Develop Bugs

[Q] Why do applications autostart?

Here's a list of apps that are open when my phone is just turned on:
Paperdroid
Greed2
Market
NewsRob
Tasker
Google Mail
News
Wifi Manager
Gallery
Colornote
Footprints
Messages
Nimbuzz
Clock
twicca
Skebby
fring
FM Radio
Music
Stocks
Except a few system ones (Gmail, Messages..), why do apps open even if I never used them? Especially the HTC ones (Stocks, Footprints), they are really annoying apps I never opened.
Can this be solved somehow? It may not use resources or battery but I don't understand why I can't decide what to open.
It feels like the Windows system tray, bunch of stuff often stuck there autostarting with no way of removing it (if not by using 3rd party programs).

i was about to post the same question. Just dont understand why they start when i got my sync set to manual

totally agree that all these apps/services or whatever you call just annoying as they are started without user permission. Hv raised a similar thread some time ago, and Im not expert on such issues, but as far as I understand, the only way to get rid of them is -unfortunately- passing through root & custom roms.. No way out to stop them from being run automatically especially the Sense ones. However, acc to more advanced users or developers, they are not so "dangerous" in terms of battery consumption, nor any other impact on system as long as user do not activate and use them. For those which requires synching e.g. stocks, news, facebook, peep etc. it is enough to keep autosynch option disabled, thus it is no longer needing to think/care about them, that's it. But if the point is to ensure more room available in the internal memory, then -as said- the only solution is flashing rom with any 3rd party rom like cyanogen, modaco, defrost, ........
Me? still stuck with the official froyo on my unbranded, unrooted Desire (since April 13th)

iLHaNroID said:
totally agree that all these apps/services or whatever you call just annoying as they are started without user permission
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
when you download them you give them all the permissions they need, if you dont like the way a program behaves ..... simple dont download it

Wow that's helpful, simply don't download stock and peep and others.how come I did not think about it???
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA App

it starts them, cause it has enough memory to cacche them.
so when you want to launch them, they open fast. simple as that.
when do people stop worrying about memory and all this. android handles that very well. no reason for watching memory and running programs even.

koichirose said:
Can this be solved somehow? It may not use resources or battery but I don't understand why I can't decide what to open.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Put simply, the reason why these start at boot is because they are set to receive the ACTION_BOOT_COMPLETED intent.
Allows an application to receive the ACTION_BOOT_COMPLETED that is broadcast after the system finishes booting. If you don't request this permission, you will not receive the broadcast at that time. Though holding this permission does not have any security implications, it can have a negative impact on the user experience by increasing the amount of time it takes the system to start and allowing applications to have themselves running without the user being aware of them. As such, you must explicitly declare your use of this facility to make that visible to the user.
Constant Value: "android.permission.RECEIVE_BOOT_COMPLETED"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Bear in mind that 99.99% of Android users will never know that this has happened, or that these processes were started. So, if they want to use Stocks, Peep, or whatever, they don't need to make a conscious decision to have the app start automatically - it just does.
Whilst I'm sure Google could build in an official API to allow you to control this behaviour, it would only be of benefit to a very tiny minority of users.
Regards,
Dave

Thank you for the explanation.
All I want would be an option to disable autostart.
I found it in fring, for example, and would like to see other developers add this option as well.

The only bad impact you could have is that boot time could be a couple of seconds longer for every application that starts. Otherwise, that memory it occupies will be freed the second the system needs it and CPU-wise, those applications are staying idle in the background

koichirose said:
All I want would be an option to disable autostart.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same here. Android has a slightly ridiculous amount of processes and apps running in the background all the time, and while they in theory shouldn't put a strain on the battery when they're not using the CPU, I'm beginning to think that they do since battery life on Android usually is awful, no matter how many precautions you take.

MapleDouglas said:
Same here. Android has a slightly ridiculous amount of processes and apps running in the background all the time, and while they in theory shouldn't put a strain on the battery when they're not using the CPU, I'm beginning to think that they do since battery life on Android usually is awful, no matter how many precautions you take.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
exactly, no matter how many precautions you make, so you are basically saying it doesn't matter how many apps are "running"... It makes no difference whether memory is used by an app or not.
Read this article to understand it better: http://www.droid-den.com/android-guides/android-guide-should-i-use-a-task-killer

le3ky said:
exactly, no matter how many precautions you make, so you are basically saying it doesn't matter how many apps are "running"... It makes no difference whether memory is used by an app or not.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
With "precautions" I wasn't referring to killing processes, but general battery saving precautions, many based on common sense. I agree that task killers never should be used, unless a specific app has frozen and is given you trouble. But you can just go to Android's own Applications screen for that.

Is there a free way to stop applications from starting up?
This can be accomplished with a cheap app Autostarts, but I would rather not pay.

i'm trying the trial of startup manager, blocks some but not all. looks like it just kills the process once it's started tself. gonna get rid, and just use the task manager i have now.
it doesnt matter if it only makes a small difference, it's (for me anyway) about control, no different that on the PC
i have plenty of RAM in my PC but i wont allow every single program to have something start itself at bootup. it;s annoying. that's why i use msconfig to kill em.
that's what we need for android.

I don't know of other programs, but autostarts works quite well, and it's not that expensive, as I recall.

snudel said it all: stop worrying about memory.. i was a long time iphone user. on iphone memory is a nightmare.. soh on desire i was all the time fc'ing app's, them i notice the problem wasnt memory os the great number of opened apps, but me.. now they run on background, open fast, the mem management is awesome, they dont seen to utilize any noticeable amount of battery.. so, before changing the system, try changing yourself..

**AMAZING APP** Autostarts (Still useful, let me know your thoughts)

After rooting our phones, there are several apps that still run (for instance AP and AccuWeather) that I never use.
Autostarts is a really great app.
It lets you prevent apps from opening on certain occurances.
For instance, certain apps open on SMS sent/receive or call receive/sent...
It's a great way to keep apps that you never use/need from starting.
I find that this app is still applicable compared to Juice Defender and SetCPU as these newer phones seem to handle that well.
Anyone else find the same?
Thanks for the feedback.

h20wakebum said:
After rooting our phones, there are several apps that still run (for instance AP and AccuWeather) that I never use.
Autostarts is a really great app.
It lets you prevent apps from opening on certain occurances.
For instance, certain apps open on SMS sent/receive or call receive/sent...
It's a great way to keep apps that you never use/need from starting.
I find that this app is still applicable compared to Juice Defender and SetCPU as these newer phones seem to handle that well.
Anyone else find the same?
Thanks for the feedback.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why not just get root explorer and delete them?

WhiteWidows said:
Why not just get root explorer and delete them?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try it... A lot of them are processes that cannot be deleted.
Besides...
It isn't about deleting apps.
It's about controlling when an app will start (or when it's triggered to start) based off actions.
Why do I need app x,y, z starting when i send a text message? Answer... I don't...
From the market:
Keep control over your phone: See what applications do behind your back.
Shows you what apps run on phone startup, and what other events trigger in the background. Root users can disable unwanted autostarts and speed up their phone boot.
Note: Root-Access *is* required to make changes. Otherwise, this application will be read-only.
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.elsdoerfer.android.autostarts&hl=en

Titanium back up and just freeze them, but I did use ths app and it did make bit up time faster on my evo
Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk

jhgti said:
Titanium back up and just freeze them, but I did use ths app and it did make bit up time faster on my evo
Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Let me rephrase as I'm not making my point (sorry!!).
Google Maps will start at bootup... also when you change connectivity on your device.
I only want Maps open when I open it...
This app lets you prevent things from opening based off certain events (boot up, outgoing sms, incoming call, connectivity change, etc).
So freezing or deleting would remove the app that you might otherwise want.
Hope that makes sense.

Oh i see yes that is true some apps will come on as soon as connectivity changes, If find good settings post some screen shot and i will do the same

h20wakebum said:
After rooting our phones, there are several apps that still run (for instance AP and AccuWeather) that I never use.
Autostarts is a really great app.
It lets you prevent apps from opening on certain occurances.
For instance, certain apps open on SMS sent/receive or call receive/sent...
It's a great way to keep apps that you never use/need from starting.
I find that this app is still applicable compared to Juice Defender and SetCPU as these newer phones seem to handle that well.
Anyone else find the same?
Thanks for the feedback.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is a VERY handy app. thanks loads. this is definitely a function that android should incorporate stock like they did with task killer

I purchased this app back when I first got my evo and I am now using it with my ET. It is a very handy app to have.

Google Account integration GO AWAY !!!

Hi all,
I am a conservative phone user.
What does that mean ?
It means that I want to do something, without it affecting everything else.
For instance: I want to have my emails on my ANDROID.
NO, I dont want my Google contacts in my contact list ... and ...
NO, I dont want to view Youtube videos constantly being logged into my Google account.
I want a perfectly "disintegrated" phone. Where one app doesnt affect all the others.
Also - I hate FACEBOOK, TWITTER and all the other SOCIAL SPY MEDIA out there.
I dont want them on my phone.
NO, I dont want to deactivate them
NO, I dont want to del the icon, just for the program to stay still.
I WANT THEM DEAD AND GONE
And YOU can hopefully tell me HOW TO accomplish these two things... Please

For the google account I don't know, but about the other app you can try to freeze them with titanium backup.

tomthemd said:
Hi all,
I am a conservative phone user.
What does that mean ?
It means that I want to do something, without it affecting everything else.
For instance: I want to have my emails on my ANDROID.
NO, I dont want my Google contacts in my contact list ... and ...
NO, I dont want to view Youtube videos constantly being logged into my Google account.
I want a perfectly "disintegrated" phone. Where one app doesnt affect all the others.
Also - I hate FACEBOOK, TWITTER and all the other SOCIAL SPY MEDIA out there.
I dont want them on my phone.
NO, I dont want to deactivate them
NO, I dont want to del the icon, just for the program to stay still.
I WANT THEM DEAD AND GONE
And YOU can hopefully tell me HOW TO accomplish these two things... Please
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Best way is to create a new gmail email address for your android mobile.
that email address would be anonymous.

Needs 2 GO
Thank You for the replies so far.
I would like to use my normal mail addresses.
The reason behind me disliking the current state is:
Google takes over the whole device. It literally takes a dump over all the phones functions.
I dont want that.
When I log in to my mailaccount, I want to do mails ... and not being logged into all google apps on the phone.
(and into the internet google stuff as well)
Now its with facebook and twitter that I dont want it to track, record and analyze my every move.
(Thats why it needs to go)

tomthemd said:
Thank You for the replies so far.
I would like to use my normal mail addresses.
The reason behind me disliking the current state is:
Google takes over the whole device. It literally takes a dump over all the phones functions.
I dont want that.
When I log in to my mailaccount, I want to do mails ... and not being logged into all google apps on the phone.
(and into the internet google stuff as well)
Now its with facebook and twitter that I dont want it to track, record and analyze my every move.
(Thats why it needs to go)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What you want is not very easy to achieve.
If you are rooted, I guess it is much easier. the customisation can go deeper.
Steps (in my opinion):
1. At first run of the phone, don't log with google account! don't check any service related to google (keep my phone backed up with google account, for example).
2. before doing anything else, disable the apps you don't need. If you are root you can even uninstall them with some apk (as you are not logged to google, you can not use market, so the app should be saved on sd card before - via backup or whatever).
3. also disable the gapps you don't want (gtalk, etc).
4. remove the settings about the location. activate the mock location in developer section of settings.
5. log to your google account. immediately after, go to accounts and sync and:
a. disable sync (so that no google contacts are synced)
b. go to the settings of the account and uncheck everything that you don't want to be synced. i think you can do only this step, but it is your choice.
6. if you are root, you can install a program to further control the behavior of the apps. it is a personal option, there are multiple choices.
7. make a reboot. your phone should be free (or close) of any google 'integration'. any apps that you don't want to run should not run (twitter, fb, etc).
if I have skipped anything, anyone can update the steps.

Get an iPhone or WP

You can selectively sign out of all those apps. YouTube has the option. In Settings>Accounts & Sync uncheck everything you don't want to sync with Google. It's all there, you just have to set it up the way you want. You aren't being forced to are services you don't want to. The only things that need a Google account to work are Play Store and Gmail, for obvious reasons. Even Google Maps won't log you in automatically unless you open Latitude. YouTube signs you in but you can sign out. If you're using any version of Sense or AOSP GB, even the contacts app allows you to store contacts in phone only without syncing to Google. And it won't restore your Google contacts if you uncheck it in settings. In ICS, yes, the People app requires a Google account and can't store local contacts, but if it's THAT big an issue for you, just use a third party dialer like exDialer which has that functionality.
If you want a complete Google-free Android experience, flash CyanogenMod and don't flash Gapps after. You'll have a fully working Android phone minus Google. This also means you won't have Play Store and will have to sideload any apps you want, but that's your caveat.
And about getting rid of apps like Facebook and Twitter (which since you're unable to do, I presume you're running the stock HTC Sense firmware), read around and learn how to root your phone, and then delete the apks for those apps from /system/app. You can unroot after rooting, if that's an issue for you too.
Sent from my Desire HD using xda premium

sashank said:
You can selectively sign out of all those apps. YouTube has the option. In Settings>Accounts & Sync uncheck everything you don't want to sync with Google. It's all there, you just have to set it up the way you want. You aren't being forced to are services you don't want to. The only things that need a Google account to work are Play Store and Gmail, for obvious reasons. Even Google Maps won't log you in automatically unless you open Latitude. YouTube signs you in but you can sign out. If you're using any version of Sense or AOSP GB, even the contacts app allows you to store contacts in phone only without syncing to Google. And it won't restore your Google contacts if you uncheck it in settings. In ICS, yes, the People app requires a Google account and can't store local contacts, but if it's THAT big an issue for you, just use a third party dialer like exDialer which has that functionality.
If you want a complete Google-free Android experience, flash CyanogenMod and don't flash Gapps after. You'll have a fully working Android phone minus Google. This also means you won't have Play Store and will have to sideload any apps you want, but that's your caveat.
And about getting rid of apps like Facebook and Twitter (which since you're unable to do, I presume you're running the stock HTC Sense firmware), read around and learn how to root your phone, and then delete the apks for those apps from /system/app. You can unroot after rooting, if that's an issue for you too.
Sent from my Desire HD using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are right with most of the points.
There is only one comment from my side: he does not need to root it. the applications can be disabled without root. the only drawback is the fact that the apps are still there, but they will never start....

Correct. He can do that too. But his issue was that he wants to get rid of them completely.
Sent from my Desire HD using xda premium

tomthemd said:
Hi all,
I am a conservative phone user.
What does that mean ?
It means that I want to do something, without it affecting everything else.
For instance: I want to have my emails on my ANDROID.
NO, I dont want my Google contacts in my contact list ... and ...
NO, I dont want to view Youtube videos constantly being logged into my Google account.
I want a perfectly "disintegrated" phone. Where one app doesnt affect all the others.
Also - I hate FACEBOOK, TWITTER and all the other SOCIAL SPY MEDIA out there.
I dont want them on my phone.
NO, I dont want to deactivate them
NO, I dont want to del the icon, just for the program to stay still.
I WANT THEM DEAD AND GONE
And YOU can hopefully tell me HOW TO accomplish these two things... Please
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lol, I know what you mean!
You might like LBE privacy guard if you are rooted. It let's you decide which apps can access internet, GPS location, phone id etc.
I also use mybackup pro to freeze a lot of the preinstalled junk that runs in the background. If you are freezing system apps take a nandroid backup first just incase you freeze something that you shouldn't!

There are some apps, which you wont be able to disintegrate without causing something else to crash.
Best way in my books is not to sign in using google under accounts, instead use email app to configure imap gmail.
Or even better, learn how to cook, and make a barebone ROM...maybe you can share it with us if you do get a ROM like that...

okty2k said:
You are right with most of the points.
There is only one comment from my side: he does not need to root it. the applications can be disabled without root. the only drawback is the fact that the apps are still there, but they will never start....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Imo rooting is the only clean way to remove apps. Using an app to freeze apps causes a layer of crap running that will only hinder performance and potentially cause issues. What he wants is a non associated device. So I agree with rooting and then installing Aosp without gapps. Rooting is so easy anyways you might as well if you want that level of customization.
Sent from my Inspire 4G using xda premium

Gizmoe said:
Imo rooting is the only clean way to remove apps. Using an app to freeze apps causes a layer of crap running that will only hinder performance and potentially cause issues. What he wants is a non associated device. So I agree with rooting and then installing Aosp without gapps. Rooting is so easy anyways you might as well if you want that level of customization.
Sent from my Inspire 4G using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can't freeze apps without root anyway. Freezing apps does not hinder performance unless you freeze something you shouldn't. There are performance benefits to be had by freezing junk that persistently runs in the background as long as you are careful what you freeze.

hans moleman said:
You can't freeze apps without root anyway. Freezing apps does not hinder performance unless you freeze something you shouldn't. There are performance benefits to be had by freezing junk that persistently runs in the background as long as you are careful what you freeze.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Really? I thought some apps could do it without root, but I have never personally tried it, so you are right I'm sure, and it makes sense. I suppose I see the benefit of freezing too I just would rather remove things all together. Seems cleaner to me.
Sent from my Inspire 4G using xda premium

hans moleman said:
You can't freeze apps without root anyway. Freezing apps does not hinder performance unless you freeze something you shouldn't. There are performance benefits to be had by freezing junk that persistently runs in the background as long as you are careful what you freeze.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can disable the app (without root). That way it will never start....

List of apps for Debloating and "Android OS" Battery Hogging Fix

By now we've learned that TouchWiz is pretty damn bloated. I did some work on my T-Mobile Note II and managed to clean up a lot of bloat. That said, I'm going to cut straight to the chase... The following list includes the apps that I have either uninstalled with ROM Cleaner (available from the Note 2 International Forum) and Frozen with Titanium Backup. So far I have not had any weird bugs or loss of functionality. Obviously you need to be rooted for this. However, your mileage may vary and I am not responsible at all. I have tested this for me and it works. I have about 1200MB to 1400MB of free RAM at boot!
Uninstalled with ROMcleaner:
Adobe Reader PDF reader
AllShare Cast
Nearby devices
AllShare Play
AllShare Service
Chaton
ChocoEUKor font
DSM
DownloadThemAll
Samsung fota updates
Upgarde installer
Game Hub
Market Feedback Agent
Samsung Help Hub
Helv Neue S font
Idea Idea Sketch
Learning HUB
Music Hub
MusicFX
MobilePrint
MobileTrackerTwo
Official Top 40
MyFiles
Google Plus
PRUI
Readers Hub Store
Reader Hub App
Reader Hub Bridge
RoseEUKor Font
Samsung APPS
Samsung UNA3
HTML Viewer
Samsing Note
Samsung Snote syncadapter
S Suggest
Software Update
talkback
Trim
Video Hub
WebManual
Frozen with Titanium:
Amazon
Bonus Apps
CapabilityManagerService
Enterprise SysScope
Enterprise VPN Services
EnterprisePermissions
Favorite Apps
Favorite Contacts
Play Books
Play Movies
Group Cast
Kies Air
Kies Via Wifi
Media Hub
MobileLife
Need For speed
Remote Controls
Samsung Account
Samsung Backup Provider
Browser Synadapter
Cloud Data Relay
Contact SyncAdapter
SmemoSyncadapter
Samsung Syncadapters
Simple Alarm Clock
Software Update
Swype
T-mo my account
T-Mo name ID
Mobile TV
TMserverapp
Visual Voicemail
VPN Client
Yahoo Finance
Yahoo News
UltraCfg
Testservice
SysScope
Smartcardservice
Service Mode
Self Test mode
Screen Recorder
Samsung SEtup wizard
Samsung Push Service
Samsung Backup
Preconfig
PhoneUtil
NFS Service
SNS
Popupuireciever
I know there's some typos in there, but you get the idea.
Now, if you go to your battery usage, you will see that Android OS is eating a lot of battery, even when idle... Lots of wakelocks, etc. Turns out it's mediaserver eating up all of the battery and throwing partial wakelocks...
Here's the fix:
From an ADB shell or a terminal on the phone... YOU MUST BE ROOTED:
Code:
su
pm enable com.android.providers.media/com.android.providers.media.MediaScannerReceiver
My battery life at idle has SUBSTANTIALLY improved. My free RAM has improved as well.
I'm not going to lie... The debloating doesn't make things seem that much faster, and this phone is so damn fast that it really doesn't matter that much. But that pm enable fix is slick and helps a lot as far as battery while idling.
Please don't hesitate to share your findings or improvements to this. I welcome any constructive input.

Thanks! I've been meaning to research on which apps were safe to freeze/uninstall.

Thanks

when you do the mediaserver fix through the terminal is it supposed to say "new state:enabled" ?

bapurado said:
when you do the mediaserver fix through the terminal is it supposed to say "new state:enabled" ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It didn't do that for me, but check and see if MediaServer is running as a SERVICE, then you'll know if it worked

Once I put in the commands it said enable is that correct? And is this to minimize the media server's percentage in the battery screen shot?
Sent from my SGH-T889 using xda premium

acrown said:
Once I put in the commands it said enable is that correct? And is this to minimize the media server's percentage in the battery screen shot?
Sent from my SGH-T889 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you'd feel more comfortable there's a free app in the Play Store called Media Rescan Root that will do the same thing...
The command disables mediaserver from constantly scanning storage for new media; it's out of control and likely a bug specific to our device/series of devices.

Ran the code via Rom ToolBox terminal.
I'm a heavy user, the S2 barely lasted my work day. This bad boy was getting to 30 something % by 5pm, after being off the charger around 6:30am. It's 4pm and I'm at 48% - 10 hours. That's moderate use.
I think this lil script did it's job. I'm pretty freakin' impressed.

If you'd feel more comfortable there's a free app in the Play Store called Media Rescan Root that will do the same thing...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Honestly i dont think this is a big an issue on my note 2 as it was for my GS1 which took a long time to media scan on boot. I don't think I've seen my note 2 media scan on boot and the boot time is really amazing as it is stock.

@OP
Thanks for sharing. You're a bit too aggressive for my tastes, but we all use our phones differently. No criticisms below, just discussion points.
Many of the apps you've removed, like Amazon, are ones I use frequently, and honestly, I find it difficult to believe it uses any meaningful amount of juice if you're not actually shopping with it. I certainly could be wrong, but on all the phones I've ever used, apps like that have never made an appearance of concern in battery history. YMMV.
Also, I think it's interesting that you chose to "freeze" apps that can be downloaded from the Market (Amazon, Play Books, Play Movies). Freezing stops them from running, but they're still sitting there eating up storage space (albeit very little). I'd just totally uninstall them and reinstall if needed.
I heard that some of the bloatware from Tmobile actually reinstalls itself when frozen/removed. Any experience with that?

distortedloop said:
@OP
Thanks for sharing. You're a bit too aggressive for my tastes, but we all use our phones differently. No criticisms below, just discussion points.
Many of the apps you've removed, like Amazon, are ones I use frequently, and honestly, I find it difficult to believe it uses any meaningful amount of juice if you're not actually shopping with it. I certainly could be wrong, but on all the phones I've ever used, apps like that have never made an appearance of concern in battery history. YMMV.
Also, I think it's interesting that you chose to "freeze" apps that can be downloaded from the Market (Amazon, Play Books, Play Movies). Freezing stops them from running, but they're still sitting there eating up storage space (albeit very little). I'd just totally uninstall them and reinstall if needed.
I heard that some of the bloatware from Tmobile actually reinstalls itself when frozen/removed. Any experience with that?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The my T-Mobile program keeps popping back up, but that's the only one. I don't mind, to be honest. And I agree, this is too agressive. It's not like this big list is getting in the way, and I honestly doubt he's seeing much, if any, improvement. But, you are right, YMMV.

mdt73 said:
The my T-Mobile program keeps popping back up, but that's the only one. I don't mind, to be honest. And I agree, this is too agressive. It's not like this big list is getting in the way, and I honestly doubt he's seeing much, if any, improvement. But, you are right, YMMV.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually, the My T-Mobile app is one I would want to keep; nice to have a quick easy access to my account information. If carriers are going to add bloat, that's the kind of stuff they should be adding.

distortedloop said:
Actually, the My T-Mobile app is one I would want to keep; nice to have a quick easy access to my account information. If carriers are going to add bloat, that's the kind of stuff they should be adding.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah, true, I am not on T-Mobile, so I don't use it. The program is tiny anyways, so it's no big deal. Now, if it were Need For Speed... I would do battle! LoL!

distortedloop said:
@OP
Thanks for sharing. You're a bit too aggressive for my tastes, but we all use our phones differently. No criticisms below, just discussion points.
Many of the apps you've removed, like Amazon, are ones I use frequently, and honestly, I find it difficult to believe it uses any meaningful amount of juice if you're not actually shopping with it. I certainly could be wrong, but on all the phones I've ever used, apps like that have never made an appearance of concern in battery history. YMMV.
Also, I think it's interesting that you chose to "freeze" apps that can be downloaded from the Market (Amazon, Play Books, Play Movies). Freezing stops them from running, but they're still sitting there eating up storage space (albeit very little). I'd just totally uninstall them and reinstall if needed.
I heard that some of the bloatware from Tmobile actually reinstalls itself when frozen/removed. Any experience with that?
Click to expand...
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All I was doing was listing what you can do, and what I did. I froze Play Books and Movies because they're always running and eating up RAM, even when you kill them. They are always running if they are installed. And in reference to your question about T-Mobile stuff reinstalling itself, I've never had that in my experience if I've actually completely removed something. I don't see technically how that would be possible.
I froze Amazon because f**k them, and f**k T-Mobile for installing Amazon as a system app, meaning you can't remove it without root. I spent $700 on a device, it's absurd that I should not have control over what apps I can and can't have on my device... Don't you think?
I was only sharing what I did and what I found is safe, eg. this didn't bork my phone
Thanks for your input

brashmadcap said:
All I was doing was listing what you can do, and what I did. I froze Play Books and Movies because they're always running and eating up RAM, even when you kill them. They are always running if they are installed. And in reference to your question about T-Mobile stuff reinstalling itself, I've never had that in my experience if I've actually completely removed something. I don't see technically how that would be possible.
I froze Amazon because f**k them, and f**k T-Mobile for installing Amazon as a system app, meaning you can't remove it without root. I spent $700 on a device, it's absurd that I should not have control over what apps I can and can't have on my device... Don't you think?
I was only sharing what I did and what I found is safe, eg. this didn't bork my phone
Thanks for your input
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Winky faces aside, I think you took my post far too personally. You invited discussion, and I offered up some. No offense was intended.
You also apparently completely missed my point re: "freezing" vs. removing. You clearly have root access, as indicated by some of the tips you give which you specifically say "YOU MUST BE ROOTED", so I'm confused by what you mean when you say "you can't remove it without root." You can't remove any system apps, which most of which you removed are, without root, so that's irrelevant. My confusion was simply why, considering you must have root to do some of what you did" you chose to freeze som market-downloadable apps rather than simply uninstall/remove them?
My logic tree when I decide whether to remove or freeze is simple. Freeze stuff I might want/need back that's not easily obtainable/installable, just to be safe. Remove stuff I know is safe and that I can easily obtain/reinstall through the Play store or other places.
I'm not interested in an argument, so I think I'll just move along from here and find a discussion a bit less defensive.
Peace.

1 there are many more that can go
2 can you sort them alphabetically
3 thanx fellow minimalist

distortedloop said:
Winky faces aside, I think you took my post far too personally. You invited discussion, and I offered up some. No offense was intended.
You also apparently completely missed my point re: "freezing" vs. removing. You clearly have root access, as indicated by some of the tips you give which you specifically say "YOU MUST BE ROOTED", so I'm confused by what you mean when you say "you can't remove it without root." You can't remove any system apps, which most of which you removed are, without root, so that's irrelevant. My confusion was simply why, considering you must have root to do some of what you did" you chose to freeze som market-downloadable apps rather than simply uninstall/remove them?
My logic tree when I decide whether to remove or freeze is simple. Freeze stuff I might want/need back that's not easily obtainable/installable, just to be safe. Remove stuff I know is safe and that I can easily obtain/reinstall through the Play store or other places.
I'm not interested in an argument, so I think I'll just move along from here and find a discussion a bit less defensive.
Peace.
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Click to collapse
Thinly veiled sarcasm aside, I didn't mean to be abrasive. Just sharing what I did. I was more referring to the absurdity of the carriers forcing apps on you, then forcing you to void your warranty in order to remove them. That was not an assault on you. I know you know that you have to be rooted, you've been here for a while.

fit333 said:
1 there are many more that can go
2 can you sort them alphabetically
3 thanx fellow minimalist
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1. Cool! Which other ones did you remove?
2. No
3. You're welcome

This works so good on my at&t i317. Thanks for the post.I'm seeing a lot better battery as well
Sent from The Samsung Nerd Man cave

The media scanner eating battery was a big issue on my GT-i9300 GS3. It's not been too big of a deal on my GN2 so far.
I was just curious, should the code "disable" the scanner on boot and not enable?
Here's what was posted:
Code:
su
pm enable com.android.providers.media/com.android.providers.media.MediaScannerReceiver
Should it be (?):
Code:
su
pm disable com.android.providers.media/com.android.providers.media.MediaScannerReceiver
I just want to know because I think I'm going to disable the media scanner on boot to try it out on my GN2.
Thanks for the info!

Bloatware

I just ordered my 7x a couple of days ago. I've seen some reviews about bloatware. I was just wondering, is there a lot of it? Can any of it be uninstalled or just disabled? Don't plan on rooting the device any time soon so would like to eliminate as much bloat as possible without root.

kingd421 said:
I just ordered my 7x a couple of days ago. I've seen some reviews about bloatware. I was just wondering, is there a lot of it? Can any of it be uninstalled or just disabled? Don't plan on rooting the device any time soon so would like to eliminate as much bloat as possible without root.
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Really depends on what you consider bloatware. It comes with a lot of Google products, Facebook, Instagram, and some others. I only use a handful of Google products and none of the social stuff. It also comes with a few Huawei products I don't use. For me, that's a lot of bloatware. To others who may use all these apps, it may not be.
I will say it sucks to have apps like SwiftKey preinstalled because I use the beta version. This creates two different versions on the phone. I can't say if this is true for other apps, but it could be.
It can't be uninstalled by the way, well not without root. I don't believe they can be disabled either, but could be wrong about that.

bloodbath said:
Really depends on what you consider bloatware. It comes with a lot of Google products, Facebook, Instagram, and some others. I only use a handful of Google products and none of the social stuff. It also comes with a few Huawei products I don't use. For me, that's a lot of bloatware. To others who may use all these apps, it may not be.
I will say it sucks to have apps like SwiftKey preinstalled because I use the beta version. This creates two different versions on the phone. I can't say if this is true for other apps, but it could be.
It can't be uninstalled by the way, well not without root. I don't believe they can be disabled either, but could be wrong about that.
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Thank you for the response. Its apps like facebook and Instagram that I don't want on there. I use Metal, just lighter and don't need to use the messenger app. I figured it would come with Huawei apps. I just didn't know if it came with bunch of stuff. Still excited to get the phone. Its been years since I've bought a brand new phone lol.

kingd421 said:
Thank you for the response. Its apps like facebook and Instagram that I don't want on there. I use Metal, just lighter and don't need to use the messenger app. I figured it would come with Huawei apps. I just didn't know if it came with bunch of stuff. Still excited to get the phone. Its been years since I've bought a brand new phone lol.
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Those apps are easily uninstallable though.
Sent from my Honor 8 using XDA Labs

ayush rao said:
Those apps are easily uninstallable though.
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Are they? Sweet I was hoping they weren't system apps. I had a galaxy s6 which I'd still be using if I could root it and install all the **** Samsung and at&t put on there.

kingd421 said:
Are they? Sweet I was hoping they weren't system apps. I had a galaxy s6 which I'd still be using if I could root it and install all the **** Samsung and at&t put on there.
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Haha! All the third party apps included on the phone can be uninstalled. Tech reviews keep saying bloatware for EMUI phones but never really explain which apps can be uninstalled.
Sent from my Honor 8 using XDA Labs

ayush rao said:
Haha! All the third party apps included on the phone can be uninstalled. Tech reviews keep saying bloatware for EMUI phones but never really explain which apps can be uninstalled.
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Not exactly. Facebook came pre-installed and can't be removed iirc. I went through and disabled every app I didn't use. Basically what it does when you disable a pre-installed app it resets the app back to factory version then disables it. Below is two screen shots. One of the pre-installed Facebook and another of an app that I installed myself. When clicking the Uninstall button it gives two different options.

str8stryk3r said:
Not exactly. Facebook came pre-installed and can't be removed iirc. I went through and disabled every app I didn't use. Basically what it does when you disable a pre-installed app it resets the app back to factory version then disables it. Below is two screen shots. One of the pre-installed Facebook and another of an app that I installed myself. When clicking the Uninstall button it gives two different options.
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I was able to uninstall all the 3rd-party apps that came on my phone (US). CNN, Instagram, Facebook, Messenger, one or two more. I was also able to uninstall several Google apps: Google+, Google Play Books, Slides, Docs, etc. Just Music & Movies and TVs were the only ones I'd rather unininstall but were system apps. There is also a program called Facebook App Manager that can only be disabled and not uninstalled.
Overall, the bloatware was pretty light and it was easy to remove 90% of it, so even if you don't intend to root (I do), it's not really bad at all. I am a bit shocked, frankly.

brassmule said:
I was able to uninstall all the 3rd-party apps that came on my phone (US). CNN, Instagram, Facebook, Messenger, one or two more. I was also able to uninstall several Google apps: Google+, Google Play Books, Slides, Docs, etc. Just Music & Movies and TVs were the only ones I'd rather unininstall but were system apps. There is also a program called Facebook App Manager that can only be disabled and not uninstalled.
Overall, the bloatware was pretty light and it was easy to remove 90% of it, so even if you don't intend to root (I do), it's not really bad at all. I am a bit shocked, frankly.
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Very nice. Mines arriving today can't wait. I intend to root at some point but I keep reading that there's no stock images released yet and I don't want to mess up and not be able to fix it afterwards. So I'll just use it as is for now and wait for the development to pick up first. If I get the urge to flash a custom ROM , people keep releasing them for the nexus 5 which is what I'm currently using.