[Guide]List of apps safe to remove - Streak 5 General

This is a list of safe/unsafe apps to remove from stock roms.
Generally for other regions/carrier roms anything not included should be safe to remove.
Safe in this case is defined as "will not affect the stability of the rom" removing carrier apps is "safe" for the rom, but weither or not it's useful to keep is beyond the scope of this guide. An example is removing the carrier specific mms app. It can function correctly without it, but you lose any carrier specific enhancements.
General Guideline
NOT safe to remove:
com.android.*
com.dell.* (excluding com.dell.launcher, com.dell.stage.*)
com.google.android.* (that isnt available on market)
PreLoadNetworkSettings.apk [com.oem.prenetworksetting]
Safe to remove:
com.oem.engineeringmode.*
anything available on market
anything not listed here
Possibly Not safe to remove:
Package (OTA) util
PackageChecker.apk [com.oem.packagechecker]
PackageUpdate.apk [com.oem.packageupdate]
Safe to remove:
AMOLED.apk [com.oem.engineeringmode.amoled]
CableDetection.apk [com.oem.engineeringmode.cabledetection]
Calibrator.apk [com.oem.calibrator]
CellInfo.apk [com.oem.engineeringmode.cellinfo]
ConfidentialRunningTest.apk [com.oem.engineeringmode.runningtest]
DisplayVersionInfo.apk [com.oem.mode]
dtretriever.apk [com.oem.engineeringmode.dtretriever]
ECompass.apk [com.oem.engineeringmode.ecompass]
EMList and subapps
audioEM.apk [com.oem.engineeringmode.audioEM]
BluetoothEM.apk [com.oem.engineeringmode.BluetoothEM]
cameraEM.apk [com.oem.engineeringmode.cameraEM]
EMList.apk [com.oem.engineeringmode.emlist]
EMLoader.apk [com.oem.engineeringmode.EMLoader]
EMwifi.apk [com.oem.engineeringmode.wifi]
GpsEM.apk [com.oem.engineeringmode.gpsem]
FactorySuiteUtility.apk [com.oem.engineeringmode.suitutility]
FakeCB.apk [com.oem.engineeringmode.fakecb]
GPIO subapps
Gpio.apk [com.oem.engineeringmode.gpio]
GpioSleepMode.apk [com.oem.engineeringmode.gpiosleepmode]
GSensor.apk [com.oem.engineeringmode.gsensor]
Logging apps
LogMaster2.apk [com.oem.log]
LogService.apk [com.oem.logservice]
Lota.apk [com.oem.lota]
MaxPowerTest.apk [com.oem.engineeringmode.maxpowertest]
mccmnc.apk [com.oem.engineeringmode.mccmnc]
mminfo.apk [com.oem.engineeringmode.mminfo]
NetWorkSetting.apk [com.oem.engineeringmode.networksetting]
NVEngMode.apk [com.oem.engineeringmode.nv]
OOD_OOM.apk [com.oem.testkits.ood_oom]
PermissionToAccessLocApi.apk [com.qualcomm.permission.locapi]
PowerMonitor.apk [com.oem.engineeringmode.powermonitor]
security.apk [com.oem.engineeringmode.security]
SensorsInfo.apk [com.oem.engineeringmode.SensorsInfo]
SIMInfo.apk [com.oem.engineeringmode.siminfo]
TouchPanel.apk [com.oem.engineeringmode.touch]
Verification apps
FactoryTestSIMCard.apk [com.oem.engineeringmode.verificationsimcard]
Verification.apk [com.oem.engineeringmode.verification]
VerificationAudio.apk [com.oem.engineeringmode.VerificationAudio]
VerificationBluetooth.apk [com.oem.engineeringmode.verification.bluetooth]
VerificationCamEEPROM.apk [com.oem.engineeringmode.verificationcameeprom]
VerificationEcampass.apk [com.oem.engineeringmode.verification.ecampass]
VerificationGaugeIcTemp.apk [com.oem.engineeringmode.verification.gaugeictemp]
VerificationGaugeIcVoltage.apk [com.oem.engineeringmode.verification.gaugeicvoltage]
VerificationGSensorTest.apk [com.oem.engineeringmode.verificationGSensorTest]
VerificationHdmi.apk [com.oem.engineeringmode.verificationVerificationHdmi]
VerificationHeadset.apk [com.oem.engineeringmode.VerificationHeadset]
VerificationKey.apk [com.oem.engineeringmode.verificationkey]
VerificationLCD.apk [com.oem.engineeringmode.verificationlcd]
VerificationLPSensorTest.apk [com.oem.engineeringmode.verificationLPSensorTest]
VerificationLPSensorUtility.apk [com.oem.engineeringmode.verificationlpsensorutility]
VerificationSDCard.apk [com.oem.engineeringmode.verificationsdcard]
VerificationSingleTouch.apk [com.oem.engineeringmode.verification.singletouch]
VerificationUsbCharging.apk [com.oem.engineeringmode.verification.usbcharging]
VerificationVibratorAndLed.apk [com.oem.engineeringmode.crt]
VerificationWifi.apk [com.oem.engineeringmode.verificationwifi]
Bundleware (available in market):
ACCUWX.apk [com.accuweather.android.simpleweatherlite.dellstreak]
amazonmp3.apk [com.amazon.mp3]
com.adobe.air.apk [com.adobe.air]
com.facebook.katana [com.facebook.katana]
com.twitter.android.apk [com.twitter.android]
copilot.apk [com.alk.copilot.dell.trial]
evernote.apk [com.evernote]
Gallery3D.apk [com.cooliris.media]
KindleGold.apk [com.amazon.kindle]
KongregateArcade.apk [com.kongregate.android.kongarcade]
Napster-Tablet.apk [com.napster.bishop]
NeroDellSync.apk [com.nero.android.dellsync]
oovoo.apk [com.oovoo]
PageOnce.apk [com.netgate]
Quickoffice.apk [com.qo.android.oemec]
radiotime.apk [tunein.player]
RoxioNow.apk [com.roxio.rnow]
ZinioReader.apk [com.zinio.mobile.android]
ZinioSettingsProvider.apk [com.zinio.android.settings]
GApps (available in market):
Gmail.apk [com.google.android.gm]
GoogleQuickSearchBox.apk [com.google.android.googlequicksearchbox]
Maps.apk [com.google.android.apps.maps]
Street.apk [com.google.android.street]
VoiceSearch.apk [com.google.android.voicesearch]
Youtube.apk [com.google.android.youtube]
StageUI:
BooksStageWidget-release.apk [com.dell.stage.widget.books]
ContactsStageWidget-release.apk [com.dell.stage.widget.contacts]
EmailStageWidget-release.apk [com.dell.stage.widget.email]
HomeStageWidget-release.apk [com.dell.stage.widget.home]
MusicStageWidget-release.apk [com.dell.stage.widget.music]
NewsStageWidget-release.apk [com.dell.stage.widget.news]
PicturesStageWidget-release.apk [com.dell.stage.widget.pictures]
RadioStageWidget-release.apk [com.dell.stage.widget.radio]
SocialStageWidget-release.apk [com.dell.stage.widget.social]
StageLauncher-release.apk [com.dell.launcher]
VideoStageWidget-release.apk [com.dell.stage.widget.video]
WebStageWidget-release.apk [com.dell.stage.widget.web]
Non system apps:
CarDock.apk [com.google.android.carhome]
DRMPlayer.apk [com.arcsoft.drmplayer]
swype.apk [com.swype.android.inputmethod]

It's time consuming to go through and delete the unwanted stuff using Root Uninstaller, but I believe it to be time well spent if only to provide a bit more space on the internal MicroSD. Perhaps someone should write an automated script that will allow the user to delete the APKs in the "Safe To Remove" section of the post?
Removing things like Stage UI and the bundleware should be left out of such a script, since every user is different.

The bundleware is more or less safe to remove, just as much they're usually older versions of what's available on market, you'd still need to update and would end up with 2 copies on your system. The current version at /data/app and the original older version at /system/app
Root explorer has a mass select button btw if you use that, I believe it also works for deleting but I'm not 100% sure. Only thing to be careful of is uninstalling a system critical file, though you can just as easily manually uninstall one by accident.
There's actually more stuff that can safely be removed, only the rom is the only way to get it as you cant download it normally. (eg swype and drmplayer, though swype beta is available as a slightly different thing)

I wasn't questioning the safety of removing the bundleware, since I removed most of it along with all the engineering stuff and the Stage UI yesterday. All I was saying is that in a script those things shouldn't be included because of individual user preferences.

Nice work bruv!!:d

Added a couple more apps into list, turns out everything in com.oem.* is not required (if you ignore being able to use OTA updates, but as noone uses them to begin with)
Dont remove dellsettingsprovider.apk though, it's needed for dock mode with an official dock.

out of curiosity did you guys figure out what are all those com.engineeringmode.* apps? to be honest, removing something like gsensor.apk sounds scary

If you force them to run by making a custom activity shortcut, they mostly do exactly what they sound like.
Majority of them lets you test a single function (ie what they're named after). They're all essentinally debug utils. Dell might have them included because it makes fixing returned devices easier (ie warrentied devices)
Or just as likely they left them in because they're lazy, the entire build system for the s5 is a bit of a mess. They fixed it for building venue and streak 7 roms but they never bothered to go back and fix it.
Though all these apps are also included in stock venue and s7 roms

So before removing these apps do a nandroid backup. Will the nandroid save these files? Also can u do this with Gingerstreak?
Sent from the SuperStreak! ;-)

Of course nandroid saves it, unless you intentionally dont do a nandroid of system\, which defeats the point of nandroid.
SD2.3 doesnt include these nor does SD2.0

TheManii said:
Of course nandroid saves it, unless you intentionally dont do a nandroid of system\, which defeats the point of nandroid.
SD2.3 doesnt include these nor does SD2.0
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
SD 2.3 doesn't save which ones?
Sent from the SuperStreak! ;-)

I mean SD2.3 doesnt include anything that needs to be removed

TheManii said:
I mean SD2.3 doesnt include anything that needs to be removed
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh ok
Sent from the SuperStreak! ;-)

so I decided to remove completely all those apps; so far so good and I'll surely like the slightly higher amount of available RAM
I have found something odd though (albeit almost irrelevant). after uninstalling (via titanium backup) all these apps I have lost one of the two wallpapers galllery (the one with a lot of pictures). Unfortunately I cannot tell which is the app responsible for this as I uninstalled them in bulk (I am not even 100% sure the two facts are related as more tweaking was going on and I discovered the issue only hours later).
well as I stated before it's not what you call a deal breaker, who uses stock wallpapers anyway but you'd better be advised than sorry!

you likely removed something in com.android.*
wallpapers are set with either:
gallery app
stageui's set
default android live wallpapers
whatever others you downloaded

mmh unlikely mate. I'm not betting my house on this but I'm quite confident I deleted only the apps that are in this very OP. the LWP and the 2-images-only galleries anyway are still there, i think it's something related to stage.

crashDebug said:
mmh unlikely mate. I'm not betting my house on this but I'm quite confident I deleted only the apps that are in this very OP. the LWP and the 2-images-only galleries anyway are still there, i think it's something related to stage.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is the stage UI. I LOVE the "beach & sea" one and lost it after removing stage ui
Sent from my Dell Streak using Tapatalk

Updated list, there are a couple com.oem apps that are boarderline cases of being safe to remove, as they break functionality, but which depends on if that's a good or bad thing.
Case in point: the ota tools can be safely removed, but obviously break ota updates. If you're on a custom rom this wouldnt work anyway as custom roms dont support ota updates.

Experience uninstalling these apps, based on 2.2.2 351 00:
Deleted the package apps = could not uninstall using Settings - App. Tried restarting phone as possible solution but got stuck on boot image.
Does cabledetection have anything to do with attaching with usb to pc? Gone, cannot use Streak as USB storage device in pc.
Note that many other appd can be removed too. Check Cyanogen barebones for detailed descriptions.
Question: Why is it impossible to "restore" apps I remove? Titanium simply does not work. At least with such far out ventures as removing, by accident though, and I had made a backup of everything, so it shoulf have been possible, the Accounts and Sync Settings apk.
Analogously - copying and pasting in RootExplorer does nothing at all, as is the case with trying to reinstall removed apps.
Anyways, lots of stuff can be removed. I even removed Market, to save resources, since I never download any apps from there anway.

You would be better off doing a nandroid backup before you muck around with the files. That way if something DOES happen you can go back to the original configuration. As to Titanium Backup, various versions of the app have had problems with restoring apps, corrupting not only the app, but the app's data as well. For backup purposes, Titanium Backup is not recommended. Nandroid instead.

Related

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.
---
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.

4.5.602 .apk`s that can be removed.

I have seen all the threads about apk`s that can be renamed or removed froyo 2.2 on a few different websites.
could someone make a current one for GingerBread 4.5.602 now that we have a working root?
would very much appreciate it as i dont think all the files are the same as they used to be in froyo 2.2
there are so many threads on what to remove and what not to remove from all around...
no one has made a thread about .apk`s for 4.5.602....so someone has a chance to be the first.
make a new thread or use this one i dont care...in the end i just want to know what we can remove and what we cant.
the names that root uninstaller shows would be great if someone could cross refrence to what the actual .apk is.
thanks
Bloatware .602 APk's that can be removed...
I would be THRILLED to be able to get a list of bloatware .602 APk's that can be removed without affecting the OS or any 'tangential' functionality. I prefer to stick with the rooted stock .602 ROM...
Anybody have any ideas?
a first-must-know
* preventing subsequent OTA "upgrades"
lest they kill this new root
How to stop OTA upgrades
I use Titanium Backup Pro - it's not perfect, but darn good. I started getting the OTA upgrade from Verison in a popup message, with a timer on it. I could click yes to do the upgrade or no to not do it, and the time was counting down in seconds at which point when it reached 0 it was going to do the upgrade if it did not get a response. I got this repeatedly.
I saw another thread that explained that if you 'freeze' (within Titanium Backup Pro) the application named "Updater 2.3.3" then this would not happen any more. That resolved my issue. This did not have any effect on the upgrades for which I got notices and could check on from the Amazon App Market or the Google Marketplace.
What bloatware can be removed? I have removed "City ID" and it has not seemed to affect me.... anybody know what else can be removed safely?
When I first looked around on the internet (and I'm good at doing search) I didn't find any lists of applications you can "freeze" (rename or move to another folder until you need them to update) specific to Droid X Gingerbread. Then while researching other issues I bumped into a fairly complete list (hope mods here don't mind me posting link!)
http://androidforums.com/droid-x-all-things-root/319383-apks-files-safe-remove-gingerbread-gingerblur.html
One issue I've run into is that if you use Titanium Pro you have to translate the actual .apk file name into what it displays. The Titanium devs should add the underlying apk file name to their list. I just upgraded to Pro because I've been using the product for backup/restore and was tired of renaming .apks to .apk.bak to freeze them. I like being able to have a freeze list I can save for the next time I upgrade. I suppose I should learn a bit more linux and create a script but...

[Q] "Crap" Everywhere - From Uninstalled Apps

In trying to free up some space on my KF today, I noticed that apps that I had uninstalled, both before and after I rooted my KF, still left the entire app on my KF.
What's up with this?
For example, one of the first things I installed, kinda jokingly, was the Nook app. This was days after I got my KF and I had also downloaded a few free books for it. I uninstalled that app 6 months ago, yet all the Nook files were still there, including the .apk. I was able to delete them all and not cause any noticeable problem with my KF, but I have d/l'd a lot of apps and deleted them since I got my KF on the first day it was released. So if it had an easy name to remember, not too big of an issue, but app names in the directory aren't always straightforward to what they are... they may be listed by their developer's name or such.
I'm not opposed to completely wiping it and re-installing everything, but there are a number of games that I would lose my progress in if I did that. Plus, I am not in desperate need of space... yet. Granted, the TWRP backup doesn't help much when it comes to space, but it is a nice thing to have.
[BTW, my KF has been rooted for several months now, and was just updated with the latest KFU v9.6, running GoLauncher. It's a pretty straight forward rooted device that I haven't tweaked much because I really do read a lot on it.]
So I was wondering if there was an app that works better than the free version of SD Maid to clean up all this left over garbage? Even SD Maid didn't detect the Nook app still being there (the free version doesn't do all the paid version does, but, for the most part, it still shows ya what it found). Or if someone has a detailed guide of walking you through how to clean up useless files... that would be cool too.
Like I said, there is definitely a lot of crap taking up space that can be deleted. But I don't know Android (I'm really a Windows/Cisco guy), so I don't know to what extent I can delete stuff without causing problems.
Any help would be appreciated.
BTW, could the Image Verification images be any harder? LOL
PBFred said:
In trying to free up some space on my KF today, I noticed that apps that I had uninstalled, both before and after I rooted my KF, still left the entire app on my KF.
What's up with this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I believe this is an issue in older Android versions. I noticed my phone doing the same thing while it was in Eclair, then in Froyo and then in GingerBread.
It looks to me like ICS will automatically remove any orphan data it finds - I've tried deleting just an application's apk and, after rebooting the system, its data was gone as well (tried on both my phone and KF).
PBFred said:
So if it had an easy name to remember, not too big of an issue, but app names in the directory aren't always straightforward to what they are... they may be listed by their developer's name or such.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I guess you can try "pm list packages -f" to get the names of the apks and their matching data folders.
PBFred said:
I'm not opposed to completely wiping it and re-installing everything, but there are a number of games that I would lose my progress in if I did that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can most likely extract their data. Alternatively, you may want to look into Titanium Backup for backing up both apps and their data.
PBFred said:
Granted, the TWRP backup doesn't help much when it comes to space, but it is a nice thing to have.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You could also move the TWRP backup to the computer...
I would just backup any apps/games on TB while also saving the contents of your SD on your computer. Then simply use TWRP to wide SD card. You can then move your TWRP backups to the SD card from your computer and restore app and data on TB.

[Q] Rooted/Custom Rom'd AT&T S4, now for some very basic questions!

I recently rooted/installed CleanROM for my S4, but now I have some basic questions regarding what actually happened in the process and how I could improve it. (First smartphone, first Android).
1. Is flashing the exact equivalent of installing a kernel/ROM/app in a recovery like TeamWin that is zipped in an SD card? All I did was select my zipped file and install--the guide says to use GooManager but I never used it. Also, does updating TWRP, kernel, or ROM (same application/kernel/ROM, but newer version) require that you delete the old ZIP, copy over the new ZIP, then install it? Is there a cleaner method (I feel that since we have to wipe to prevent old files from interfering with new ROM that maybe parts of the old version of a ROM may be redundant or may interfere with the new ROM?
2. Is there a way I can save the phone settings when dealing with one ROM and transferring these settings to another ROM? I really don't want to spend 20 minutes to go through all the settings and change it to my liking every time I install a new ROM.
3. With TWRP I could backup the entire ROM and also be able to install that backup ROM if I don't like the new ROM installed? What does Titanium Backup offer in regards to this aside from backing up app data and the ability freeze/uninstall system apps?
4. Does Titanium Backup leave any residual files? I see other apps designed to uninstall system apps and Titanium Backup seems like an all-in-one jack of all trades.
5. I thought I wiped everything and to me, that sounds like reformatting the entire drive. I only wiped system, boot, and data though (good enough for ROMs, according to what I've read). I was surprised when I saw my videos that I had already backed up to my PC accessible on the phone. Should I just wipe literally everything (I assume it would be cleaner) like cache, preload, EFS, modem, recovery, etc.? Will wiping literally everything be like reformatting my phone (since my phone was not reformatted because my personal videos was still there when I installed my custom ROM? If I were to install completely different ROMs cleanly and wanted to keep my personal files, I would only need to wipe system, data, and boot?
4. Do I have to use CASUAL again to install an updated TWRP?
5. Does backing up a ROM also backup its root? I'm going to assume this is a dumb question and the answer is no. I'm also guessing I have to block OTA updates from AT&T to ensure I keep my root. How would I go about doing this? Also, would my phone be "safe" if I stick to my ROM (no updates or anything) for 4+ years? I'm asking this as an extreme case because I feel like I'm missing out on AT&T security updates that could protect my phone and also I don't think the developer my ROM (CleanROM) will do frequent updates).
6. I had problems with my computer not being able to recognize my phone and my SD card in the phone after I wiped everything and before I installed a ROM. I literally had to take the SD card from the phone and use an SD card reader to transfer my custom ROM/loki then put it back into the phone. Was I missing a driver?
7. What are some must-have apps a newly rooted user would want?
8. I read that you only need 1 EFS backup and you don't need to back it up every time you are going to install a custom ROM. Can I get a confirmation?
9. What does Goo Manager do and would I want it?
10. Is it essential that I keep up to date with news about my custom ROM/phone to ensure my phone is secured?
**Not Root/ROM related--Is swiping an app away from the Recent Apps List (long-press home button) the equivalent of killing an app? I use the Recent Apps List often but I don't want to go about swiping apps away if means it is killing it, since I read that killing apps are bad and actually drains battery life. Also, is there a mod that lets you access the Recent Apps List by long-pressing the menu one? I only see a mod that kills the app if you long-press it.
Also, any ROMs you guys can recommend me that is like CleanROM? It has to be TW-based because I use multi-windows. Basically, I want a stable, popular (popular ones tend to be more frequently updated, which is important because there are often bugs in custom ROMs), and optimized/debloated ROM (as debloated as possible, I rather use my own large list of apps than pre-installed ones). I was looking at GoldenEye but I'm not sure.
Thanks. I'm hoping for many responses as I have more questions to ask but not a lot of free time (I will check back on this thread every several hours until there are no more responses on the thread.
Hey there! Here is my take on at least some of your questions. I am not a super pro, but I will try not to give you any wrong info.
1. The zip files that are still out on your SD card are just the install files for whatever you are flashing. They won't be cleaned up automatically and you will need to delete them yourself if you want them gone. That being said I would recommend leaving the previous version's zip out there in case you need to back out of the new version.
2. If by phone settings you mean all of the settings in the various option menus baked into the ROM it is best to redo those when switching between ROMs. Many ROMs add and take away options and add whole new option sections so you will want to go through those and set things to your liking. Another option is to use a launcher like Nova Launcher that lets you back up its settings and restore them which is a big chunk of the things I change when going to a new ROM. Some people may have a different opinion on this one.
3. Yes if you make a backup in a recovery like TWRP and then restore from it it will be like you never flashed the other ROM. Titanium backup does what you say and also can backup individual Apps themselves and restore them.
4. Once you have a recovery installed you should not have to go through the hoops you went through to get it there to update it. Check the thread for the recovery for upgrade instructions.
5. Your SD card will not be wiped when you wipe system or data. There is also the internal "sdcard" that if I recall is not wiped when you do a standard wipe which will keep things like pics and videos between flashes.
6. So you were trying to access the phone storage/SD card while it was in recovery? I have never had much luck with that. I always just make sure I have all of the files I will need to install the new ROM moved over before I wipe it. That being said if you have the right driver it might be possible.
7. Titanium Backup, a file explorer that can leverage Root access like Root Explorer, maybe something like Greenify (I think it takes Root). Other than that check out the thread in the Apps/Themes subforum where people list their top 5 apps.
8. Pass (but I think what you heard/read is right)
9. Goo Manager can let you know if there is updated version of your ROM or what other ROMs are available for your device and download them. It can also be used to install a recovery. Personally I don't use it and just check ROM threads for updates if the ROM doesn't offer OTA updates.
10. I rarely see mention of security fixes/features in custom ROMs so I don't think you need to stay on top of threads for that reason. With that said, if security is crazy super important to you then a custom ROM might not be your best bet. Even though source code is available for most if not all of them that doesn't mean someone has gone through the code looking for security flaws (or even malicious code).
11. You can test this yourself. Go into the "Apps" section of the options and look at what Apps are running then swipe one away and check again. Personally I would go ahead and swipe away Apps as needed since that is a core Android feature. I haven't seen a mod for what you are asking.
12. The other two TW-based ROMs I have used are Goldeneye and Alpha. Both are good, but I am using Alpha now due to its higher degree of customization. Goldeneye hasn't been updated in a month or so, Alpha is being updated regularly at the moment.
---------- Post added at 08:15 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:09 PM ----------
Here is the link to the thread where people list out their top 5 apps!
Nice post, very good help...serious...
Incredibly helpful, thanks. I will post more questions if I have here, kind of busy at the moment.
Question:
What is the best way to detect whether a third-party app has a keylogger? I read from an article that it is incredibly easy for someone to put a keylogger on an app. Is Avast Mobile Security and Antivirus capable/overkill for this job? Also, I was worried that Avast may actually be bad because it would deteriorate (wear and tear on the SSD of the phone) through all the scannings? Or am I completely wrong? If I am wrong, I'm guessing it's because an antivirus only reads your files and therefore does not wear down a SSD (I'm not even sure if this is right).
mindstormer said:
Question:
What is the best way to detect whether a third-party app has a keylogger? I read from an article that it is incredibly easy for someone to put a keylogger on an app. Is Avast Mobile Security and Antivirus capable/overkill for this job? Also, I was worried that Avast may actually be bad because it would deteriorate (wear and tear on the SSD of the phone) through all the scannings? Or am I completely wrong? If I am wrong, I'm guessing it's because an antivirus only reads your files and therefore does not wear down a SSD (I'm not even sure if this is right).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can read a SSD all day long, that doesn't wear it out. Writing to a SSD will cause wear, not reading. I'm thinking that most antivirus apps can find that kind of stuff, but don't download from unknown sources or those you don't trust. Even Google Play has some shady stuff. I would recommend researching an app on Google if you have any doubts about it. I'm sure it can be done, but I really doubt any of your friends know how to reprogram one of your apps to have a keylogger, plus I wouldn't let them use my phone in the first place.
To answer your questions:
1. Antivirus doesn't wear anything out, it just puts load on your system.
2. Most antivirus apps should detect apps like the ones your talking about.
agent929 said:
You can read a SSD all day long, that doesn't wear it out. Writing to a SSD will cause wear, not reading. I'm thinking that most antivirus apps can find that kind of stuff, but don't download from unknown sources or those you don't trust. Even Google Play has some shady stuff. I would recommend researching an app on Google if you have any doubts about it. I'm sure it can be done, but I really doubt any of your friends know how to reprogram one of your apps to have a keylogger, plus I wouldn't let them use my phone in the first place.
To answer your questions:
1. Antivirus doesn't wear anything out, it just puts load on your system.
2. Most antivirus apps should detect apps like the ones your talking about.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the confirmation.
Another question for anyone:
Clean Master found the folder of an app that I installed on a precious ROM, so I not wipe the device cleanly. I though wiping system, boot, and data was enough--what was I missing, or should I have checked everything to be wiped on TeamWin Recovery?
Are you sure its not coming from your SD card?
Sent from miPhone using XDA Premium HD app

[LP][5.X][XPERIA] Debloating script for xperia phones running LP

***LOOKING FOR A ALL-IN-ONE SOLUTION? THAT'S AVAILABLE FOR Z3C USERS ONLY, IF INTERESTED GO HERE***
I guys, I share with you my debloating script for those interested in a higly DEBLOATED LP installation, very slimmed down, battery friendly, faster, with less RAM comsuption etc
Heavily debloated actually means almost 1 gb of system stuff moved to a backup folder (that you can even delete or move to sdcards to get 1gb extra free space in /system) so applying my script you agree to debloat A LOT as I did but take care that you will have a much lighter system and still you will be able to restore very easily anything you want anytime moving stuff back from the backup folder to /system (detailed instructions for that below in this thread).
NOTES
1. as all the stuff object of my debloating script is going to be placed in /system when flashing the pre-rooted FW, it is strongly suggested to apply my script immediately after flashing the pre-rooted LP FW and before rebooting, this way all that stuff will be moved away, and it is like it was never installed (at first boot no optimizations for those apps, means faster first boot etc)
2. as said above, all the bloat is not really deleted but moved to a Backup folder in system (/system/__Backup) so you can restore anything you want very easily. that's the reason you can see /system partition still almost full in spite of my high debloat, but stuff moved to the backup folder is "silent", so for sure it is not affecting the system at all and it is like it is not installed: I use this approach for people who needs to restore something, this way restoring is very very easy and fast. By the way, deleting the whole Backup folder (or moving it to your sdcard) you will then see something like 1.1 gb extra free space in /system!!
3. using different FW as base you may have some more bloat/apks, not present in my FW, that will remain installed. In this case, if you think there is some bloat left that could be removed, please send me a list of all your system apps remained after debloating, so i can check them (you can easily do that via terminal with 'ls /system/app > /sdcard/sysapps.txt' and 'ls /system/priv-app > /sdcard/privapps.txt' and send me the resultant text files)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Procedure for all xperia phones running LP: (like all Z series)
Requirements:
- working recovery
- be on LP already, 5.0.2 or 5.1.1, doesn't matter
Installation:
1. full nandroid backup to eventually go back to previous any time
2. wipe data, cache and dalvik ***
3. flash my debloating script
4. that's all! reboot/enjoy
*** NOTES
You can skip wiping data, so you'll keep all your personal data! But please mind that not wiping data during the installation procedure the debloat will not be 100% effective: in fact, if you don't wipe data, all the sony apps installed in /data/app won't be removed by the script! (to remove them, you'll have to uninstall them manually from settings > apps > downloaded)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
RESULT
As said at the top, you'll get a very slimmed down LP FW, battery friendly, very fast, with less RAM comsuption etc
Of course, everything is working great here, I mean all the features I need/use!
In particular, with latest version of my script you are going to delete more than 160 packages in total with all relevant libs/stuff plus all applications automatically installed by Sony :good:
DISCLAIMER
If you apply my script again please take care I did a pretty massive debloat as I don't use a lot of stuff (social apps, small apps, many of the sony "addons"/special settings etc!!) and this is a working config for me, but for others some functionalities will be probably missing, so mind what you do before apply them! (but again you can restore anything anytime, if interested just continue the reading)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
###########################################################################################################
REMOVED STUFF
As said at the beginning, with my script, stuff is not going to be deleted anymore, but moved in /system/__Backup folder. This way you can restore things without the need to download them from my GDrive.
HOW TO RESTORE SOMETHING
PS. of course I also removed from my FW all the stuff that can be easily downloaded from the Play Store (Gmail, etc)
In the hidden field below you will find the restoring instructions you need to follow to restore any package you may want back:
According to what you want to restore, you have to follow two different procedures:
- all the APKs that are inside /system/__Backup/various/etc_custom_apps and /system/__Backup/various/etc_prod_apps are regular APKs that are going to be installed in /data, so you can just run them and then select "install" like a normal APK, easy. You will then see them in Settings > applications > downloaded
- instead, all the things in /system/__Backup/system_app and /system/__Backup/system_priv-app folders can't be normally installed, but must be restored in the correct /system folders with correct permissions. To do this, see the step-by-step instructions below (in the following example, I am going to restore Chrome app in /system/app and Velvet (Google Search) in /system/priv-app, but of course you can restore how many things as you want at the same time)
Code:
- with a root file manager like ES, go to /system/__Backup/system_app and MOVE the whole "Chrome" folder to /system/app
- with a root file manager like ES, go to /system/__Backup/system_priv-app and MOVE the whole "Velvet" folder to /system/priv-app
- reboot
- done
PS. don't copy but MOVE things back, or permissions will get messed up and you are likely to end up in a bootloop!
Many THANKS @ondrejvaroscak and @Puffin617 for some very good advices, @mj084 for some packages descriptions :good:
Would one arrive at the same stable setup as you if the debloating-part in your guide was omitted?
(I prefer to use Debloater by @gatesjunior to block the apps)
Norup58 said:
Would one arrive at the same stable setup as you if the debloating-part in your guide was omitted?
(I prefer to use Debloater by @gatesjunior to block the apps)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
don't think so. in fact, several people who flashed and installed xposed directly on stock FW, had bootloops. others have problems with play store in deodexed, so I think, at least here and IMHO, best combo is odexed but debloated.
of course you can remove less stuff, that will be also much safer. if and when I post a text list of what I removed, I can maybe highlight dangerous apps that people should be careful with, or add notes for some apps that maybe is not so easy to understand what they are for
EDIT: I always prefer manual things, so I always manually move apps to a temporary location and then delete them
oh man, thanks for this, but i have a lot of problems to visualize what have you did. dropbox isn't working for me on my work's network. Can you make a list of apps? pastebin, tinypaste, hastebin, chop... there are options!
espaciosalter20 said:
oh man, thanks for this, but i have a lot of problems to visualize what have you did. dropbox isn't working for me on my work's network. Can you make a list of apps? pastebin, tinypaste, hastebin, chop... there are options!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
will make a list soon!
EDIT: done! see OP!!
moly82 said:
will make a list soon!
EDIT: done! see OP!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you! it's a shame that i already have achieved my 8-post limit for today.
Which app is refer screenshot: https://www.dropbox.com/s/6smtqx57f3mjy68/Screenshot_2015-04-08-15-10-03.png?dl=0
Thank
Hispa
espaciosalter20 said:
Thank you! it's a shame that i already have achieved my 8-post limit for today.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
don't worry mate!
ps. added notes/colours to some pretty dangerous apps to remove.. all others should be pretty self explanatory/safe to delete if you don't use them
hispanico957 said:
Which app is refer screenshot: https://www.dropbox.com/s/6smtqx57f3mjy68/Screenshot_2015-04-08-15-10-03.png?dl=0
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
gravity box > lockscreen mods > customizable lockscreen shortcuts!
enabled navbar edits and lost recent buttons... but in homescreen (and only there) I still have it
(the secret is... a modded wallpaper lol )
of course in other apps it is gone ;(
moly82 said:
enabled navbar edits and lost recent buttons... but in homescreen (and only there) I still have it
(the secret is... a modded wallpaper lol )
of course in other apps it is gone ;(
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes also for me no recent in apps... but also at home !?
Hispa
Perfect Bro @moly82 will work on it to launch a FW Debloated stable.
So do we know which app it is that you removed that fixed the xposed issue? I don't buy the "just delete a bunch of stuff and xposed will work", there must be one or a combination of apps that are causing the bootloops.
Avengeme said:
So do we know which app it is that you removed that fixed the xposed issue? I don't buy the "just delete a bunch of stuff and xposed will work", there must be one or a combination of apps that are causing the bootloops.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
well, you are free to investigate [emoji14]
always when i flash a stock fw i immediately remove a lot of useless (for me) stuff.. this time I had already deleted something like 120 useless apps before flashing xposed and seeing it was working fine.. so that's not so easy for me at this time to understand exactly what is causing bootloops for some people and actually, even if it wouldn't be impossible to find that out, that's not interesting for me so don't see a point in losing extra time in that research sorry (I'm already wasting too much time in debloat operations [emoji14] )
hispanico957 said:
Yes also for me no recent in apps... but also at home !?
Hispa
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yeah no recents button here as well.. as i said the recent button i have in my homescreen is a trick... a wallpaper with a fake button drawing in background [emoji14]
@moly82: you are the greatest ... finally I got xposed framework without bootloop!! Thank you so much!!
no problem mate glad it was helpful for someone else!
yesterday I added a few more xposed modules, and still no bootloops at all (right now I'm using GB, apm+, youtube adway, youtube background playback, xperia/AOSP NavBar Buttons :good: )
btw did you delete all (or most of the) the apps in my list? and before debloating you had bootloops?
because I immediately debloated and only then I installed xposed, so was wondering if maybe also installing xposed without debloating could be working actually as never tried here this way
in any case, just testing right now some more debloat... would like to increase the debloat list... will update OP if I find it safe and will have no problems after new deletions
gallery app is not working! i tried restoring all the Photo* app ,but still not working
Try to clear Cache and Data from Album App, helped me last time it wont work
you mean sony album? works perfectly here
removed updates and now is working fine

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