No Stranger to Android. However it is usually on a rooted phone. Now here my scenario. We are looking at issuing Defy's to our inspectors, however we would like to remove the bloatware apps such as Blockbuster, etc. So my question is whether or not there is a way to remove the apps without rooting the phones. I truthfully don't even care if its a paid app we need to do. Thanks!
You can't remove the bloatware without rooting but you could always root the phone using z4root, remove the bloatware and set things up how you like, install the custom recovery, create a backup of the rom then flash it to each of the phones and unroot them.
Yeah.....I was afraid of that. I figured that was the easiest way, but trying to explain that to the director is not going to be fun. At that point I might as well convince him to let me put Froyo or Gingerbread on it. hehe
z4root has a "temporary root" button, and when you reboot root is lost. Unninstall z4root and nothing happened
Perilla_ said:
z4root has a "temporary root" button, and when you reboot root is lost. Unninstall z4root and nothing happened
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry threadstarter for hijacking ur thread, but can you temporary root and remove all those unwanted applications and unroot it ? Is it possible ?
Yes, two options with z4root:
Temporary root: Install program, hit temporary root, remove all the baaaad stuff, reboot, uninstall z4root.
Permanent root: Install program, hit permanent root, remove all the ****, hit un-root, uninstall z4root.
Someone can say me if I am wrong?
Ok so I have z4Root installed and have rooted. Now how do I go about uninstalling apps I don't want. I looked under "Manage Applications" but all I see there are appps that I've installed.
Edit: Nevermind. I figured it out.
Edit: Nope still confused. Cant seem to find the "uninstall" button.
To remove unwanted stuff, the easy way is using rootexplorer, renaming the extension app from apk to bak for example. System apps are in /system/app.
You can too use adb, but it requires more knowledge.
Sent from my Defy using Tapatalk
As another follow up question on this. Is it possible to lock the phone down so that they cannot install any other apps on the phone? I know we could prolly lock the market, but we want it open just in case. Sorry.... never really explored using Android in a corporate enviroment and trying to enforce all the rules that you have under Blackberry and WinMo. Thanks!
Related
I want to keep the stock HTC factory ROM on the phone now. I want to remove some of the system apps that come preinstalled, that's all. Facebook, for example. What's the simplest way to do this?
Also, I want the OTA update to 2.2 when it comes, and I don't care if I lose root, so long as I can cherry-pick what programs are on my phone.
And I want a pony, too.
Seriously, isn't there an easy method to just kill a few apps that is noob-friendly?
Download estrongs file explorer, go into settings/root options/Select hiapk or cyanogenmod (whichever works, you will also be prompted to grant su permissions)/then mount.
Now you navigate to system/app and delete at will.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
adelaney said:
Download estrongs file explorer, go into settings/root options/Select hiapk or cyanogenmod (whichever works, you will also be prompted to grant su permissions)/then mount.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Didn't work. Looks like root is required, plus a custom ROM flashed. Far too many steps to simply delete a preloaded system app. I'm running the stock HTC ROM. I suppose I can run Unrevoked3 to get root, but I have no interest in a custom ROM. I simply want the stock ROM with fewer apps. Thanks anyways...
adelaney said:
Download estrongs file explorer, go into settings/root options/Select hiapk or cyanogenmod (whichever works, you will also be prompted to grant su permissions)/then mount.
Now you navigate to system/app and delete at will.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That doesn't work on the stock ROM
I would also like to remove some apps. I want to keep the stock ROM for now (tried some 2.2 and did not like them... I'll just wait for OTA) and I'm root. What are the posibilities?
Unrevoked only gives you root, you don't have to install a custom ROM. You could just root, keep the stock ROM and just delete whatever you want. Don't see much point in that though. I also hate FB, stock and all the rest but as long as you don't use them / sign in they don't do anything and the free space you gain will be useless.
Simply there is no way to remove system apps without root..
With root you can only do it in recovery by issuing adb commands or by simply deleting .apk files from a custom rom before you flash it.
edit: and i agree with pascanu no need, and you might just screw something up
So basically I have to get root access using something like Unrevoked3, then type in some commands (adb) in my computer, with the phone hooked up via USB, and delete the apps that way?
I can refer to one of the threads explaining how to use ADB, but a quick search tells me that I need to download & install the SDK to use it. Already we are getting way too complicated. Each solution I see involves downloading large files and installing software.
If this is the only way currently, than I can accept that. I have rooted phones and flashed ROMs before, and I am confident I could figure it out again if needed. I just don't want to bother now. I like the stock ROM from HTC on my Desire. All I want is control over exactly which apps live on my phone, just like I control which programs are on my PC. Imagine if you couldn't remove some toolbar or AOL from a new PC when you bought it? Scary, huh? That's where a lot of us are now.
Until it's easy and quick, I and the majority of users just won't bother. I'm still hoping it's possible, and if anyone can explain how to do it then please do.
Yes as i wrote there is no need for that, if you are going to root it should be because you want some of all the good stuff it comes with (wireless tether, a2sd, froyo, decent backup, custom theming etc.)
It is quite easy though.
I may know where you can get a pony..........
I found a guide around here before about how to remove system apps. Ive went through a couple of guides but cant seen to find it again. In the guide it had something along the lines of adb shell, the mounting the apps folder then removing them some how. Can anyone link me or know how to remove these apps such as friend stream. Thanks
under what circumstances are you trying to remove them??
i would advise a permroot, titanium backup and also about an hour, which apps do you want to remove?
Im fully rooted, s-off, recovery and all installed and i did remove the amazonmp3 app before but cant remember the command lines to do it
thanks
as far as ADB goes for me, im not too sure, unfortuantly,
i used the above method, and with that i removed all the bloatware i didnt want. i have S-Off , permroot and various other bits,
as you can see i cam from the X10i background and we didnt do a lot of custom roms and other bits there.
Thats ok, i tried using titanium backup to remove but didnt work for me so i was looking through these forums for the adb command line code, hopefully someone knows it lol
on titanium backup, you need to press the app you want to tremove for a while then itll bring up another menu, you need to do the recovery exploit uninstall, that will remove the app PERMANENTLY
give it a try youll see what i mean
SystemApp Remover is excellent, requires root.
what is root ?
MrGarak said:
SystemApp Remover is excellent, requires root.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Does it "brick" OTA updates like the TB method?
So the stickied rooting guide is terrible. It's out of date, points to incorrect file locations, gives steps to take that don't work, and doesn't really explaina what any of the terms it is using actually mean.
Is there any well written guide for how to get root using unrevoked, and how to uninstall stock apps? I thought I had root access, apparently I lost it at some point, and the guide it just frankly less than useless at this point. I have no idead what a "recovery" is, or what a "nandroid" is, or any other terminology the author assumes the audience knows. I don't know what "koush" is, what busybox is, or what a NAND is, or when to reboot or not, there are no clear steps on what to do and when to do them
Any help would be appreciated.
Edit:
Apparently restarting the phone gave root back, and I was able to use an uninstaller program from the market to get rid of some stuff. But I never had to reboot to go into any bootloade mode, why is that needed sometimes? And what are those "com." entries, they're not apk's so you can't uninstall them. And there are some apps (Like "Search People") that you can't get rid of at all, how do you remove those?
emkorial said:
So the stickied rooting guide is terrible. It's out of date, points to incorrect file locations, gives steps to take that don't work, and doesn't really explaina what any of the terms it is using actually mean.
Is there any well written guide for how to get root using unrevoked, and how to uninstall stock apps? I thought I had root access, apparently I lost it at some point, and the guide it just frankly less than useless at this point. I have no idead what a "recovery" is, or what a "nandroid" is, or any other terminology the author assumes the audience knows. I don't know what "koush" is, what busybox is, or what a NAND is, or when to reboot or not, there are no clear steps on what to do and when to do them
Any help would be appreciated.
Edit:
Apparently restarting the phone gave root back, and I was able to use an uninstaller program from the market to get rid of some stuff. But I never had to reboot to go into any bootloade mode, why is that needed sometimes? And what are those "com." entries, they're not apk's so you can't uninstall them. And there are some apps (Like "Search People") that you can't get rid of at all, how do you remove those?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'd be very careful removing/uninstalling anything at all. Say you uninstall something and don't have it backed up then you won't be able to do an update if one comes out unless you can find them again.... OR, you did a complete backup.
Good way to do it is to rename the bloatware apps to something like, bloatware.apk.bak. add the .bak and it won't show/start.
I'vd been doing that, but onl some of the stuff shows up. I can't get rid of "people search", and there is all this com.android.xxxx stuff that I can't remove (there's a com.android.twitter, there's a com.android.FriendStreamWidget, etc) even though I uninstalled the related app. What are those and why are they running?
This looks like it could be a good phone if there wasn't so much garbage sucking up 1/2 the RAM all the time.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=7408250&postcount=1
I rooted my AT&T i747 with Android 4.0.4 a couple months ago and installed SuperSU as well and was working great. When I upgraded my phone to android 4.1.1 a few days ago I lost all rooting capabilities. My Titanium Backup Pro no longer has root access as well as my SuperSU and a couple of other apps that require it. I also have tried uninstalling SuperSU with no success.
Could I just reflash my i747 just like I did back on 4.0.4 to root it again or is there a way to correct the current root access? What would you recommend?
Thanks in advance!
If you took the official update then you have lost root. You just need to re root and you will be back in business.
Sent from my SGH-I747M using xda app-developers app
jbradbury said:
If you took the official update then you have lost root. You just need to re root and you will be back in business.
Sent from my SGH-I747M using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I want to do it but this is what the app says on Google play...
"NOTICE: A SPECIAL PROCEDURE IS NEEDED FOR UNINSTALLATION. IF YOU DO NOT LIKE THE APP, DO *NOT* JUST UNINSTALL IT, YOU *WILL* LOSE ROOT.
Superuser access management runs through a so called "su binary". There can be only one of these at a time. So if you install SuperSU, your previous superuser access management solution will no longer operate. So if you want to switch back: (1) Open that application, and search for an option for it to install/update/replace the "su binary". (2) Confirm root-using apps are using the superuser solution you want. (3) Uninstall SuperSU."
Does that mean I will lose root for good if I just try to reroot it a second time without first uninstalling it? That is where I am having trouble as well. The app will not let me properly uninstall it from within the app.
Thanks.
SCADAman said:
I want to do it but this is what the app says on Google play...
"NOTICE: A SPECIAL PROCEDURE IS NEEDED FOR UNINSTALLATION. IF YOU DO NOT LIKE THE APP, DO *NOT* JUST UNINSTALL IT, YOU *WILL* LOSE ROOT.
Superuser access management runs through a so called "su binary". There can be only one of these at a time. So if you install SuperSU, your previous superuser access management solution will no longer operate. So if you want to switch back: (1) Open that application, and search for an option for it to install/update/replace the "su binary". (2) Confirm root-using apps are using the superuser solution you want. (3) Uninstall SuperSU."
Does that mean I will lose root for good if I just try to reroot it a second time without first uninstalling it? That is where I am having trouble as well. The app will not let me properly uninstall it from within the app.
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That warning by Chainfire relates to the various other superuser shells out there (like superuser.apk, ROM-specific superuser shells). Wait, what's the shell? Let me explain:
OK, so having root means you have three folders/files available:
superSU.apk (the shell; it's an interface lets you allow certain apps access to the actual superuser files..think of it as the root gatekeeper..having it alone does not mean you're rooted...seems like you have this)
/system/xbin/su/ (folder with files SPECIFIC to SuperSU.apk...apps can ask superSU.apk to access these "root-enabling" files ...you lost this)
/system/bin/su (folder with files SPECIFIC to SuperSU.apk...apps can ask superSU.apk to access these "root-enabling" files...you lost this, too)
The latter two, the folders, are collectively referred as su binaries. His warning: if don't like using superSU.apk as your shell, do not simply uninstall superSU.apk. Why? I'm not totally sure, but I think it's because that will leave the su binaries, specific to his app! Then, when an app wants to ask for root, it doesn't know what the flip to do. It has to interact with the shell, but the shell is missing!
The special method to really remove root is:
creepyncrawly said:
You can remove root by using a root file explorer to remove /system/app/superuser, /system/bin/su and /system/xbin/su. After you reboot, you'll not longer be rooted.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK, the "what is going on behind the scenes" is over. To get root back:
Basically, you need to replace the su binaries. But, the only way I know how is to replace all three of those parts. I'm pretty sure you're fine to "overwrite" the 1/3 of root you already have (SuperSU.apk). Thus, you have two main options:
1) Use CF AutoRoot (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1963790). It will temporarily flash a modified recovery, and then add those binaries and the SuperSU.apk, and then flash the stock recovery back, but it will trip the flash counter. Takes 30 seconds. Should be safe, because it will just overwrite the apk and add the su binaries. [I rooted this way; triangle away is cheap to reset the flash counter!]
2) Use Mr. Robinson's method (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1739426). This contain a /system image with all three aforementioned parts. Will take about 15 minutes, but will not trip the flash counter. As long as you're on stock firmware (which I think you are), this won't delete any apps/data.
I got it rooted again. Thanks for help guys. I just reinstalled the supersu.apk and the binary files and it's rooted once again. Whoo-hoo!
Hey,
So to a total newcomer to the whole rooting thing, i was wondering exactly what the dangers with rooting is? What does it open up to malware that wasnt there before?
When you jailbrake an i-device you for example hafto change the root password since its the same for all jailbroken devices after jailbrake.
Can someone break it down easy?
Many thanks!
soulman79 said:
Hey,
So to a total newcomer to the whole rooting thing, i was wondering exactly what the dangers with rooting is? What does it open up to malware that wasnt there before?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well there's a danger you can accidentally delete something you shouldn't have. You do have access to the file system after all.
Malware threats are overblown on platforms outside of Windows. Android and iOS malware still needs you to purposely install an apk/ipa. If not, they're usually sent through SMS/MMS, which the Ouya is incapable of. <_<'
Pretty much the only ways you can get malware is if you sideload it or if it somehow sneaks into the stores.
There's one specific exploit... but that doesn't affect the Ouya because:
1. It's not Samsung.
2. It doesn't have GSM/3G/HSDPA.
When you jailbrake an i-device you for example hafto change the root password since its the same for all jailbroken devices after jailbrake.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No such restriction exists on Android. My Ouya account is still usable after rooting (and it coexists with my Google account).
thank you for taking the time to explain it!
Will root after morning coffe then =) If i do a system reset ( in the ouya menu´s ) will the root disappear? Or do i manually have to uninstall it if i want to make it factory original again?
soulman79 said:
thank you for taking the time to explain it!
Will root after morning coffe then =) If i do a system reset ( in the ouya menu´s ) will the root disappear? Or do i manually have to uninstall it if i want to make it factory original again?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Root disappears if you factory reset, or there's a system update. So be prepared to reroot if there's an update. Keep the one click app handy! http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2387507
You should take a look at this topic: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2359390
I haven't had the opportunity to test the superuser preserve function yet (I updated before rooting), so just in case be prepared to reapply your root.
Ouya isn't Sony, I don't think they'll be blocking root access anytime soon.
Ultimate Chicken said:
Root disappears if you factory reset, or there's a system update. So be prepared to reroot if there's an update. Keep the one click app handy! http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2387507
You should take a look at this topic: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2359390
I haven't had the opportunity to test the superuser preserve function yet (I updated before rooting), so just in case be prepared to reapply your root.
Ouya isn't Sony, I don't think they'll be blocking root access anytime soon.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Awsome! got it rooted and can FINALLY log in to youtube, the google tv youtube app is perfect!
Thanks for all your answers, really appreciate it!
so i did a factory reset just cause i got alot installed and wanted a fresh setup, but after the reset google store and some other app from google where still there, aren't they suppost to be wiped off with a factory reset? how do i get rid of them?
soulman79 said:
so i did a factory reset just cause i got alot installed and wanted a fresh setup, but after the reset google store and some other app from google where still there, aren't they suppost to be wiped off with a factory reset? how do i get rid of them?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah yes, the Play Store hack is what's known as a dirty hack. It leaves crumbs that persist through a factory reset. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=44166123&postcount=158
PS: you'll need root access to delete those. After you get rid of the play store stuff you can factory reset again and it shouldn't be back.
i ran the root apk and it says rooted, tried to delete the files with es file explorer but it wont delete the files... i even stoppped the process in the settings menu... is there another way i gotta go about?
soulman79 said:
i ran the root apk and it says rooted, tried to delete the files with es file explorer but it wont delete the files... i even stoppped the process in the settings menu... is there another way i gotta go about?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
E's file explorer should be able to do it, but I think you need to mount system/ as R/W because it doesn't do so automatically. http://androidcowboy.com/2013/06/how-to-uninstall-system-apps-with-es-file-explorer/
If the above doesn't work, you're missing the superuser app.
These days I just connect things to my computer via microusb and use adb shell to deal with the file system; I still need busybox for that.
puh, got it done.. missed the part that you gotta show root explorer on the left menu.. Holy sh*t im out of my league here =)
If i install the framework only will that leave bits and peaces to, or is it only playstore that does this? i saw that the framework had an uninstall / cleanup function in the app so im guessing that it takes care of itself?
If i disable root acces after installing the framwork will the framework still function or do it need to be rooted all the time?
Big thank you for the fast reply´s!
soulman79 said:
puh, got it done.. missed the part that you gotta show root explorer on the left menu.. Holy sh*t im out of my league here =)
If i install the framework only will that leave bits and peaces to, or is it only playstore that does this? i saw that the framework had an uninstall / cleanup function in the app so im guessing that it takes care of itself?
If i disable root acces after installing the framwork will the framework still function or do it need to be rooted all the time?
Big thank you for the fast reply´s!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The framework needs root access.
The playstore mod is the only one that leaves bits and pieces AFAIK... next time before you factory reset, run the cleanup tools and uninstall the mod first. (Sorry I didn't warn you before. I forgot. >.<)
ahh, will do =)
Finnaly got it setup up right! Thx for all the support man!