Database Users

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.

[Guide]List of apps safe to remove

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.

[Q] Can I remove useless APKs from Amazon update.zip?

Hello,
I was wondering if it was possible to remove useless APKs like Facebook and Quickoffice before flashing the Amazon update.zip so that the apps wouldn't be there. If I did that, would I have to resign the zip file or should it still work? Thanks!

Why bother, just install it, and with root, remove what you don't want.

Or, freeze them with Titanium backup. That way they're not gone for good, in case you ever really want them back. What's useless now may not be useless forever.

Rather than delete them or have another app running to freeze them just rename the .apk to .bak. That way you still have them if you need them but they will not run at all, I've seen quite a few times where TiBu supposedly freezes an app but it will still end up running.

other than freezing apps (they're still there) if you delete them you can just reflash the ROM with everything else.
If your looking to use amazon stuff..careful what you delete. About 15 of those apps are tied together in a signature form...one missing and you can't use amazon video. There's a thread around here..best one I have seen is by paulobrien.

All I wanted to remove was quickoffice and facebook, nothing else would be touched

daweedk1991 said:
All I wanted to remove was quickoffice and facebook, nothing else would be touched
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You should be fine with those, I would still rename them and once you see that things are still working fine after a reboot go ahead and delete them.

Q: Bloatware on boost mobile E4. I need help removing them.

I have tried uninstalling them through multiple apps in the playstore and it always says failed. I am rooted and I want to use the stock rom for now until the data issues are patched. I have disabled the apps I just don't want the on my phone. The facebook apps you can't disable the update. I don't trust facebook and I don't want anything to do with it on my phone so if anyone know's how to remove them please let me know. Thank you.

bluemoonlight said:
I have tried uninstalling them through multiple apps in the playstore and it always says failed. I am rooted and I want to use the stock rom for now until the data issues are patched. I have disabled the apps I just don't want the one my phone. The facebook apps you can't disable the update. I don't trust facebook and I don't want anything to do with it on my phone so if anyone know's how to remove them please let me know. Thank you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
BEFORE READING, MAKE A BACKUP PRIOR TO THIS ANSWER:
I'm sorry to say, but it would need to be done using the file manager via TWRP. It is a lil tricky because it lacks concise deletion. So it is best to use a rooted file explorer (es file explorer is beneficial for this) and look around these locations:
/system/app
/system/priv-app
/oem/app
/oem/priv-app
Each folder holding the apk must be deleted individually in TWRP's file manager, or you WILL face a possible soft-brick.
Good luck.
(The reason why is, because the oem section is more secure to avoid a break of the phone itself, so it will freeze everytime while the actual OS is in use. Doing it via TWRP ensures deletion and avoiding a freeze bc the recovery OS is different from stock OS)

GGP SM-G530W Debloater?

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.