Develop Bugs

[Q] Disabled Apps Reenabling Themselves After Reboot

Hi everybody - Searched all over, haven't seen any info on this issue. I apologize if I missed something
Recently, some apps I disabled on my Verizon Galaxy Nexus have begun to automatically reenable themselves after every reboot. The specific apps are Google Books, Google Earth, and Videos.
This did not used to happen. Further, my other disabled apps (the VZ apps, News and Weather, Movie Studio, etc.) stay disabled just like they are supposed to.
I'm not sure exactly when it started happening, so I can't pinpoint any changes or apps that might have caused the issue. If it matters, I'm not rooted.
Any help would be GREATLY appreciated - the ability to disable unused apps was one of the reasons I got the phone. Thank you!

Update
Quick update. After I found my device would not complete a factory reset successfully, I contacted Verizon for a replacement. The replacement device factory resets successfully, unlike my first.
However, after setting up the new device I found that it too has the exact same problem with disabled apps. Google Books, Google Earth, and Videos (but no other disabled apps) all reenable themselves after every reboot. I noticed this before installing any apps or tweaking any settings. It seems there is a problem with these particular apps or in the way the are treated by ICS.
Either way, it's a shame that this major advertising point for the device does not function as advertised.

Interesting. I was wondering why I was seeing updates available for Earth and Video in the Market, seeing as how I had disabled them...

fyi I suspect it's a Verizon thing - I have both disabled and they're staying that way.

Thanks Clancy_s for the info. That's an interesting possibility.
It's also interesting to me that I haven't been able to find much chatter about this. I've posted the issue here, on the Google Mobile help forum, and on the Android Project Issues list (after searching each for previous mentions), and haven't heard much back.
I'm wondering how sporadic the issue might be, or if it might be connected to certain types of accounts since I've seen it on two phones now. I realize it's not a critical issue, but I've certainly seen a lot more concern on Android forums for less.

Just received my 3rd device (original plus 2 replacements, first 2 sent back due to other problems besides this one). The same problem with disabled apps reenabling themselves after a reboot persists. And this is after a factory reset, without adding any apps, changing any settings, without being backed up to my google account, without location services on. Same apps - Google Books, Google Earth, Videos. No other apps affected.

I'm having this problem as well. I disabled Google+, but it becomes enabled again after a reboot. VZ Backup Assistant and Google Talk stay disabled as they should.

Google earth did this for me also, so I just deleted the app. Of course you need root to do it.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus

Same problem with Maps
Title says it all. Really annoying.

Sigh... you're not alone. I disabled the Google search bar and after awhile the phone will automatically reenable anything that was disabled.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

What's the point of syncer when google apps are pulling?

I don't get what the point of synker's forced push/sync is when almost all relevant google apps pull from google servers. I noticed in tasker people tend to use it to force sync at certain times to save battery while leaving wifi on all the time on their phone. Isn't that non sensical? ince google applications will be pushing data all the time anyways, how does a set pull do anything?

Google play services crashing

I have been happily running google services on my phone (fireos 3.6.8). However, Google released an update to Play Services (version 7.3) yesterday (4/15/2015), which crashes. Has anyone else started getting popups saying "Google Play Services has stopped" constantly? Does anyone have a workaround or does anyone know of a way to keep Play Services from updating automatically? I am able to reinstall 7.0.99, which works, but the app immediately downloads the update and installs itself automatically.

I am having the same problem. Installed the previous version but was automatically updated.

I'm also having the same problem and would like to find a workaround or a temp stop too keep these messages from popping up. It makes the phone nearly unusable.

works okay on 4.6.1
I had the same problem, suddenly play services was crashing continually. Just updated to FireOS 4.6.1, and google play services is no longer causing trouble. On the other hand, Google Play Store just hangs. I can downgrade to an older version that works, but it keeps automatically updating. So pick your poison: On 3.6.8 the services will crash, and on 4.6.1 the store will crash. I think the services crash was worse.

No troubles here with newest Services or Store on 4.6.1.

Thanks. I updated to 4.6.1 and everything is much better.

apo383 said:
I had the same problem, suddenly play services was crashing continually. Just updated to FireOS 4.6.1, and google play services is no longer causing trouble. On the other hand, Google Play Store just hangs. I can downgrade to an older version that works, but it keeps automatically updating. So pick your poison: On 3.6.8 the services will crash, and on 4.6.1 the store will crash. I think the services crash was worse.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try deleting all Google services,play store,account manager and framework and reinstall

Also noticed google play store wont load after update
Also Clash of Clans refused to open. Uninstalled everything google, and now clash opens but wont sync to my google+ account because I cant get google services to actually open, so I've lost all my progress.
All in all, happy its not giving me the stopped working message but irritated google services is acting so crazy. Also cant get gmail to open because of all this.

rich8511 said:
Also noticed google play store wont load after update
Also Clash of Clans refused to open. Uninstalled everything google, and now clash opens but wont sync to my google+ account because I cant get google services to actually open, so I've lost all my progress.
All in all, happy its not giving me the stopped working message but irritated google services is acting so crazy. Also cant get gmail to open because of all this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you uninstall and go back to the older version of google play services, none of the google apps will run. They REQUIRE the danged update.

Lots of folks using many different phones are having issues with the latest version of Google Services. Might not just be the Fire phone having issues then. My services is still 7.0.99 even after updating the OS. Play store still reports that's the latest version for me so maybe they froze the update. I think I may set that file to read only until this is sorted out.

after using my phone with the updated OS for a few days now, I've also experienced some more issues. some apps don't open or stall on opening such as Redfin and some open, but don't seem to work such as Pandora (opens, but music won't load).
anyone else?

Downloaded and installed this,
Google Play Store 5.4.12
still not working acts like it can't see phone
installed tab and if you try to install just spins.
worked yesterday made the mistake or resetting and trying again.

rbeavers said:
Downloaded and installed this,
Google Play Store 5.4.12
still not working acts like it can't see phone
installed tab and if you try to install just spins.
worked yesterday made the mistake or resetting and trying again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same thing here. I uninstalled play store and installed older version 4.1.10. I can then open up the store and update applications, but the next time I open Google auto updates (despite settings not to) it to the latest version that just spins on a white screen. At least this is a work around to keep other apps updated while we wait for a fix.

It looks like Google Play Services 7.3.29 was just released this morning. I have fireos 4.6.1 installed, my play services auto updated, and Play Store and Gmail now appear to work without hanging! Google hangouts still does not let me send messages.

Well, I spoke too soon. Play Store and Gmail open, but they don't refresh properly. That's frustrating.

I am not very technical, I did manage to sideload the play store with someone from this forum's easy to follow directions a few months back. That being said today I am having the issue with google services crashing non stop, can't load gmail and this phone is virtually useless because I have to keep replying 'ok' to the crash...
I'm on 3.6.8 and it says I'm up to date, no new updates to download ... how can I get the newer version of 4.6.1 so I can solve this crashing issue? I'd appreciate it if someone has easy to follow directions for the somewhat technically challenged... (me!)
I'm running it with T-Mobile's network and I'm in the USA.
I don't know what version google play services I use (or how to check for that matter).
Thanks!!

mjp123 said:
I am not very technical, I did manage to sideload the play store with someone from this forum's easy to follow directions a few months back. That being said today I am having the issue with google services crashing non stop, can't load gmail and this phone is virtually useless because I have to keep replying 'ok' to the crash...
I'm on 3.6.8 and it says I'm up to date, no new updates to download ... how can I get the newer version of 4.6.1 so I can solve this crashing issue? I'd appreciate it if someone has easy to follow directions for the somewhat technically challenged... (me!)
I'm running it with T-Mobile's network and I'm in the USA.
I don't know what version google play services I use (or how to check for that matter).
Thanks!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Updating wont help the google play store not working at lest for long.

same issue. don't see fire os update
Google play services crashing even after multiple uninstalls and updates. I don't see the fire OS update available for me yet, still showing 3.6.8 as the latest. Any ideas to try?

rbeavers said:
Updating wont help the google play store not working at lest for long.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks! Are you saying that even if I updated to the latest Fire OS I'd still get these 'Google play services has stopped' errors constantly? Also do you know if Google play store is having issues with other phones and OS's and if they are working on a fix? (it's so annoying.. can't get to gmail and the error is constant)... thanks everyone!

not just us
mjp123 said:
thanks! Are you saying that even if I updated to the latest Fire OS I'd still get these 'Google play services has stopped' errors constantly? Also do you know if Google play store is having issues with other phones and OS's and if they are working on a fix? (it's so annoying.. can't get to gmail and the error is constant)... thanks everyone!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
go look at google play services on the google play store. Everyone is having problems and giving it 1 star (including me). Multiple phones are having the issue:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.gms&hl=en

[Q] Issues with switching to new Google Account

Hi there. I would like to switch the Google Account on my LG G3, but I am facing some issues when I do that.
Firstly, the GA I used to setup the phone in the store will show all default stock and Verizon apps under Play Store->My Apps. It will also allow me to "Update All" and have the apps set to Auto-Update.
I went and did a factory reset, having made a new GA account on my laptop to use. I input the new GA on the initial setup, but here is where the issue is....under Play Store->My Apps it doesn't show a single app, stock Android apps or Verizon apps. I am unable to "Update All" or even set them to auto-update, though I do have "Update over wifi only" set and I am on wifi.
Browsing for one of the stock apps, like Google Chrome, will allow me to manual update and then it will show in "Installed/All" apps. With the new GA, I am also unable to update the Google Play services.
Doing another factory reset and putting in my old GA will act normally. I can see every single app, stock Android and Verizon. I can update them all, including Google Play services.
Is there any way to get my new Google Account to allow me to do the things I do with my former one?

(Q) How can I disable Instant Apps for Android

Like the title says, I've noticed since updating to 7.1.2 at least 2-3 times a day I am thrown a notification for "updating Instant Apps" but it never tells me if it was updated or installed. I tried going to Settings -> Google -> Instant Apps and it is disabled yet these apps are auto-downloading and installing in the background. I have auto-updates off on the play store but this still occurs.
Is there anything I can do to disable or at least cripple the instant apps? I'm reading the purpose of instant apps is so you can try an application without installing it, I do not want to test drive apps like Buzzfeed so however I can disable it would be great

fatapia said:
Like the title says, I've noticed since updating to 7.1.2 at least 2-3 times a day I am thrown a notification for "updating Instant Apps" but it never tells me if it was updated or installed. I tried going to Settings -> Google -> Instant Apps and it is disabled yet these apps are auto-downloading and installing in the background. I have auto-updates off on the play store but this still occurs.
Is there anything I can do to disable or at least cripple the instant apps? I'm reading the purpose of instant apps is so you can try an application without installing it, I do not want to test drive apps like Buzzfeed so however I can disable it would be great
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So, using Titanium Backup I couldn't find the package com.google.android.instantapps.supervisor but using a root explorer I found the application in /data/app/com.google.android.instantapps.supervisor-2
I also found saved data in /data/data/com.google.android.apps.instantapps.supervisor
I have no idea if this will prevent the service from auto-updating as it has been without permission but I know where it is now...
Update: Deleting both folders causing settings to crash when you go to Settings -> Google -> Instant apps, so it might be deleted off my phone entirely. I will update if I see the application re-install itself

Instant apps are temporary apps. So you can't uninstall them or disable it. It's a feature built into Android that is not going away. Your only option is to install a rom without Gapps. Otherwise deal with it.
Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

superchilpil said:
Instant apps are temporary apps. So you can't uninstall them or disable it. It's a feature built into Android that is not going away. Your only option is to install a rom without Gapps. Otherwise deal with it.
Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
deleting those two files seemed to have broken that feature.
My issue was that I disabled that service through settings as suggested by one of the google support pages but it would still download and install "Instant Apps" the service throughout the day, not the actual temporary apps themselves. So it's been dealt with lol

oh man, when i saw this i thought i had a virus on my phone.
especially when i couldn't find anything named "instant apps" in the app drawer

I am hoping that this will work for me as well. The first time I saw the instant apps pop up I just connected to a free wifi in Mexico and freaked out. This seriously bothers me. I uninstalled it and it came back update after update. I also will not be using any instant apps, so this is something I want to break.

speedee12 said:
I am hoping that this will work for me as well. The first time I saw the instant apps pop up I just connected to a free wifi in Mexico and freaked out. This seriously bothers me. I uninstalled it and it came back update after update. I also will not be using any instant apps, so this is something I want to break.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
some how it was pushed back on to my phone. this is not a permanent solution...

so I'm trying to disable this through other means now and I found something interesting? I need someone with more experience to chime in as far as what these* lines* do*.. and where I found it...
so in /data/data/com.google.android.apps.instantapps.supervisor/shared_prefs/phenotypeConfigurations.xml there are these three lines:
<boolean name="Supervisor__enable_instant_apps" value="true" />
<boolean name="Supervisor__disable_url_resolution" value="false" />
<boolean name="TestFeature__enable_test" value="true" />
I flipped the value of these three entries to see if this will disable it. I find it odd that for the first line it was set for "true" when the settings say it's off. I will update again if I see this come back. My coworker had suggested that this may be built in to the Google app itself? Let's see...

so I had to unroot my phone because I forgot to log into snapchat, then re-root after, and Instant Apps was back yet again. The changes I made to the XML file persisted but the app was back.
I think I found a way to remove it entirely. I used Root Explorer, idk what other applications would work for this. So I navigated back to /data/app/com.google.android.instantapps.supervisor-1 and I clicked the base.apk and I had an option to uninstall, I did this then rebooted my phone to see if reboots are why it fixes itself except the entry for Instant Apps has been removed from settings. This appears to permanently remove this feature.

every time I think I fix this it keeps coming back lol, I finally called Google Support and this is the first they are hearing of it. The application re-installed itself at 430-some Mountain Time on it's own, other times it re-installs upon reboot. I'm going to find a way to cripple it if google cant
I recommend calling support to let them know that Instant Apps is enabled even though the switch says it is disabled.

fatapia said:
every time I think I fix this it keeps coming back lol, I finally called Google Support and this is the first they are hearing of it. The application re-installed itself at 430-some Mountain Time on it's own, other times it re-installs upon reboot. I'm going to find a way to cripple it if google cant
I recommend calling support to let them know that Instant Apps is enabled even though the switch says it is disabled.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have the same annoyances, "Installig Instant apps" notification appears randomly during the last month, and reading in the logcat they are updates/patches to the new feature, managed by finsky app (Play Store). The most scaring thing is that one time it appeared also during mobile data connection, which is not acceptable (and 800kb background data from Play Store). Google is being too aggressive with it. Why not simply integrate it and update it along with Play Services like the other 1000 google APIs ? !on WIFI!
Thank you for your tests, unfortunately the update process seems to be triggered by Google Play services itself or by Google play store.
I searched for related alarms/wakelocks in Amplify and could only found one wakelock coming from com.google.android.apps.instantapps.supervisor itself: .ExperimentUpdateService. I decided to keep it as this probably isn't the trigger.

ninestarkoko said:
I have the same annoyances, "Installig Instant apps" notification appears randomly during the last month, and reading in the logcat they are updates/patches to the new feature, managed by finsky app (Play Store). The most scaring thing is that one time it appeared also during mobile data connection, which is not acceptable (and 800kb background data from Play Store). Google is being too aggressive with it. Why not simply integrate it and update it along with Play Services like the other 1000 google APIs ? !on WIFI!
Thank you for your tests, unfortunately the update process seems to be triggered by Google Play services itself or by Google play store.
I searched for related alarms/wakelocks in Amplify and could only found one wakelock coming from com.google.android.apps.instantapps.supervisor itself: .ExperimentUpdateService. I decided to keep it as this probably isn't the trigger.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yeah that's now my only worrisome complaint is that it ignores the play store settings and will download over any network connection. You can try submitting feedback through settings and suggest they fix this part so that it updates as you said. Thanks for the additional info, I'll try disabling that and report back if it makes any difference. I doubt that's the source of the problem though so I uninstall the apk so something else must be initiating it.

Thank you guys for this thread! I have the regular Pixel and have been seeing this happen... "Instant Apps" was disabled but somehow still updating either itself or something else, and I wondered if there was an additional switch somewhere to disable it. Looks like the answer is no. ?
Sent from my Pixel using Tapatalk

So I noticed every time the play store found an update, magically Instant Apps was back. I began to notice that this may be a service built into Play Store and not the Google app itself. So I had an idea, I went into Settings for Android and turned off background data for Play services. Obviously this will affect quite a bit, but honestly I am at that point from fighting this feature that I'd gladly give that up. So far after 2 days I have not seen the application re-install itself. It has been more permanent that the other solutions I've had so far.
There's an article from XDA in Analysis and Opinion talking about Instant Apps and Play Store 7.8.15, apparently this issue is affecting people all the way down to the Samsung S5... although people are hesistant to believe this issue exists for whatever reason.

You can cripple it by restricting its access to internet via firewall. Unfortunately this method also drives up battery consumption as the firewall does jujitsu with "Google Play services for Instant Apps" - I am actively fantasizing about taking my baby sledge to this thing and going back to a "dumb"-phone that doesn't have all this drama constantly! I'm using an S5 right now. This is definitely a google thing. They have a similar self-install-without-asking "feature" on windows via their chrome browser. Just look up "SwReporter" in that program's directory. It self-populates with an executable as you use chrome normally and there is no option in the program for it to not do that. You can safely make a shortcut to that directory and empty it out regularly to restrict its functionality which is presumably for keeping an eye on you. I am also trying an alternate method of changing security to prevent write access to that directory. I have no idea how to do that on an unrooted android. Any ideas? And does anybody know how to cripple "instant apps" malware/spyware backdoor "feature" on an unrooted device without eating battery like crazy?

Today I noticed that Instant Apps was installing without my permission. When I clicked on that notification, it brought me to the Google Play Store. (In Google Play Store, I have auto updates disabled.) I have an unrooted Galaxy Note 4 and I can't even find the settings for Instant Apps under the Google settings. Why aren't the settings there? I found the app in the Apps settings called "Google Play services for Instant Apps" (thank you G1A). I cleared it's the cache and data and then uninstalled it. So I'm assuming it will not come back but you never know.
EDIT: Well the "Google Play services for Instant Apps" reinstalled itself AGAIN WITHOUT MY PERMISSION. Getting sick of tired of Google's POMPOUS business ethics.

If it reinstalled itself.... then his would require root privileges in order to disable.

yeah this issue is annoying, it seems to initiate the download upon every reboot and each time it checks the play store for updates for any of your apps.
I found a way to disable it but it required freezing the app through Titanium Backup. I have NO CLUE why I couldn't see Instant Apps before in this list but it is listed as "Google Play Services for Instant Apps." It does not re-install or try to even download, does not show in Settings under Google, but if you look at the app itself in settings you will see it does still run. I am not sure to what extent but yeeeaahhh at least it doesnt seem like it can run anything

No problem As an update, changing security permissions (specifically for writing) for chrome's target folder Definitely (in windows 10) serves as an effective measure to blockade its ability to regenerate itself. This same method also works for microsoft edge located in the C-Windows-SystemApps folder. I presume that the programming methods would be analogous with android on google's end. Anybody know how to restrict write access to a folder on android? So long as it checks for a folder existing and it does exist (multi-decade programming approach) then it attempts to write to that folder. However, because it's already running in stealth mode (aka background) then it will never show an error message when it fails to execute, and it won't report back either, as that functionality depends on the contents of the targeted folder it is denied access to. It should be effectively crippled without excessive CPU consumption if you can just restrict its ability to write to the default folder that it installs itself in. Any ideas how to execute this kind of blockade?
UPDATE: As a way to cripple not Instant Apps specifically, but an entire host of functionality on the android platform, something called "Power Saving Mode" seems to knock out a key background runtime required for this pest to run. Unfortunately it doesn't let you pick and choose what it shuts off, so other useful apps may lose their functionality too. Post if anybody finds a more app-specific method!

Does this crap have its own separate package? If so, you could uninstall it and make a dummy APK having the same package name. This could prevent "updates" due to signing key conflicts, but might also break things...