back for CM7. Still a useful habit.

Duplicate Apps
I used Titanium Backup to backup all the apps I loaded in one OS and re-install them in the second OS.

Hmmm, Ramsay64. I had trouble trying that with Titanium. Save and restore covered CM7 fine, but when I tried to re-install apps in CM9 TBU wouldn't recognize my files, either from normal bu on SD card or from uploaded zip file. How'd you get it to work?

Titanium Backup has a list of all your apps backed up or not. After switching to Cm9, open TB, look at the bottom of the list and any apps installed on cm7 but not cm9 will be listed with a line through the name. click on it and hit restore. I just tried it again to make sure I wasn't crazy and it works like a charm. It was aggravating to download for both boots and this made it simple. I can backup an app in cm7 and load just the data in cm9 to keep them up to date when I switch back and forth. My setup is the original dual boot cm7/cm9 from Racks.
BTW, Thank you Racks. I enjoy reading everyone's posts on new ideas, unfortunately my coding skills barely get me through making spreadsheets do what I want.

monkeymike19 said:
I have Racks' dual boot CM7/CM9 SD running on my NC. I have downloaded all of my apps using CM7. I don't have access to them when I boot to CM9. Is there a quick/easy way to use the apps in CM9? Do I have to DL them all again after booting to CM9 or is there another trick?
thanks
~mike
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I store all my apps in a folder on the emmc. Since you're booting from the SD, the emmc is available from either CM7 or CM9