Database Users

Phone Security

I am having a problem with the security apps on the market like "MobileDefense", "SIM Checker" and so on. They are all great apps but can be easily uninstalled through the market with a little looking around. So what I need is to know how to install the .apk in /system. So basicly I figure that I need to move the .apk to "/system/app" so it is running in the system and cannot be uninstalled via market. So what I need would be the terminal commands to do this if anyone knows. Further more I was wondering if it would also be possible to go in and rename the .apk in "/system" to something like "systemapp.apk" to confuse the person trying to uninstall the app if they happen to stumble upon the manage applications section. Any help would be appreciated!

You can uninstall system apps too.

Yes but not as easy as going into the market and uninstalling. Is there any way to do what I am talking about in the first post? Btw I love your Rom.

Just go to Settings/applications there are the systemapps too...

maxisma said:
Just go to Settings/applications there are the systemapps too...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Systemapps was just an example It could also be named something else How would I go about moving "MobileDefense" to /system/app using terminal commands?

maxisma said:
Just go to Settings/applications there are the systemapps too...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually the Settings application manager cannot uninstall applications in /system. /system is supposed to be read-only on stock Android builds.
Installing something into /system/app is easy. Just install the app normally from the Market, then open your adb or Terminal emulator, remount system, and cp the file from /data/app into /system/app. After, rm the original copy. The downside is you won't be able to update the app from the market.

jashsu said:
Actually the Settings application manager cannot uninstall applications in /system. /system is supposed to be read-only on stock Android builds.
Installing something into /system/app is easy. Just install the app normally from the Market, then open your adb or Terminal emulator, remount system, and cp the file from /data/app into /system/app. After, rm the original copy. The downside is you won't be able to update the app from the market.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
IIRC, this won't work anyways since they application will be reinstalled but your settings will not? Am I wrong? A wipe will still kill the application's usefulness even if it were built into the ROM.
Is there a way to setup a program default (your settings) so that short of installing an entirely new ROM, you keep your settings???

momentarylapseofreason said:
IIRC, this won't work anyways since they application will be reinstalled but your settings will not? Am I wrong? A wipe will still kill the application's usefulness even if it were built into the ROM.
Is there a way to setup a program default (your settings) so that short of installing an entirely new ROM, you keep your settings???
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is a good point; I hadn't thought about the matter of the settings. I have not installed any tracking/retrieval software before so I don't know how they specifically work, but it is theoretically possible for them to work without configuring any settings. It depends on whether the software needs to log into a remote server, but from what I gather some simply act on a sms message. If the action to take is already set by default then there should be no problems. However like I said I have no experience with any actual apps of this sort.

jashsu said:
This is a good point; I hadn't thought about the matter of the settings. I have not installed any tracking/retrieval software before so I don't know how they specifically work, but it is theoretically possible for them to work without configuring any settings. It depends on whether the software needs to log into a remote server, but from what I gather some simply act on a sms message. If the action to take is already set by default then there should be no problems. However like I said I have no experience with any actual apps of this sort.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Even with a text message, it would need to be "set" for a default number. Mobile Defense however does use a central server to log into.
Hmm... Is there a way to pull the IMEI from the phone and use THAT as a login??? Then if it were to be incorporated with the phone's ROM, it would be pretty difficult to remove it and not have it send data to the proper people.
Just randomly throwing out ideas here, so pardon my ignorance

Removing Stock App Icons

I've removed a bunch of the crap apps that come pre-installed on the Galaxy, however the stupid icons still show up in my app menu. Anyone know how to get rid of these icons??

You can make a custom app draw and place the apps in the order you want. Not sure if you can fully remove an icon but you could create another page and place them all on that.
Edit: How did you remove the stock junk? I've looked in the Setting > apps menu but uninstall was grayed out.

you need to r00t it then use adb shell goto data>app> then use the rm -r command to remove anything u don't want....
I don't know how to create a custom app drawer, can you elaborate?
There has to be a better solution than that btw, anyone else?

open app draw > menu > view type > customizable grid > puts you back at app draw.
Menu > edit > move app icons at will and create multiple pages, pages can have as many for as few icons as you chose.

I have removed these so far from /system/app:
AccountAndSync.apk
AddToHome.apk
Avatar.apk
BuddiesNow.apk
DualClock.apk
DualClock.odex
Email.apk
Email.odex
GoGo.odex
KindleStub.apk
MediaHub.apk
MobiTV.apk
MyAccountStub_4-5-10.apk
Swype-Tips.apk
Telenav.apk
vvm-signed.apk

how did you get them to delete? when i do rm -r BuddiesNow.apk i get a permissions denied

Mookie_Jones said:
how did you get them to delete? when i do rm -r BuddiesNow.apk i get a permissions denied
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You need to be root.

Mookie_Jones said:
how did you get them to delete? when i do rm -r BuddiesNow.apk i get a permissions denied
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. Grab ADB from the SDK from Google and put the tools dir somewhere easy to access via command line
2. Install the USB drivers (I had to install 3 drivers)
3. Root the phone
4. CMD to wherever you put the tools directory
5. Run "adb remount"
6. Run "adb shell"
7. (inside of the shell) "su" to root (only if you get a $ prompt, if you have a # prompt skip this step)
8. "cd /system/app"
9. Delete the above apk's
Do not enter any quotes above, only enter the command inside of the quotes.
Any suggestions on any other apk's to delete?

Simply reboot! That's all I did after I removed a bunch of apk and none of the icons show up anymore

I removed them and now it tells me that my camera doesn't work.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App

t1n0m3n said:
1. Grab ADB from the SDK from Google and put the tools dir somewhere easy to access via command line
2. Install the USB drivers (I had to install 3 drivers)
3. Root the phone
4. CMD to wherever you put the tools directory
5. Run "adb remount"
6. Run "adb shell"
7. (inside of the shell) "su" to root (only if you get a $ prompt, if you have a # prompt skip this step)
8. "cd /system/app"
9. Delete the above apk's
Do not enter any quotes above, only enter the command inside of the quotes.
Any suggestions on any other apk's to delete?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
just wanted to post an alt method for those that dont like adb (we're out here, i have yet to install the drivers for this phone lol
Alt Method
1. If you’re rooted, purchase Root Manager (a must have tool for rooted androids)
2. Open Root Manager
3. Select System apps
4. Select App Remover
5. Seleck .apk files you don’t want and remove them.
6. Reboot the phone immediately after
7. Now go to menu
8. settings
9. manage applications
10. you will see apps that have their long name/path name “com.xxxx.xxxx.xxxx” and no icons
11. those are the remnants of the apk files you used to have which were locked (hence needing Root Manager)
12. uninstall these like you would any other non OEM/3rd Party app
13. You should be done!
)
i've removed telenav, mobitv, amazon mp3, and slacker radio so far
Let me know if this works for you guys or if i've missed anything (i am here to learn from this great community as well)
P.S. I had a hard time with Slacker Radio because i deleted the .apk as mentioned above but still had app in the app drawer and it still launched when i selected the icon. Turns out, I had updated it with AppBrain. When i went to uninstall Slacker through manage applications, it removed the update first then gave me a "uninstall unsuccessful". However when i went back to the list of apps, it did remove the icon and revert to "com.slacker.radio" in the apps list, then i went in to uninstall that and it worked fine. So, if any apps have updates on top of "factory", keep that in mind

I have noticed that the slacker radio and layar from samsung/TMO are quite gimped and don't really function very well. They seem to be tied to TMO and wants to charge your TMO account monthly for something. (I didn't really look close, I got to the "we want to charge your account" part and canceled.) I deleted them from the phone and then went to the market and downloaded the "real" apps... Yeah, there is none of that crap on the real apps.
>:-(
Most of the other TMO/Samsung apps did this as well, but I deleted most of them pronto. So if you want to use layar or slacker radio... Do yourself a favor and delete them, and grab them from the market.
I actually use Amazon MP3, so I kept that one.
When, oh when do the CMs a come!? Get along little doggy. Yehaw. *Bullwhip* (Yay, we got Cyanogen!)

I'm just uninstalling them with Titanium Backup (root needed). Things that I think I MAY want back, I just back up... I found that some after uninstalling, you can see in Settings->Applications->Manage, right under 3rd party at 0 bytes. I just uninstalled from there and it appears it removed all traces.
Note: Titanium Backup is acting flaky with restores, apps go back but it FC's before restoring data. Then I have to go back and restore data only. I felt better just reinstalling from market then restoring data only from TB. But that is another thread

could someone tell me what these apk are?
MyAccountStub_4-5-10.apk
vvm-signed.apk
My list of backed up and removed files are
AccountAndSync.apk & odex
Amazon apk
Avatar.apk & odex
AddToHome.apk & odex
DualClock.apk & odex
Email.apk & odex
Infoalarm.apk & odex (daily briefing)
KindleStub.apk
layar-samsung.apk
MediaHub.apk
Memo.apk & odec
MiniDiary.apk & odec
Myfiles.apk & odex
slackerradio.apk
Telenav.apk
Writeandgo.apk & odec
I will probably take out most of the sammy widgets and some of the dull live wallpapers also. Will report back if there are any issues but they all came from other people's "safe" lists. (thanks Jonas.M and t1n0m3n)

SykesAT said:
could someone tell me what these apk are?
MyAccountStub_4-5-10.apk
vvm-signed.apk
My list of backed up and removed files are
AccountAndSync.apk & odex
Amazon apk
Avatar.apk & odex
AddToHome.apk & odex
DualClock.apk & odex
Email.apk & odex
Infoalarm.apk & odex (daily briefing)
KindleStub.apk
layar-samsung.apk
MediaHub.apk
Memo.apk & odec
MiniDiary.apk & odec
Myfiles.apk & odex
slackerradio.apk
Telenav.apk
Writeandgo.apk & odec
I will probably take out most of the sammy widgets and some of the dull live wallpapers also. Will report back if there are any issues but they all came from other people's "safe" lists. (thanks Jonas.M and t1n0m3n)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
couple of noob questions for you, that addtohome thing, if you uninstall that, what happens when you long press on an empty space on a home screen? launching addtohome brings up the same menu as a long press so i was wondering. Also what are the .odex files and what do they do?

jblade1000 said:
couple of noob questions for you, that addtohome thing, if you uninstall that, what happens when you long press on an empty space on a home screen? launching addtohome brings up the same menu as a long press so i was wondering. Also what are the .odex files and what do they do?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
long press on home screen brings up.... add to home menu
I believe removing that apk just removes the icon in the app draw, Similar to the Avatar APK which is also just an icon with a link... Not too sure about odex but read they should be removed also. When I "removed" items it was more move to a backup folder on the SD card just incase.

Jeez, I found another one. The kindle app (which I use) was not uninstallable. It had a "remove updates" button instead. I click on remove updates, and it basically uninstalled the app, but left all of the shortcuts on the home screen and the app menu orphaned.
I had to install it from the market, uninstall it from the market, and install it from the market again to get it working correctly. Now I have a proper "uninstall" button and market updates for this app.
It seems to me like every T-mobile/Samsung pre-installed app has something wrong with it. I can't wait until we get a real rom for this phone.

SykesAT said:
could someone tell me what these apk are?
MyAccountStub_4-5-10.apk
vvm-signed.apk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
vvm-signed.apk - T-Mobile's Visual Voice Mail (If you use this, I recommend deleting this version and installing from the market instead.)
All of the stubs are basically shortcuts to the market to install the real apps. That one is the stub to install the T-Mobile "My Account" app. I removed all of the stubs. They just get in the way IMO.

jblade1000 said:
couple of noob questions for you, that addtohome thing, if you uninstall that, what happens when you long press on an empty space on a home screen? launching addtohome brings up the same menu as a long press so i was wondering. Also what are the .odex files and what do they do?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The addtohome apk just puts a shortcut in the app tray to bring up the same menu as when you long press the background. I found it annoying, so I removed it. Removing it does not effect the menu that pops up when you long press an empty space on the home screen.
As I understand it, Odex files are there to speed up boot and to lessen the dalvik-cache usage a bit.

T1n0m3,
thanks again vvm and myact are removed myact added back from market, use GV for VM.
So its correct and safe to delete the the odex files of any apk you've removed?

Please help me, i Lost my "Accounts &sync"

I was using Titanium Backup to uninstall some of the apps that came with my Vibrant. I made sure to hit the back up button in Titanium Backup before I un-installed "Accounts & Sync" (I wanted to uninstall it because the icon in the app draw was annoying to me). So i deleted it and now I cant access my account and Titanium Backup wont let me restore. I was wondering if someone could please help me. Thank you..

The app was only a shortcut to Accounts & Sync.. just go into settings -> Accounts & Sync.

Thats my problem, It isnt there in the setting app..

Thats weird because I uninstalled it and it was still there even after i rebooted the phone.
You could always use ADB and push the .apk back into /system/app

How do I do that? And where can I find the .apk ?

MichaelB91 said:
How do I do that? And where can I find the .apk ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mhmmm thought you backed it up? do you have a ADB environment set up properly? It'll take a little bit of time to fully set that up.

All I did was hit the back up button in titanium backup, and I dont know how to reinstall it from that. No I dont, I dont even know what that is..

MichaelB91 said:
All I did was hit the back up button in titanium backup, and I dont know how to reinstall it from that. No I dont, I dont even know what that is..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Download: http://de.codeplex.com/releases/view/48865
Driver: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=728929
-- Download corresponding to your OS (whether its running on x64 or x86)
Once that's done and the SDK environment is fully setup by Droid Explorer. Make sure it downloads SDK files and such.
1. Settings -> Applications -> Developement.. make sure that USB debugging is enabled
2. Connect phone via USB
aaaaaaaand follow this guide http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=532719 starting at
Check if your phone is detected by ADB once you fully installed Droid Explorer + Drivers
except for the first part where it says:cd C:\android-sdk-windows\tools === Press Enter
do
cd C:\Program Files\Droid Explorer\SDK\tools
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
instead
It'll take some time to set this all up and when you finally do just put AccountAndSync.apk and AccountAndSync.odex to /system/app and it everything should be good again.
Update: Backed up my apps before i started deleting them and uploaded you a backup of AccountAndSync http://www.mediafire.com/?d95wccd37kfgaic

I will give it a try, Thank you very much. Ill let you know how it goes.

for ADB:
* adb remount
* adb shell cp /sdcard/AccountAndSync.apk /system/app
* adb shell cp /sdcard/AccountAndSync.odex /system/app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
^^ for this to work place the two files in the .zip that i made into the root of /sdcard/ (14GB not the 2GB)
After looking around.. you could possibly get a app called Root Explorer (paid app) and have the same result.
* In Root Explorer, copy the apk file you want to put in /system/app
* Navigate to the /system/app directory
* Tap the Mount R/W button on the top right
* Tap Paste
* Scroll down to the pasted apk, long press on it and select Permissions (you'll see 9 check boxes when you do this)
* Check the Read and Write buttons for User, and only the Read boxes next to Group and Others, then tap OK (once you're done, the read/write permissions under the app name should be the same as all the other apps listed (rw-r--r--))
* Reboot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm off to bed though. I'll check in tomorrow.

I tired using Droid Explorer but that didnt work, so then I went and bought "root explorer" and did everything as you said but it didnt work.. I dont know if this makes a difference but when I went into the properties for accountsandsync it said Owner: System
Group is sdcard_rw
While everything else in the /system/app folder says
Owner: Root
Group: Root.

made a new thread, did not want to hijack someone else help thread.

MichaelB91 said:
All I did was hit the back up button in titanium backup, and I dont know how to reinstall it from that. No I dont, I dont even know what that is..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am in the exact same place. I used Titanium Backup to remove Account & Sync and now it is missing completely. I did do a backup from within Titanium Backup, but when I went to use the Restore feature, it wasn't available. I found a support page for Titanium Backup (http://matrixrewriter.com/android) and FAQ #10 states:
#10: Why is the "Restore" button disabled for some system apps ?
◦System apps are part of your ROM, so Titanium Backup will only backup their data (not the apps themselves). For this reason, if you backup a system app, and then switch to a ROM where that app is missing, Titanium Backup obviously cannot restore the data for it.
I just wish it would have made this more clear when I was doing the backup in the app.
zephiK said:
The app was only a shortcut to Accounts & Sync.. just go into settings -> Accounts & Sync.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
At first, after removing Accounts & Sync using Titanium Backup, the option was still available from Settings -> Accounts & Sync. However, when I actually tried to go into it, it failed to start and it was somehow removed completely from the menu.
I have followed your steps for setting up Droid Explorer. I can get it to communicate with the phone, although it does show a '$' instead of a '#' when typing "adb shell" into the Command Prompt. I have copied the .apk and .odex files from the Zip you provided into the root of the device.
When I attempted to use the adb commands you listed, I get errors for all of them. For "adb remount" it says "remount failed: No such file or directory." For both "adb shell cp /sdcard/AccountAndSync.apk /system/app" and "adb shell cp /sdcard/AccountAndSync.odex /system/app" it says "cp: not found."
I then moved on to trying the Root Explorer app directly from the phone. I found the .apk and .odex files in the root of the /sdcard folder. I tried to copy and paste them into the the /system/app folder, but they never appear to paste correctly. It does not give me an error, but it never shows up in the correct spot, either. One thing is that you said I must press Mount R/W, however the system/app folder already says it's opened in R/W. The only option on the top right is Mount R/O, but pressing it doesn't appear to do anything.
I'm not sure what to do from here. Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Yogi

Okay, I figured out what happened. Titanium Backup shows two "Accounts and Sync" apps... one is the actual app and the other is the icon that links to the app. I had removed both accidentally. I downloaded the AccountAndSync.apk someone posted in another thread and installed it with ADB. It brought the icon back, but not the actual application. Could someone please upload the .apk for the actual Accounts and Sync app?

Yogi76 said:
Okay, I figured out what happened. Titanium Backup shows two "Accounts and Sync" apps... one is the actual app and the other is the icon that links to the app. I had removed both accidentally. I downloaded the AccountAndSync.apk someone posted in another thread and installed it with ADB. It brought the icon back, but not the actual application. Could someone please upload the .apk for the actual Accounts and Sync app?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://www.mediafire.com/?r1mrbtsep2k84kb uploaded.. i was tired that day :X
includes BOTH settings and actual app.

Thank you soooo much! it worked!

Worked for me, too. Thanks!

Just to help everyone else in the case you deleted some other pre-installed app and you do not have a backup -
http://samsungvibranthacks.com/samsung-vibrant-hacks/samsung-vibrant-system-dump-default-apps/

Awesome, thanks. that will probably come in handy

MichaelB91 said:
Thank you soooo much! it worked!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank yogi for reminding that there are two apps for accounts and settings. Been busy and didn't look now in depth and the other night I was pretty tired. Only the settings need to be installed. But I included both for the hell of it.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App

[Q] Removing apps that came with CM6

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[Q] Which system APK files are required for the ROM to run?

SOLVED
I wanted a completely clean ROM to start developing on. I have looked at CleanROM, but it has too many system apps.
These are the system APKs the ROM is currently running with.
Code:
ApexLauncher.apk
Bluetooth.apk
CertInstaller.apk
ConfigUpdater.apk
DefaultContainerService.apk
DownloadProvider.apk
DownloadProviderUi.apk
FusedLocation.apk
HTMLViewer.apk
InputDevices.apk
KeyChain.apk
LatinImeDictionaryPack.apk
LatinImeGoogle.apk
MediaProvider.apk
MediaUploader.apk
Nfc.apk
PackageInstaller.apk
Settings.apk
SettingsProvider.apk
Superuser.apk
SystemUI.apk
UserDictionaryProvider.apk
XT9IME.apk

Honestly the stock Nexus 7 build is pretty damn clean.
If you want to experiment with disabling APKs, try the built-in disable functionality in Settings / Applications / All. Any system app that can be safely disabled (and some that can't) will have a Disable button. This is safer to try out than zapping apk files yourself. If something goes wrong after disabling an app, you'll know you need it back.

I have narrowed down the APKs and it is working fine, but now the middle home navigation button doesn't do anything. I suspect it is one of the google search apps that I deleted, but which one? I always assumed the navigation bar was handled by systemUI. :/

Forty.Two said:
I have narrowed down the APKs and it is working fine, but now the middle home navigation button doesn't do anything. I suspect it is one of the google search apps that I deleted, but which one? I always assumed the navigation bar was handled by systemUI. :/
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Did you disable the launcher by accident?
Also I have heard that the OS immobilizes the home button until initial device setup is complete and then lets it work. Maybe it has something to do with that.

Thanks!
cmstlist said:
Did you disable the launcher by accident?
Also I have heard that the OS immobilizes the home button until initial device setup is complete and then lets it work. Maybe it has something to do with that.
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It was the setupwizard.apk! I deleted it to make changes too the ROM faster.
It makes perfect sense too. The power menu had limited options, the battery drop down bar was gone, and the home button wasn't working. Just like during the setup!
This is what I did to bypass the setupwizard.apk when it start up:
1. Launch adb shell
2. echo "ro.setupwizard.mode=DISABLED" >> /system/build.prop
3. Exit shell and issue an adb reboot.
4. Delete setupwizard.apk if you want
Now the ROM works fine with only 23 APK files in the /system/apps folder! That is a great improvement compared to the original 85.