Related
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.
Since we now have sort of root I wanted to have a thread where you guys could list all root apps you use and what they do.
When I used to root and do custom roms the apps I would use was adaway,root checker,sometimes titanium backup,and xposed with some tweaks.
The reason I made this thread and I hope someone else didn't make one if they did (mod close this) was to know which root apps you guys use with temp root (until we get perma root) which at this point I think we will have soon.
When I have time I can add lists of apps you guys use or suggest here in OP.
Thanks!
** List Of Apps :
Root Checker - Checks to make sure root works
Titanium Backup - Easy way of remove bloat apps
I was able to use AdAway/AdFree successfully, however on reboot the host file was reverted back.
While working on a init hack for attaining root for the S5 past OE1, I decided to look around for information while I was taking a break.
I've been looking into old exploits, to learn as much as possible. That, and it is very interesting reading material.
I figured I should look into android security news as well.
That is when I found a vulnerability post that SEARCH-LAB Ltd. has discovered in ADB.
"...discovered a vulnerability in the design of the Android
backup mechanism: the backup manager, which invokes the custom
BackupAgent does not filter the data stream returned by the
applications. A malicious BackupAgent (without any Android permissions)
is able to inject additional applications (APKs) through reflection into
the backup archive without the user's consent. Upon restoration of the
backup archive, the system installs the injected, additional application
(since it is already part of the backup archive). The installed malware
could gain any (non-system) permissions it wanted without any
confirmation dialogs."
While this means that applications can be pushed to the phone, they won't be able to achieve system permissions.
What do you guys think would happen if we took a backup of an application with root permissions from a different S5 and used this injection method to place them onto our devices. I'm sure the signature wouldn't allow root to carry from a non-identical device. It is fun to play around though. Experimentation always leads to fun knowledge.
Anyway, I figured you guys might be interested in this. Have fun playing around!
In preparation for the impending upgrade to Android 6 Marshmallow, I'm trying an experiment on my Android 5 based Zenfone 2. I'm going to see how annoying it is to give up root. The first thing I did on my first android phone was root it, so I've only every used rooted Android devices.
Prologue:
Root on Android 6 (usually) requires an unlocked bootloader, because root is achieved by modifying the boot image to inject su into the system. That way the system image is left unmodified and can continue to pass dm-verity checks.
At the moment, there does not appear to be anyway on the Zenfone 2 to unlock the Marshmallow beta bootloader, and it also appears to relock any unlocked bootloader. In fact, the droidboot binary in the droidboot.img of the Marshmallow beta contains the strings rm -rf /factory/asuskey and rm -rf /factory/asussignature. droidboot also contains the strings unlock successfully...reboot after 5 seconds and **** Unlock bootloader? **** as well as other strings referring to unlock (droidboot from the .184 Lollipop also has those strings). So, my hope is that there is a simple way to unlock the bootloader, which will be revealed by Asus, or discovered by somebody.
My thought is that worst case those of us who want root will use an unlockable Lollipop bootloader with a Cyanogenmod 13.1 based ROM created with updates from the Asus Marshmallow source code.
Experiment:
I've removed Xposed and SuperSU from my phone. Making it stock Android 5. I'm documenting here the functionality that I lose. The first goal is for my own amusement to keep a log of what I'm giving up.
The second goal, and probably the major one, is to solicit suggestions on what can be done to replace the functionality I'm losing.
What I'm giving up:
AdAway - No system wide ad blocking. Firefox with uBlock Origin should cover blocking ads on the web. I usually buy apps I use frequently, but I'll have to see which ones are annoying with ads. I'm aware of the VPN based ad blocking methods, but I'll have to wait and see if it comes to that.
AFWall+ - Using root to improve security... I mostly use this to prevent some apps from using mobile data, and to prevent some apps from gaining network access at all.
BetterBatteryStatus - It works in non-root mode, but not as well.
BusyBox - Without root, there isn't much need for this anyway.
Cryptfs Password - Once again, security is harmed by removing root. This allowed my encryption pin to be different (and much longer) than my screen lock pin. I don't want to type 10 digits to unlock my screen, but it's fine for booting.
Greenify - This definitely kept some aps in check, but perhaps Asus' Auto-Start Manager will be able to replace it.
GSam Battery Monitor - Like BetterBatteryStatus, this had a root component to provide more information.
Kernel Adiutor - For some reason my phone seemed to only go to 1.8ghz instead of 2.3ghz, so I used this to fix it.
Linux Deploy - I never used the Linux chroot image for much, but it was a cute toy.
Secure Settings - This let tasker automate adjusting some things which require root to change.
Titanium Backup - This is a massive loss in functionality. Simply having backups is tremendously important. The ability to freeze unwanted system apps is also nice. I can reload many of my apps from Google, but not all of them bother to save their settings in the Google backup. Ohh, the bloat!
Trimmer (fstrim) - Probably not really necessary, anyway.
Xposed
Amplify - It saved me lots of wakeups, but I don't know if it really did much to increase battery life.
Fix Lollipop Memory Leak - I don't know if this did anything, either.
GravityBox [LP] - I didn't tweak too much, but what I did change was really useful.
NetStrength - I like replacing my wifi bars with useful information.
ProtectMyPrivacy - The permission settings in Marshmallow would make this obsolete anyway.
YouTube AdAway - Nice, but not required.
What I'm gaining:
Android Pay - I guess I can play with this now.
AFWall+ - Using root to improve security... I mostly use this to prevent some apps from using mobile data, and to prevent some apps from gaining network access at all.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Asus has integrated a firewall iptables recent months.
Asus mobile manager -> User Data -> Restrict (bottom of screen)
For the rest, no root is to accept to take along twice monitoring tools of an advertising billboard.
Keep in mind that Google is an advertising agency that is desperate to earn money, including harassment to get the maximum information.
Its purpose, despite what he claims, is not to improve people's lives, but his bank account.
Android is a disguised tools for Google, not for the people who is a commodity to be exploited.
I'm gonna miss Adaway and Afwall+ the most. Afwall+ is much better than the Asus built in firewall. You can disable net access by default for newly installed app. You are notified to set firewall rules when you install an app. You can filter apps to be set. If only Asus could provide a such a bunch of feature for their firewall, I won't miss root so much.
Sent from my Asus Zenfone 2 using XDA Labs
IDEDALE said:
Asus has integrated a firewall iptables recent months.
Asus mobile manager -> User Data -> Restrict (bottom of screen)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the info about the functionality in Asus Mobile Manager, I didn't know that.
As far as Adaway goes, try this https://block-this.com
Sent from my ASUS_Z00A using Tapatalk
IDEDALE said:
Asus has integrated a firewall iptables recent months.
Asus mobile manager -> User Data -> Restrict (bottom of screen)
For the rest, no root is to accept to take along twice monitoring tools of an advertising billboard.
Keep in mind that Google is an advertising agency that is desperate to earn money, including harassment to get the maximum information.
Its purpose, despite what he claims, is not to improve people's lives, but his bank account.
Android is a disguised tools for Google, not for the people who is a commodity to be exploited.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agree with most of that... unfortunately the ASUS mobile manager "firewall" doesn't work any more on the current marshmallow beta.
It's still there, but it seems not to work for blocking apps.
The new app permission system in MM may be used to prevent apps from connecting around, in theory at least, but I'm not sure how effective that is.
This phone without root absolutely sucks. There's a thread on the ASUS forum, guy has links to pre rooted system images but I haven't tried it.
http://www.asus.com/zentalk/thread-39487-1-1.html
Sent from my ASUS_Z00AD using XDA-Developers mobile app
The thread mentioned was opened in September '15... Didn't try downloading the files but can't imagine that there's a pre-rooted file out there already. Somebody would have known and told us, I guess
If anyone tried and it works, may you leave a line!
sent from my Binford Z00AD using tapatalk
nfc expert said:
if you want stop ad without root, you can try this : https://block-this.com/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
kenbo111 said:
As far as Adaway goes, try this https://block-this.com
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are several other VPN based ad blockers as well. AdClear, AdGuard, and I think some more.
I played with some of them when they first started coming out, but always returned to the host file based blocker, because it was easy and worked fine with root. I think the phone has plenty of RAM and CPU to run these VPN ones, but I haven't been annoyed to try them again. So far uBlock Origin in Firefox has been fine. In the almost two days since unrooting I've used one app which shows me ads.
IDEDALE said:
Asus has integrated a firewall iptables recent months.
Asus mobile manager -> User Data -> Restrict (bottom of screen)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the tip, I didn't know about it. This was easy enough to setup, even if it doesn't have as many features as AFWall+. I haven't tested to make sure it works.
My idea to get root on Asus' Marshmallow release is to install just the system, but keep the unlocked bootloader and ifwi from Lollipop. It should be easy enough to modify the updater script to only flash the system and boot image, while leaving the bootloader and ifwi alone. I don't know if that will work, or if the system will crash when it finds an old ifwi, or if the bootloader will fail to load the new system. With an unlocked bootloader, root is trivial.
As long as the bootloader is in place, it should be easy to recover from a broken system.
Don't take my word for it though, these are just ideas, and I'm not ready to try them yet. My warranty is over at the end of the month, so I'll unlock my bootloader then.
Hello new here and while I have done some searches I am not quite finding what I am looking for which is maybe because I am not asking the right questions or searching for the right terms so hopefully someone can direct me to the right place!
I have an old Galaxy Grand Prime Sm-G530W running Android 5.1.1. It has 8gb storage and I would like to maybe remove some of the apps that I wont use, are not useful or are just bloatware.
However I am not sure what apps are what and which one I should avoid removing?
The phone will be used primary to make calls, will not be on a data and only use free wifi hotspot and the wife from my home.
I would like to maybe keep some kind of google maps ability, I do not want chrome but rather would use firefox along with ad blockers etc I know work well for me on FF.
I have have done some research but not a phone expert by far so I am not sure I want to root my phone, install custom roms. I read something about remove bloatware via "remove the pre installed apps using ADB commands" however figured I get some tips advice from people that know what they are talking about.
Ideally it would be great if there was some kind of program I can just plug into from my PC or some such that allows me to then simply remove the samsung and google bloat or unwanted programs so I could gain more room for apps I do want.
Right now after factory reset it uses like 3.50GB out of 8gb.
is there any Debloat program I can use on it out there?
smdebloat said:
Hello new here and while I have done some searches I am not quite finding what I am looking for which is maybe because I am not asking the right questions or searching for the right terms so hopefully someone can direct me to the right place!
I have an old Galaxy Grand Prime Sm-G530W running Android 5.1.1. It has 8gb storage and I would like to maybe remove some of the apps that I wont use, are not useful or are just bloatware.
However I am not sure what apps are what and which one I should avoid removing?
The phone will be used primary to make calls, will not be on a data and only use free wifi hotspot and the wife from my home.
I would like to maybe keep some kind of google maps ability, I do not want chrome but rather would use firefox along with ad blockers etc I know work well for me on FF.
I have have done some research but not a phone expert by far so I am not sure I want to root my phone, install custom roms. I read something about remove bloatware via "remove the pre installed apps using ADB commands" however figured I get some tips advice from people that know what they are talking about.
Ideally it would be great if there was some kind of program I can just plug into from my PC or some such that allows me to then simply remove the samsung and google bloat or unwanted programs so I could gain more room for apps I do want.
Right now after factory reset it uses like 3.50GB out of 8gb.
is there any Debloat program I can use on it out there?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello member of this small community, well the best way to remove bloatware is by root, the process is relatively simple.
1) Download the twrp recovery (.tar) belonging to the model you have.
2) Install it through Odin
3) Install Magisk Manager
With this done you can use applications such as root uninstaller, another alternative is to look if there is a custom rom for your model, but do not expect much as many roms have been abandoned and only a new project is kept alive, if the current rom does not present problems in performance, I recommend you leave it alone and start removing junk apps, another recommendation is to install SD maid, a great app for cleaning junk content of the phone.