Database Users

disable AT&T apps?

i google'd this but can't find anything on it and was wondering if the s3 is the first phone that allows users to disable at&t services without root. this is my first android device so i wouldn't know if that's true...
anyway, i have hotspots, navigator, messages, and updater. Carat is saying updater uses a lot of my battery, but that is the only one i can't disable in the application management menu in settings. however, i assume if i disable the other 3 then updater will have nothing to update and will consume less battery (hopefully).
has anyone tried to disable these programs with success, i.e. without it causing problems to your phone?

im not sure. but i did try to uninstall one and then it just showed up that it needed a update so i ended up redownloading the app because im so OCD about having updates not done

ATT Apps
tuffluck said:
i google'd this but can't find anything on it and was wondering if the s3 is the first phone that allows users to disable at&t services without root. this is my first android device so i wouldn't know if that's true...
anyway, i have hotspots, navigator, messages, and updater. Carat is saying updater uses a lot of my battery, but that is the only one i can't disable in the application management menu in settings. however, i assume if i disable the other 3 then updater will have nothing to update and will consume less battery (hopefully).
has anyone tried to disable these programs with success, i.e. without it causing problems to your phone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You go into the application manager and DISABLE the app. I have gotten rid of ALL the ATT bloatware this way. Works sort of like
Titanium Backup but you do not need the root. Great option.
CC

This is actually one of the 'features' of ICS (being able to disable apps w/o needing root). It basically very similar to "freezing" apps in TiBackup if you have root. It's generally much safer than outright deleting an app since if you do find you need it you can always re-enable it.

Make sure you have "auto update" unchecked in Google play first. Go to manage apps in settings and then go to "all".
Disable the ones that you don't need which is prolly a lot. You can also hide them if you want. While in your app drawer hit the menu button and choose hide apps.
Sent from my SGH-I747M using xda premium

Using NoBloat Free to Disable Flipboard and My Magazine

I have disabled many of the bloatware or other unwanted software within my Note 3. However, I cannot find the specific system apps to disable Flipboard and My Magazine. Does anyone have an idea as to which system apps should be disabled?
As a side note, I already know I can turn of the My Magazine functionality by removing the option to open the app with the Home button. However, My Magazine will still open if you swipe up from the button of the device. I want to disable that (and Flipboard) completely.

notethreeuser said:
I have disabled many of the bloatware or other unwanted software within my Note 3. However, I cannot find the specific system apps to disable Flipboard and My Magazine. Does anyone have an idea as to which system apps should be disabled?
As a side note, I already know I can turn of the My Magazine functionality by removing the option to open the app with the Home button. However, My Magazine will still open if you swipe up from the button of the device. I want to disable that (and Flipboard) completely.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You will only be able to disable them if you are rooted. If you are you can either freeze them with Titanium Backup (or similar app) or uninstall them completely. Be aware however that removing My Magazine (I'm not sure if this happens when freezing) will break Samsung Keyboard. They are integrated into each other as Samsung has done with most of their apps to prevent pirating.
If you like having the option of using the S Pen keyboard when using your pen there is an alternative. For my normal keyboard I use SwiftKey, but you can use whatever you like. What you'll need to download from the Play Store is Stylus Beta (It is a pretty nice alternative to Samsung's writing keyboard) as well as SPenBoardSwitcher (requires root). The switcher app allows you to set which keyboard activates when the S Pen is Inactive and Active so you don't have to switch them yourself.
I hope this wasn't more info than you wanted. Good luck.

notethreeuser said:
I have disabled many of the bloatware or other unwanted software within my Note 3.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
kinstre11 said:
Be aware however that removing My Magazine (I'm not sure if this happens when freezing) will break Samsung Keyboard. They are integrated into each other as Samsung has done with most of their apps to prevent pirating,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you, kinstre11. My device is already rooted. I didn't explicitly state that fact; however, since NoBloat Free requires root, I presumed people would infer my device is rooted.
In all the forums I have read about My Magazine, you are the first person to reference anything about the default Samsung keyboard being integrated with My Magazine. That being said, I am not trying to remove My Magazine. I am simply trying to disable it. I have used NoBloat Free to disable various apps such as all Amazon apps, Knox, Gear (will not get the watch), all the Google Play apps except the Google Play Store, OTA updates, and the default browser. I can always go back in and enable whatever app I want.
Can anyone corroborate Kinstre11's statement regarding My Magazine and the keyboard? Will this only come into play when My Magazine is removed or simply disabled?

notethreeuser said:
Thank you, kinstre11. My device is already rooted. I didn't explicitly state that fact; however, since NoBloat Free requires root, I presumed people would infer my device is rooted.
Will this only come into play when My Magazine is removed or simply disabled?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have actually never heard of the app so I didn't know the requirements.
As for your last question you can always simply test it. If it breaks the keyboard when disable simply reinable it.

My Places

How do I disable it? Every time I turn off location it comes up with a warning saying My Places need location on to work. Is there a way to totally disable My Places as I suspect it's draining my battery?

Install Package Disabler Pro from the Play Store and disable it.

nobnut said:
Install Package Disabler Pro from the Play Store and disable it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for that. I keep seeing people using it. Does it actually noticeably improve battery life?

Yes... assuming you don't go mad and start disabling everything. Also, don't use its inbuilt "disable bloat" option. It is too severe.
There are threads here where people post their .xml files and you can see what they have disabled, or even import their settings. Everyone's choices will be different however.
It is easy to re-enable apps if you find that you have lost functionality, or your battery life gets worse rather than better.
Here are some apps that some people have disabled

nobnut said:
Yes... assuming you don't go mad and start disabling everything. Also, don't use its inbuilt "disable bloat" option. It is too severe.
There are threads here where people post their .xml files and you can see what they have disabled, or even import their settings. Everyone's choices will be different however.
It is easy to re-enable apps if you find that you have lost functionality, or your battery life gets worse rather than better.
Here are some apps that some people have disabled
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oops. I've just installed it and used the one touch option to disable all the bloatware. But I've gone and enabled what I need afterwards again. It's the system apps I don't have a clue about so I guess I will have to wait and see. Do you know if there is a list of commonly disabled apps that people have used anywhere?

Yes, there is at least one. I saw a thread two or so days ago, I have just have a quick search but cannot see it currently.
Everyone has a slightly different outlook however. I just disable Samsung stuff I have no use for watch manager stub etc and Facebook stuff. I disable Google Play Games and Movies.
I don't disable any Google framework or system stuff.
I use Nova and therefore disable Touchwiz Home and Easy Home. It's logical when you think about it. If you don't use S Health, disable it.
You can undo the disable bloatware option if you want to.

nobnut said:
Yes, there is at least one. I saw a thread two or so days ago, I have just have a quick search but cannot see it currently.
Everyone has a slightly different outlook however. I just disable Samsung stuff I have no use for watch manager stub etc and Facebook stuff. I disable Google Play Games and Movies.
I don't disable any Google framework or system stuff.
I use Nova and therefore disable Touchwiz Home and Easy Home. It's logical when you think about it. If you don't use S Health, disable it.
You can undo the disable bloatware option if you want to.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the info. Much appreciated.

How Do I Remove Icons From Disabled Apps

I have disabled many of the built in apps from my S4 but the following ones are still in my App drawer although they are disabled.
S Planner
Music
Optical Reader
Help
Voice Recorder
Calculator
Samsung Hub
Voice Search
Kids Mode
Can I get rid of these icons?
Rob

Do they work if you want to open them? If so, they are not disabled.
They should disappear after a restart of the launcher.
Otherwise, just hide them.

Yes they still work, although disabled is selected and greyed out. Is there no way to properly disable these or remove them?
Rob

Yes there is a way. You can root your device easily with help on this forum or another thread (search for: how to root device Samsung galaxy s4 i guess? , so you can uninstall the bloatware apps with the app Root Uninstaller from the Playstore. If you are not familiar with this way to remove system Google Apps, than don't try it. It can mess up your Device very bad. But it's worth a try. Just learn and follow the instructions very good with a little help. That's all i can say from my experience which is very positive:good:

robertywatson said:
Yes they still work, although disabled is selected and greyed out. Is there no way to properly disable these or remove them?
Rob
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A grayed out "disable" means it cannot be disabled.
If an app was disabled, the "disable" option gets replaced by "enable".
Disabled apps aren't supposed to work either, so obviously your apps weren't disabled.

Uh oh... 5.6.2.0

I woke up today to find my tablet on the table with the screen on and a weird new lockscreen with some spam about hints on how to use Alexa. I guess my tablet had updated a few minutes before I got up and so the screen was on.
Because my tablet was previously rooted and I disabled the stock launcher and was using Nova, I was unable to get out of the lock screen. Pressing home did nothing nor did swiping from any direction. Funny enough too, the lockscreen was saying how to use Alexa but on my device purchased in Japan, Alexa i completely missing even from a stock install which is just insult to injury.
Anyway, I am looking for a way to remedy this hopefully without a reinstall. My initial thought was to re-root and re-disable the stock launcher giving Nova control again, if possible. However, I am unsure if the usual rooting method works on this version. I can't even re-enable the stock launcher without root (I think) so I guess if I lost root I will have to do a reinstall to get back to stock?

Does yours have your home buttons/top bar? Mine disappeared with the update and now the only way to get back to my home screen is to reboot my fire entirely!

taiyoko said:
Does yours have your home buttons/top bar?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes. I was still able to use the device with those functions but it's incredibly inconvenient. Would a reboot help with anything?

I was looking at another thread in the help section, and apparently my nav/notification bars being missing is some sort of compatibility problem with 5.6.2.0 and Nova Launcher.

uninstall nova via adb

I think I figured it out but this won't work for everyone. After opening settings using the pull down notification menu, this reenabled the recent apps which allowed me to open Nova launcher. I rerooted using the offline method here https://forum.xda-developers.com/hd8-hd10/general/hd-10-2017-offline-rooting-t3734860 which thankfully still works. After that I was able to use Titanium backup to freeze the new "Launcher 1.0........".
Everything is now running like before the update.

yoflo said:
I think I figured it out but this won't work for everyone. After opening settings using the pull down notification menu, this reenabled the recent apps which allowed me to open Nova launcher. I rerooted using the offline method here https://forum.xda-developers.com/hd8-hd10/general/hd-10-2017-offline-rooting-t3734860 which thankfully still works. After that I was able to use Titanium backup to freeze the new "Launcher 1.0........".
Everything is now running like before the update.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not able to disable the stock launcher with the old method, pm disable, once you have root?
EDIT: Was finally able to try some stuff on my tablet. I was able to get root due to your method you linked, which BIG thank you by the way as that method is way less fishy than Kingroot nonsense, and was able to disable the launcher with the "pm disable com.amazon.paladin" command. Seems like they gave their new launcher the name Paladin.
And I'm back to Nova launcher! Thanks so much.

REMOVED

I'm just hoping the new version doesn't make it even harder to root the 8. It's already seeming hopeless. I had updates blocked at the router level. It updated at work.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using Tapatalk

stew1411 said:
I'm just hoping the new version doesn't make it even harder to root the 8. It's already seeming hopeless. I had updates blocked at the router level. It updated at work.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
DeviceSoftwareOTA.apk will update the tablet even if blocked at that level. Amazon uses several IPs which change often. You have to disable that apk or completely removed it. You can try NetGuard firewall. You have to buy the features, but it allows you to block individual IPs. On my HD 8, before I posted a guide on how to disable system apps on 5.4.0.0, at one point I had a dozen or more IPs blocked through NetGuard. It will take time to tinker with all it's features, but I don't regret buying them.

Ugh, me too!
No notification bar.
I'm unclear as to what I can do to remedy this.
I have Nova Launcher running and I am a novice.
Can someone please tell me what to do?
---------- Post added at 03:48 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:07 PM ----------
OK, update...
So, I restarted a couple of times, and like the third time I restarted, another update applied and a video about "Show Mode" displayed. I sped to the end of it.
I also (previously) turned off "Show Mode" on the lockscreen.
Then, I backed-up my Nova and shared it via Gmail.
Suddenly, the navigation buttons on the bottom appeared and the notification bar showed.
Does that mean it got fixed (somehow) with that orange-screened update that showed upon restarting?
Also, how can I halt any further updates?

When I received the 5.6.2.0 update, I had the same problem of no pull-down menu and no navigation buttons. I had previously installed Google Play, Nova and LauncherHijack. I did not have root. I called Amazon tech support and the guy connected with their MayDay remote assistance program, so I'm sure he could see I was running Google and Nova. We went thru several reboots and checked settings, but he was still stumped. Finally we did a factory reset and reapplied the 5.6.2.0. update and it started working. I have since reinstall Google Play, Nova and LauncherHijack and everything is running fine. My suspicion is that LauncherHijack is blocking the complete install. I read another post that exactly described this issue. In that case the user uninstalled Nova and LauncherHijack and powered off and back on. The installation then continued and when completed, the Show Mode video ran. I contacted the author of LauncherHijack and he said he would check it when he got the update.
Bottom line--if your tablet updates to 5.6.2.0 but the Show Mode video does not appear, the installation has failed/hung before it completed (even if it says the update completed). If you have LauncherHijack installed, try uninstalling it, cycle power and see if that fixes the problem.

I know this won't work for everyone but I was lucky enough to manage to access the Play Store when I noticed this happened on my HD10 and saw that the last app updated was amazon alexa under "Recently Updated" in the "My Apps and Games" section. I hit uninstall and rebooted. Show mode setup then came up normally after reboot and after the setup process for that everything worked normally again. Re-updated alexa and everything is working perfectly now. This worked for me so it's worth a shot but I might have just gotten lucky.

I got the orange screen, rebooted, still had it, tried several times locking and unlocking and kinda fiddling around, from the lock screen pulled the little "tag" icon (swipe for offers I think?)
At some point I was able to get into my email client (type mail) but only had a back button, no home or task buttons. Restarted again, same kind of fiddling around, and somehow it ended up playing the video. Skipped to the end, disabled Alexa when prompted and ended up on my normal home screen with all three nav buttons. Everything seems to be back to normal now. FYI, I'm running Nova, launcher hijack, all the standard Google apps including play store, and I didn't have to uninstall anything. I wish I knew the exact sequence that got it to work, but I'm really not sure... Maybe it wasn't even anything I did? Maybe it was just taking time downloading that obnoxious video?
It is nerve-wracking when something like this comes up knowing that they could push an update that messes everything up and there's basically nothing we can do about it.
I really really hope we can get root on this device

NFSP G35 said:
I really really hope we can get root on this device
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can just re-root it.

autobulb said:
You can just re-root it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I thought there wasn't any root on the HD 8? Did I miss something???

NFSP G35 said:
I thought there wasn't any root on the HD 8? Did I miss something???
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah sorry, my device is the HD10. You're right, HD8 doesn't have root.

autobulb said:
Ah sorry, my device is the HD10. You're right, HD8 doesn't have root.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why are these devices lumped together when they are clearly very different?

n3wt said:
Why are these devices lumped together when they are clearly very different?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's just the way the XDA forum was set up unfortunately. Sometimes similar devices are put together in the same forum and the users are expected to be clear about which device they are talking about.

A Solution - At Least For Me!
autobulb said:
I woke up today to find my tablet on the table with the screen on and a weird new lockscreen with some spam about hints on how to use Alexa. I guess my tablet had updated a few minutes before I got up and so the screen was on.
Because my tablet was previously rooted and I disabled the stock launcher and was using Nova, I was unable to get out of the lock screen. Pressing home did nothing nor did swiping from any direction. Funny enough too, the lockscreen was saying how to use Alexa but on my device purchased in Japan, Alexa i completely missing even from a stock install which is just insult to injury.
Anyway, I am looking for a way to remedy this hopefully without a reinstall. My initial thought was to re-root and re-disable the stock launcher giving Nova control again, if possible. However, I am unsure if the usual rooting method works on this version. I can't even re-enable the stock launcher without root (I think) so I guess if I lost root I will have to do a reinstall to get back to stock?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I found a simple way around it - if rooted.
I had to re-root, but that wasn't too difficult using existing resources.
Through some trial and error I figured out "com.amazon.paladin" is linked to the Alexa/Show Launcher (that's what I'm calling it at this point).
You can disable it with the following via ADB. It should revert back to your default launcher.
I also had Nova Launcher installed, so I disabled the stock launcher (the second pm line below).
Code:
adb shell
$ su
# pm disable com.amazon.paladin
# pm disable com.amazon.firelauncher