Database Users

[Q] Going after minimalistic set of programms/feature on N7

Hi, a new guy here!
I recently became a happy owner of 32Gb wi-fi only N7. I’m familiar with software dev (windows developer for 20 years with some work on unix) and customization/modding/flashing process (mostly for satellite receivers). However this is my first tablet and my first Android device so I could use some help 
I successfully unlocked, rooted and installed custom recovery on my N7. I would like to get to a bare bones state of the N7 and then slowly add new features/programs to it when it becomes necessary for me. So I would like to remove all non essential parts that were preinstalled on my N7.
I was under impression that I could uninstall programs using N7 UI after device gets rooted. However it seems that for majority of the apps I still only have an option to disable.
I shelled into N7 and looked around. It seems that all (majority?) of the apps are in /system/apps folder. Can I simply remove the apps and their files from that folder? Does this folder only contain user apps or does it also have system apps that are essential for N7 to function? Is there a chance to brick it by removing something (everything?) from that folder?
I searched on a forum for a list of apps that are safe to remove. I thought it would exist since it seems to be something many of us would be interested in doing. I didn’t find the list. If there is such a thing and someone could direct me there, it would be great!
Given that I can remove apps by deleting them from that folder safely, I still have a question what each app does and how important it is. Is safe to assume that any app that has a wheel with a drive belt on it as an icon in apps screen on N7 is system app and has to stay?
I have two keyboard app installed – one is Android keyboard and one is ASUS keyboard. Judging by the name 2 of these are essential since Android is the OS and ASUS is the manufacturer. But do I really need two of them?
If there is a resource/thread that discussed something similar, please let know. I look forward to learn from anyone on this forum! 

_Diver said:
Hi, a new guy here!
I recently became a happy owner of 32Gb wi-fi only N7. I’m familiar with software dev (windows developer for 20 years with some work on unix) and customization/modding/flashing process (mostly for satellite receivers). However this is my first tablet and my first Android device so I could use some help 
I successfully unlocked, rooted and installed custom recovery on my N7. I would like to get to a bare bones state of the N7 and then slowly add new features/programs to it when it becomes necessary for me. So I would like to remove all non essential parts that were preinstalled on my N7.
I was under impression that I could uninstall programs using N7 UI after device gets rooted. However it seems that for majority of the apps I still only have an option to disable.
I shelled into N7 and looked around. It seems that all (majority?) of the apps are in /system/apps folder. Can I simply remove the apps and their files from that folder? Does this folder only contain user apps or does it also have system apps that are essential for N7 to function? Is there a chance to brick it by removing something (everything?) from that folder?
I searched on a forum for a list of apps that are safe to remove. I thought it would exist since it seems to be something many of us would be interested in doing. I didn’t find the list. If there is such a thing and someone could direct me there, it would be great!
Given that I can remove apps by deleting them from that folder safely, I still have a question what each app does and how important it is. Is safe to assume that any app that has a wheel with a drive belt on it as an icon in apps screen on N7 is system app and has to stay?
I have two keyboard app installed – one is Android keyboard and one is ASUS keyboard. Judging by the name 2 of these are essential since Android is the OS and ASUS is the manufacturer. But do I really need two of them?
If there is a resource/thread that discussed something similar, please let know. I look forward to learn from anyone on this forum! 
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't have the energy right now to address every app one at a time, but I'll nudge you in the right direction. That should help you start tinkering.
The Nexus 7 is very popular in this community because it's intentionally more open, and less bloated, than much of the competition.
That being said, sure there are apps you could uninstall if you decide to. Some of the custom ROM's will have probably already have done this for you, but may create little unexpected quirks here and there.
The first thing you'll want to do is backing everything up thoroughly. I would use Titanium Pro (you'll see it referred to as Tibu a lot), to backup all apps and settings. Then I would use the Google Nexus 7 toolkit (found in the forums here) to do a backup, as well as make a nandroid backup.
Ok, so you're ready to tinker. Well, if you bought Titanium Pro from the app store, you've already got all you really need. First, use titanium to freeze an app you don't feel you need, and don't think is required. Re-boot, go about your daily routine, and see if all is ok. Continue on in this manner. Once you've frozen everything you're interested in, and made sure all is well, you can probably go ahead and uninstall them through Tibu. Freezing them should generally make them not start up anyways, so unless the tiny amount of space they take up is a concern, that's really all you generally need to do *.
* Ok, sometimes you have to fully uninstall things you don't want, but this should get you plenty to tinker with for now.

bladebarrier,
Thanks for your response. I understand the approach you suggested – disabling apps one at a time and then when they all disabled and device is working to my liking for a while I could uninstall them.
However, I’m somewhat frustrated with a sheer number of apps that I have out of the box and I can’t find a good description of what they do. For example:
Mobile Network Configuration
Google Partner Setup
Google Services Framework
Searching online doesn’t yield definitive answers if it’s something I need or will N7 work without them. I have google play store and google play services installed – does store app require services? Reading a bit about it doesn’t make it seem so, but I’m not 100% sure. So I was wondering if there is a list of apps that are required for N7 well being and that cannot be removed no matter what.
For example, Black Viper has an excellent example of what I’m looking for but for windows nt services: (can't post a link)
This page explain what each service is, what it does and if it’s safe to disable it depending on configuration you’re seeking – minimal set, typical, out of box of experimental. I would love to find something like that for N7 system apps 
I installed CWM recovery when I rooted and as far as I can understand I does NAND backups. I plan on moving the backup file from the device to my desktop and keeping it there for safety reason.
The Tibu process that you described, as far as I understand (and I might be wrong here) is basically equivalent of disabling the apps using native N7 setting app, rebooting, using it for a while and then removing .apk and .odex (or simply app_name.*) files from system/apps folder. Tibu just makes it easier. Did I get that right?
And it’s still removing one app/widget at the time. I’d like to clean it out completely first and start from that point. So Tibu will probably not help me there. So my main Q is still out there – can I brick it by removing everything from system/app? Are there only user apps there or essential system apps as well? With CWM back up file on hand will I be able to recover if my experiment goes bad? 
> * Ok, sometimes you have to fully uninstall things you don't want, but this should get you plenty to tinker with for now.
One of the reasons I want to have them removed is to clean up the list of apps I have on N7. Right now I have 5 pages of apps and I have little idea what they do and if I need them – I had Korean keyboard installed for example.
As I mentioned I’m a newb in this area, so maybe my approach is a bit dumb, so please be patient with me

_Diver said:
bladebarrier,
Thanks for your response. I understand the approach you suggested – disabling apps one at a time and then when they all disabled and device is working to my liking for a while I could uninstall them.
However, I’m somewhat frustrated with a sheer number of apps that I have out of the box and I can’t find a good description of what they do. For example:
Mobile Network Configuration
Google Partner Setup
Google Services Framework
Searching online doesn’t yield definitive answers if it’s something I need or will N7 work without them. I have google play store and google play services installed – does store app require services? Reading a bit about it doesn’t make it seem so, but I’m not 100% sure. So I was wondering if there is a list of apps that are required for N7 well being and that cannot be removed no matter what.
For example, Black Viper has an excellent example of what I’m looking for but for windows nt services: (can't post a link)
This page explain what each service is, what it does and if it’s safe to disable it depending on configuration you’re seeking – minimal set, typical, out of box of experimental. I would love to find something like that for N7 system apps 
I installed CWM recovery when I rooted and as far as I can understand I does NAND backups. I plan on moving the backup file from the device to my desktop and keeping it there for safety reason.
The Tibu process that you described, as far as I understand (and I might be wrong here) is basically equivalent of disabling the apps using native N7 setting app, rebooting, using it for a while and then removing .apk and .odex (or simply app_name.*) files from system/apps folder. Tibu just makes it easier. Did I get that right?
And it’s still removing one app/widget at the time. I’d like to clean it out completely first and start from that point. So Tibu will probably not help me there. So my main Q is still out there – can I brick it by removing everything from system/app? Are there only user apps there or essential system apps as well? With CWM back up file on hand will I be able to recover if my experiment goes bad? 
> * Ok, sometimes you have to fully uninstall things you don't want, but this should get you plenty to tinker with for now.
One of the reasons I want to have them removed is to clean up the list of apps I have on N7. Right now I have 5 pages of apps and I have little idea what they do and if I need them – I had Korean keyboard installed for example.
As I mentioned I’m a newb in this area, so maybe my approach is a bit dumb, so please be patient with me
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Removing Google framework services is a big no-no. To be honest, the easiest way to accomplish what you want is installing a custom ROM like CyanogenMod, especially since you've done all the prep work for such a thing.
Once you install any official CM build it is as close to app-less as you can get on a modular OS like this.

littleemp said:
Removing Google framework services is a big no-no. To be honest, the easiest way to accomplish what you want is installing a custom ROM like CyanogenMod, especially since you've done all the prep work for such a thing.
Once you install any official CM build it is as close to app-less as you can get on a modular OS like this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
that's what i suspected! i thought that google framework would be something essential, but there is not much easily available information there to arrive at that conclusion
since i'm new to this, i thought i should stay away from any rom flashing until i get a bit more familiar with a device, terminology and stuff like that. i'm looking at the "[ROM] CyanogenMod 10.1 [OFFICIAL]" thread and i'm not sure about half of the terms - GAPPS, PSA, Nightlies i do know what ROM is, I do know what kernel is, virtual machine, etc. But it's applied to the platform that I have little experience with, so it makes me a little bit uneasy

_Diver said:
bladebarrier,
Thanks for your response. I understand the approach you suggested – disabling apps one at a time and then when they all disabled and device is working to my liking for a while I could uninstall them.
However, I’m somewhat frustrated with a sheer number of apps that I have out of the box and I can’t find a good description of what they do. For example:
Mobile Network Configuration
Google Partner Setup
Google Services Framework
Searching online doesn’t yield definitive answers if it’s something I need or will N7 work without them. I have google play store and google play services installed – does store app require services? Reading a bit about it doesn’t make it seem so, but I’m not 100% sure. So I was wondering if there is a list of apps that are required for N7 well being and that cannot be removed no matter what.
For example, Black Viper has an excellent example of what I’m looking for but for windows nt services: (can't post a link)
This page explain what each service is, what it does and if it’s safe to disable it depending on configuration you’re seeking – minimal set, typical, out of box of experimental. I would love to find something like that for N7 system apps 
I installed CWM recovery when I rooted and as far as I can understand I does NAND backups. I plan on moving the backup file from the device to my desktop and keeping it there for safety reason.
The Tibu process that you described, as far as I understand (and I might be wrong here) is basically equivalent of disabling the apps using native N7 setting app, rebooting, using it for a while and then removing .apk and .odex (or simply app_name.*) files from system/apps folder. Tibu just makes it easier. Did I get that right?
And it’s still removing one app/widget at the time. I’d like to clean it out completely first and start from that point. So Tibu will probably not help me there. So my main Q is still out there – can I brick it by removing everything from system/app? Are there only user apps there or essential system apps as well? With CWM back up file on hand will I be able to recover if my experiment goes bad? 
> * Ok, sometimes you have to fully uninstall things you don't want, but this should get you plenty to tinker with for now.
One of the reasons I want to have them removed is to clean up the list of apps I have on N7. Right now I have 5 pages of apps and I have little idea what they do and if I need them – I had Korean keyboard installed for example.
As I mentioned I’m a newb in this area, so maybe my approach is a bit dumb, so please be patient with me
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Tibu requires root access, in order to perform what we're discussing. I'm relatively new to JB, but I can't imagine any stock settings replicating its capabilities.
As far as a whole bunch of apps being in your list, that's sort of the way Android works. Think of it like "superfetch", or whatever that term was in Windows Vista. Basically, two things happen when you boot. Android looks at a list of apps that are designed to start on boot, and also apps that it expects you may want to run in the future. Both of these are designed to make the device run smoother overall, and it will kill apps if extra ram is required and they are not in use. Certain Android apps require themselves to run at all times. Some of these are apps like Tasker (if you're using tasker profiles), some of these are system apps that make the device function, some of these are apps that maintain widgets or background monitoring (weather apps, gmail, calendar).
Now, there are two ways to go about sorting what is bloat, and what is there because Android decided to load it. You can install an app called Autostarts, that will give an insight into apps that start up when certain criteria are met. You can also use it to stop those apps from queuing up at those trigger points. This is another root required app, and while I purchased it long ago, may have a free version as well. It's time consuming to use, and not perfect, which is why Tibu is better for flat out locking down unwanted apps.
Back to my initial thoughts though, you will see apps in your system list that you haven't touched since boot, because Android tries to anticipate your needs. People used to use "task killers" to close the apps, and came to realize that unless one is causing a real problem, it's just going to go back into the cached app list again anyways, thus reducing battery life when it has to load it over and over again. "Task killer" is a dirty word around XDA, unless you're using it to close an app that doesn't just go into the background like a good little app should.
Basically, you're going to start playing whack-a-mole if you want your list to remain as small as possible, at all times, and yet still actually use the device for anything interesting. You can reduce it, via various methods, and if this were a device from say "insert-name" brand, and was loaded with bloat apps, by all means you should clean those out. However, I think you'll find that while google does install things that aren't needed, or even used by everyone, it's mostly not a big issue.
Check out Better Battery Stats, in the XDA forums. It's an app that shows a pretty good picture of what is actually going on when you're not looking, and can provide data on how to improve your performance. It's probably a better way to start delving into what processes are actually being used, and which ones are just basically harmless. You'll also learn a good bit about how Android works from the Dev's explanations of many of the processes.
---------- Post added at 08:36 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:32 PM ----------
_Diver said:
that's what i suspected! i thought that google framework would be something essential, but there is not much easily available information there to arrive at that conclusion
since i'm new to this, i thought i should stay away from any rom flashing until i get a bit more familiar with a device, terminology and stuff like that. i'm looking at the "[ROM] CyanogenMod 10.1 [OFFICIAL]" thread and i'm not sure about half of the terms - GAPPS, PSA, Nightlies i do know what ROM is, I do know what kernel is, virtual machine, etc. But it's applied to the platform that I have little experience with, so it makes me a little bit uneasy
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Make sure whichever ROM you use, if you decide to, supports your HSPA+ model. There is a separate development section in the Nexus 7 forums, for those of us that have the HSPA+ version. We are the minority, as the Nexus 7 was initially released as a wifi only tablet.

bladebarrier said:
Tibu requires root access, in order to perform what we're discussing. I'm relatively new to JB, but I can't imagine any stock settings replicating its capabilities.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i do have SU privileges, so what i was talking about was disabling an app thru N7 setting screen and then when i deem the app ok to remove, going to adb shell and removing the actual file.
i just did this:
mount -o remount rw /system
rm iWnnIME_Kbd_White.apk
rm iWnnIME.apk
and it removed the japanese keyboard. however when i go back to app screen under settings, i still see it but now it has a grey icon with a SD symbols in the corner. so it appears it recognizes that the app is gone, but it's still referenced in the list. i pushed the files back using NRT and it all back to the way it was. so looks like my idea of cleaning the list by removing the apk might not fly.
and now I wonder how Tibu uninstalls the apps.
bladebarrier said:
People used to use "task killers" to close the apps, and came to realize that unless one is causing a real problem, it's just going to go back into the cached app list again anyways, thus reducing battery life when it has to load it over and over again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I understand the notion of apps being in the cache and being removed when more RAM is needed, however the purist in me just doesn't want the junk apps to be there in first place However there is a lot of validity to these of your words:
bladebarrier said:
Basically, you're going to start playing whack-a-mole if you want your list to remain as small as possible, at all times, and yet still actually use the device for anything interesting.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My wife got Kindle Fire HD recently and she's been using it happily. While I was thinking why would anyone want a closed up system (well, more closed up system then Nexus), she's been using it and I've been frustrated with my N7 so i might just let it go and enjoy the japanese and korean keyboards anyway
bladebarrier said:
Make sure whichever ROM you use, if you decide to, supports your HSPA+ model.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i'm wifi only

ngshniq every
i think i found what i was after: http wiki.cyanogenmod.org/wiki/barebones (url modified since i still can't post urls). this wiki page has the list of app with a short description and if it's safe to remove. it also has additional information that explains why i still saw the reference to the app in the list when apk file was deleted:
looks like i need to pay attention to 2 additional files:
/data/system/packages.xml
/data/system/packages.list
i bet I would find a reference to the apps in these and i would need to remove it in order to have the app disappear from the app list. i'll play around a bit more and report back

One thing, could you explain your reasoning behind wanting to delete everything but the essentials? Do you have a particular goal in mind or is it because of your windows background? Because if so, you should know that android operates very differently when compared to windows, and such, the requirements to keep your device working in tip top shape vary greatly.
In my opinion, with your current limited knowledge of each process/app inner workings, what you're trying to do surefire way to break something beyond repair and needing to use a factory image to get back to zero. A custom ROM will be much safer and yield the exact same results that you're looking for. (Eventually, once you understand what each thing does, then this manual approach could satisfy your needs)
Note: GApps are the basic Google apps to flash on top of the barebones system. Gmail, Play store, and the framework.
Nightlies are experimental builds compiled nightly by a bot with the latest CyanogenMod code available.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk HD

My goal was to simplify my approach to N7 by removing anything that I don’t need now and slowly adding all necessary components as I get familiar with it. But it seems at this point that this approach is a bit more complicated as thought it would be.
So I think I would leave it alone for now and revisit this later 

_Diver said:
My goal was to simplify my approach to N7 by removing anything that I don’t need now and slowly adding all necessary components as I get familiar with it. But it seems at this point that this approach is a bit more complicated as thought it would be.
So I think I would leave it alone for now and revisit this later 
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
From what you've done manually, you're clearly far ahead of a new user when it comes to understanding linux/unix.
If you want to lock down parts of what google implements, purely to keep it minimalistic, I would agree with the above poster. Go for one of the popular ROM options that are available, like CM, and work your way backwards. The Nexus 7 only has as much bloat as you allow it to have via the settings. This is another reason why Better Battery Stats is an excellent way to make sure your device isn't draining battery, yet isn't locked down. The other day I noticed an app that kept fetching my position, even though the case was closed (magnetic sleep mode). It turned out I forgot to disable the tracking in google maps (why it was defaulted to ON, I have no idea). BBS showed me what was running during the sleep phase, and I fixed it when I woke up the next morning after wondering why my battery dropped.
The Kindle Fire is a great option, because it doesn't require any of this fussing about. My woman loves hers. LOVES IT. Personally, I like to tinker a bit, and I'm too invested in Android apps to not have access to the play store. The Nexus 7, is for people like what you find here. We like to tinker, and make everything custom. At the same time, you could spend all day trying to figure out why EntriesRefresh_wakelock is your highest partial wakelock count, at 60seconds per 7 hours, or you can find that you just went 7 hours and only used 6% of the battery, even though you've been connected to wifi, texting, emailing, and checking the weather and news, the whole time. Not bad, honestly.
The biggest investment you can do for your Nexus, is probably getting a case that magnetically puts it to rest when you close it. After that, learn about the settings that drain battery in the background. Then, get Tasker and play around that (it's like programming, without the need to learn the code). After that, go to a custom ROM, or dig out Tibu, and basically start customizing which apps you will use. If that doesn't pass the time long enough, you can literally make your own ROM and put together exactly what you want. Whether the performance will be that much better or not, and whether you'll spend most of your day trying to look for coding errors, is up to you. I don't have the patience to code, but you're a coder, so what is broccoli to me, may be bacon to you.

[Q] Virus or Android now Untamed?

Hello Good People of XDA
I have been a i9506 owner for quite long, had a 9100 before,
I am used to root and mess with apps to customize things to my wim,
at the best of my knowledge (I lack android programming skills, but I can do things with terminal and filesystems).
All that before to say I am not totally a noob, but my lack of technical knowledge might bite me there.
System wise, I am under 4.2.2, rooted, unknow sources are not allowed, system check for apps is allowed,
I have an antivirus (more than one, but only one works each day, just to be sure I don't miss things)...
My problem is that I recently found out that some apps, actually system apps, blocked
with Titanium backup, or with gemini app manager, or app quarantine,
were actually running anyway.
They are marked as blocked in my app manager, but can still be force closed,
and they appear in battery displays (most of these under the android system block, in the list of services/apps used),
and in process running when using Ccleaner apps.
Also, my battery display show GPS is activated, while when I go into options, all boxes are off or unticked.
I thus wonder what's happening?
How is it possible to have these schrödinger apps tamed and blocked like I want them.
I want these to shut down and only work when I DO ALLOW these, for them not to suck my battery or do unauthorized chores like tracking me when I don't want.
How is it possible that they even behave like that? In i9100, I never observed that in Android 4.0.
I wonder if Google didn't change the workings for making us unable to disactivate what we don't want to work, which was pissing them off.
They already change the permissions displays in the market so permissions as intrusive as "contacts/sms message/USB stockage" are considered "not relevant/important",
while they are depending on the announced display of the app.
But I don't want to go on the "conspiracy route" (I am not like that, I am a pragmatist and I just observe facts, like these apps, with sensitive access, not being able to be deactivated), so let's focus on the technical part:
such apps were Maps, Samsung sync adapters, NFC service , Google Agenda/Contact synchronisation, sysscope, context provider, etc.
That's a lots of things that are supposed to communicate to cloud or other devices, with feels lot like a gaping flaw in the armor...
I want a phone and a tool, not something that track me or put me at risk of being stolen by somebody with technical knowledge.
Am I alone?
Thanks for any insights.

Blocked apps still working
I don't know if my title was too unclear, so I would like to change the title but am unable to do so?
Is it please possible for a moderator to do it (with the title of this post)?
Thanks by advance.
I feel like it is a true problem not being able to block some apps,
or even more, to believe they are blocked while they perfectly perform in the background,
and display activity only in secondary reports, not under their respective "buttons"/information tabs.
I wonder abourt the technical reason to such behavior.

Then delete those apps or block some of the permissions with an app (eg Privacyguard).
It's my opinion that an antivirus app (at the moment) is a waste of resources. Just think before you install something. Also if you are worried about security, you should always run the latest version of Android. 4.2.2 is an old version.

Lennyz1988 said:
Then delete those apps or block some of the permissions with an app (eg Privacyguard).
It's my opinion that an antivirus app (at the moment) is a waste of resources. Just think before you install something. Also if you are worried about security, you should always run the latest version of Android. 4.2.2 is an old version.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your answer.
Well I don't want to delete system app when they might be useful at time.
I just want them to behave correctly, that is, not work when they are blocked.
That is not a solution to say "uninstall this", while the true problem is Android general behavior here.
I didn't installed system apps, they came with the thing, and all of them are not bloatware.
"NFC service" is something I want to keep for when I am ready to use it,
but I don't want to let it free and unleashed because of the opening it leaves on my phone.
Same goes for bluetooth, synced backups and so on.
I don't want backups on the cloud, so I deactivated the options, and blocked the apps.
Why are they running? It is not normal!
And my old version is maybe not secure, but actually trying 4.3 hasn't changed anything,
and I only suspect this to be some "new feature".
The antivirus is a waste for scans, I agree, still it has useful firewall features that justifies in itself its uses.

Stop apps from updating?

This must be the fifth time I have had to reinstall SuperUser. I never had any issues with the version that came with NookManager rooting, and I prefer it to the new one. Then I changed kernals to enable USB hosting and a new SuperUser arrived with it (my first mistake) but I rather think the current nuisance just happens to have occurred at about the same time. Finally a market update is available and away it goes.
Every time I turn on Wi-Fi the app updates. I don't see any settings in Market or SeachMarket (or SU, for that matter) which give me any options. Oddly, a few apps under "My Apps" are listed as manual updates. I have no idea why but with the NST frozen in time as it is, I'd prefer they were all that way.
Short of disabling Market and SearchMarket, is there some way to stop apps from updating without my permission (or did I already give it......)?
Edit: well the solution is sort of under my nose in SearchMarket. In the listing of My Apps if I tap on an app I am taken to a screen for it on which there is a check box for updating automatically. Duh. For some reason the only app checked was SU! Anyway, problem solved.

Honestly, just use @Chainfire's SuperSU alternative app. It works better (IMO), has more options, and has a much less spartan interface than SuperUser.

Instead of rooting...?

If I recall correctly, the Priv's OS has some application that checks the integrity of the OS, thus prevents rooting.
And can't we simply flash a new ROM which would be just a clean Android? Maybe unlocking the bootloader would be easier than cat-and-mouse play with the real BB Android.

no it does not exist and the drivers for some hw on the device to work like izat and keyboard won't work, also the priv kernel is also secure along with bootloader so if i see a custom or AOSP rom for this device i will be like on twilight zone

There have been lost opportunities here and there but BlackBerry has been active on patching all security holes and that is why is important to the company that a root has to be impossible or this effort has been all for nothing and they became the newest "Blackphone" (now that rooting was unfortunate for a device sold as a "secure" phone).
I know that there are audience in Android just for root capacity but not everybody are in a "real" need for it.
I like that the BlackBerry Launcher leave most of AOSP element, except for icons and notifications sounds.

Personally I only ever use root for CPU control and ability to delete ANY app I deem fit, and on my previous SGS5 that meant all those heart rate and other nonsense apps that ran in background and chunked the battery to no end.
Gonna assume the Priv then has no CPU management ability due to the lack of root, correct?

Skv012a said:
Personally I only ever use root for CPU control and ability to delete ANY app I deem fit, and on my previous SGS5 that meant all those heart rate and other nonsense apps that ran in background and chunked the battery to no end.
Gonna assume the Priv then has no CPU management ability due to the lack of root, correct?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Correct. Though, they do use the interactive governor, and while I would kind of like to underclock the CPU a bit to deal with overheating, the default CPU management isn't too shabby. And since the Priv is almost completely stock, removal of unwanted apps is minimal, and all the carrier apps I had weren't system apps, so I was able to actually uninstall them, and what BB apps I didn't care for, I simply disabled. Learning that life without root isn't so bad on the Priv.

I just want root for Adblock for both YouTube and Chrome. I don't care if it's just a temp, as long as it lets me update the Filters for AdAway I am alright with it, I'll deal with the youtube ads.

KOAO said:
I just want root for Adblock for both YouTube and Chrome. I don't care if it's just a temp, as long as it lets me update the Filters for AdAway I am alright with it, I'll deal with the youtube ads.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, you could use Firefox. It supports extensions on Android, and ublock works nicely to kill ads, though I find functionally that Chrome runs infinitely better on Android than Firefox does, so your kilometerage may vary.

Artemis-kun said:
And since the Priv is almost completely stock, removal of unwanted apps is minimal
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not true! The Priv is full of bloatware that you can only deactivate but not uninstall (Yahoo Finances, for example). And some of those apps will stay active and make the phone unusable despite being 'deactivated'. Like BB Hub. I deactivated it from the start and just recently saw that it still had several permissions (location, contacts, messages, calendar etc). So I revoked those permissions. Now it constantly pops up and wants permissions. I can't even add a contact without granting these permissions. Annoying as hell. It's ridiculous that BB regard themselves as a secure company with secure smartphones (which was rebutted several years ago) that emphasize on privacy but when it comes to their own apps, it can't get any more privacy invading. I so hate BB!
So I'm waiting for
a) another producer to make an Android phone with a hardware keyboard or
b) someone to make root for the Priv happen so that I can install a ROM of my choice.

Shani Ace said:
Not true! The Priv is full of bloatware that you can only deactivate but not uninstall (Yahoo Finances, for example). And some of those apps will stay active and make the phone unusable despite being 'deactivated'. Like BB Hub. I deactivated it from the start and just recently saw that it still had several permissions (location, contacts, messages, calendar etc). So I revoked those permissions. Now it constantly pops up and wants permissions. I can't even add a contact without granting these permissions. Annoying as hell. It's ridiculous that BB regard themselves as a secure company with secure smartphones (which was rebutted several years ago) that emphasize on privacy but when it comes to their own apps, it can't get any more privacy invading. I so hate BB!
So I'm waiting for
a) another producer to make an Android phone with a hardware keyboard or
b) someone to make root for the Priv happen so that I can install a ROM of my choice.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wouldn't call it full of bloat. Full of bloat is what Samsung has on offer. Yes, there are some bloatware apps that you can't uninstall, but they disable just fine. Sounds to me like your hub got re-enabled, mine has been disabled since day one, and still has no permissions, and doesn't harass me about anything.

Artemis-kun said:
Sounds to me like your hub got re-enabled, mine has been disabled since day one, and still has no permissions, and doesn't harass me about anything.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Interesting. Did you do any of the BB OTA updates (mine's running the most recent version, 6.0.1, security patch from August 5th)?
The Hub is still deactivated, but it doesn't seem to 'care' about that. I activated and deactivated it again to no effect.
So you're telling me when you go into Settings -> Apps -> BB Hub -> Permissions, all six permissions (calendar, camera, contacts, storage, phone and BB Productivity Suite) are turned-off?
I'm pretty sure I had these turned off when I got the phone in May. So maybe some of the OTA updates changed something about it. Unless you're running the same version that I am.
Oh and the fullscreen pop-up says Blackberry Hub+, maybe this is a new thing then?
And yes, other manufacturers may have more Bloatware. But at least there you can uninstall them or flash a different ROM. And all the BB services like BB Hub count as Bloatware for me, too.
Maybe I should sell my Priv and get a S6 Edge Plus (again). I still got the keyboard cover for that model and it's flashable, although Samsung also makes it hard for the users. But the keyboard cover is not back-lit and the phone is even bigger than the Priv (already too big for my taste).
EDIT: Ah wait! I just saw that the 'Blackberry Services' were activate, so I deactivated it and revoked all its permissions and now the pop up is gone. I definitely had this deactivated before the update, but as with the other BB apps, you have to deactivate them again after each update. Guess I just overlooked this one. Yay!

Shani Ace said:
Interesting. Did you do any of the BB OTA updates (mine's running the most recent version, 6.0.1, security patch from August 5th)?
The Hub is still deactivated, but it doesn't seem to 'care' about that. I activated and deactivated it again to no effect.
So you're telling me when you go into Settings -> Apps -> BB Hub -> Permissions, all six permissions (calendar, camera, contacts, storage, phone and BB Productivity Suite) are turned-off?
I'm pretty sure I had these turned off when I got the phone in May. So maybe some of the OTA updates changed something about it. Unless you're running the same version that I am.
Oh and the fullscreen pop-up says Blackberry Hub+, maybe this is a new thing then?
And yes, other manufacturers may have more Bloatware. But at least there you can uninstall them or flash a different ROM. And all the BB services like BB Hub count as Bloatware for me, too.
Maybe I should sell my Priv and get a S6 Edge Plus (again). I still got the keyboard cover for that model and it's flashable, although Samsung also makes it hard for the users. But the keyboard cover is not back-lit and the phone is even bigger than the Priv (already too big for my taste).
EDIT: Ah wait! I just saw that the 'Blackberry Services' were activate, so I deactivated it and revoked all its permissions and now the pop up is gone. I definitely had this deactivated before the update, but as with the other BB apps, you have to deactivate them again after each update. Guess I just overlooked this one. Yay!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
https://puu.sh/qYFcI/bca42bb0e9.png here is a screenshot I just took. I should also point out that I have everything else BB disabled as well, and I've never had to re-disable any of them. I'm on the MM beta program, so that might also make some kind of diffeerence, but I stay up to date with patches, and haven't had to disable anything again. Not sure how it happened in your case, but glad that you got it sorted.
Another thing I do feel I need to bring up, this is also a BB phone made for BB people, so it does make sense that they include the software suite that their fans have grown to love. Sure, those of us who couldn't care less about BB's software, and just wanted in on their amazing hardware prowess, will find these apps bothersome, but if nothing else, visually they left Android alone, and for that, I can't not happily thank them. They could have given us something like a BB10 inspired touchwiz, could you imagine? Lol.

Yeah that's true and I'm also happy that they didn't over-customize their ROM. It's just hard to accept any deviation when you've been used to having full freedom on all kinds of custom ROMs for the last ten years.
Strange though that you didn't have to re-deactivate the apps after the updates. Then I guess I'll look into the beta program (had seen it before but didn't mind).

and I do not have 'Secure Start-up' turned-on.
There's enough bloatware that I'd like to remove, such as "Hang-Outs" & BBM is eating data with stupid pics of available 'stickies' & other crap I don't want to see/read about & my ONLY choice for disable is "Do you want to restore this app to Factory Default?". No, I don't I want to Restore it to Factory Default - I want to DISABLE it. I do understand that the PRIV's supposed to be secure & yes that's a Good Thing. I also understand that most users LIKE to be kept informed. I am NOT 'social' - Let ME decide what I want to be informed about & when. I didn't even get a choice of what subscription (?) I wanted (which is NONE). There's a bunch of apps that I can only Restore to Factory default. That, too me, means I CANNOT Remove or Disable them. I call that bloatware. Un-wanted bloatware. If I could remove them without Rooting, then I would not be looking to do so! I have an 'Essential Tremour' & I NEED a physical keyboard or I'd look elsewhere.
OK: I managed to get BBM to stop shouting at me (as noted: I make mistakes, but I do learn from them); it's just down to wanting to get rid of apps I don't want taking-up space. Rooting a PRIV appears to be dicey, with no firm info from Oct/2016, onwards, regarding 'safe' rooting of my device. I'm running 6.0.1 & Bell is my provider. If it makes any difference, I do not have 'Secure Start-Up' turned-on. As noted, if I didn't need a physical keyboard, I probably would not have chosen this make/model. Guess I'll live with it & keep looking for ways to put my phone on diet (& the battery barely lasts a day, unfortunately). I basically use it as a PDA - no games, few calls, occasional checking notes & calendar - it should last longer.

Bootstrap69 said:
There's enough bloatware that I'd like to remove, such as "Hang-Outs" & BBM is eating data with stupid pics of available 'stickies' & other crap I don't want to see/read about & my ONLY choice for disable is "Do you want to restore this app to Factory Default?". No, I don't I want to Restore it to Factory Default - I want to DISABLE it. I do understand that the PRIV's supposed to be secure & yes that's a Good Thing. I also understand that most users LIKE to be kept informed. I am NOT 'social' - Let ME decide what I want to be informed about & when. I didn't even get a choice of what subscription (?) I wanted (which is NONE). There's a bunch of apps that I can only Restore to Factory default. That, too me, means I CANNOT Remove or Disable them. I call that bloatware. Un-wanted bloatware. If I could remove them without Rooting, then I would not be looking to do so! I have an 'Essential Tremour' & I NEED a physical keyboard or I'd look elsewhere.
OK: I managed to get BBM to stop shouting at me (as noted: I make mistakes, but I do learn from them); it's just down to wanting to get rid of apps I don't want taking-up space. Rooting a PRIV appears to be dicey, with no firm info from Oct/2016, onwards, regarding 'safe' rooting of my device. I'm running 6.0.1 & Bell is my provider. If it makes any difference, I do not have 'Secure Start-Up' turned-on. As noted, if I didn't need a physical keyboard, I probably would not have chosen this make/model. Guess I'll live with it & keep looking for ways to put my phone on diet (& the battery barely lasts a day, unfortunately). I basically use it as a PDA - no games, few calls, occasional checking notes & calendar - it should last longer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In order to disable some of the apps on this device they must be restored to factory default. I have hangouts and BBM disabled. My battery life is pretty good. You have to figure out what's killing yours. Do you use a case that has the preview window on the front?

On non rootable devices I use AdGuard to have a firewall and adblocker. It works by routing everything through a local vpn server. Great concept and working fine for me.

Samsung Galaxy note 20 ultra Europe exynos sm-986b debloat/decrapify

Hi,
Samsung Galaxy note 20 ultra Europe exynos sm-986b debloat/decrapify (Switzerland/Swisscom).
I'm starting my journey to debloat that phone which is entirely unusable for me, due to the unwanted presence of hundred of junk apps.
After realizing that I was not using a data cable but only a charging cable (computer not having usbc, I had to use another cable than the official one). I manage to get my bearings a bit.
So the connection is sorted out (out of topic), now start the actual decrapifying:
1) I used/will use this program, to list all programs:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/an...easy-management-android-applications-t4147837
Note: I could have used adb directly but this seems easier, especially as we talk about hundred of lines.
Note 2: each time I installed "ACBridge" which appears to show nice icons for that program.
2) I have compiled a list of applications currently installed. I did not install anything manually myself yet, not even connected to Android Play:
442 apps by default.
https://gofile.io/d/xGHoff
Note: Are some of these apps only specific to my seller and my region? It's possible, since the phone clearly had some of the FYI operator branded options installed.
3) I'm going to factory reset now. Again, nothing was really installed, just official rom updates done. But I want to start from fresh.
4) After I will reinitiate the phone, I will redo the list of applications capture, and start trimming down.
5) After the factory reset, it seems I had a new screen (unless I skipped it by mistake last time) proposing me to install additional apps like spotify, linked in... I refused this time. Last time I had the apps installed maybe a mistake click, or something new thanks to newer firmware.
6) Use the program again, I now have 429 apps only instead of 442.
7) I tried the list mentioned a starting point, I will look into this user list, allegedely 109 apps removed from a S20 (which is a different phone, I know):
https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/tool-windows-adb-appcontrol-v1-4-5.4147837/post-83980273
First that only has 104 apps over 109.
Second, I found a few items I wanted to keep and a few I wanted to remove.
Customization Work required here...!
Caution: the list of 109 items contains what is described elsewere as dangerous:
com.samsung.android.authfw ; Not Recommended: Used for password autocompletion, can be removed if you don't use it. This app is sometimes called by the system and might cause battery drain if removed
com.serv.android.preloadinstaller : App that install other application, do not remove!
I will check each non-obvious items.
This list seems more pro:
Samsung full apps list
Feuille 1 LAST UPDATED 01/09/2022,Reinstall an app using pm install-existing [the app package],Enter in shell using adb -d shell before running the command,Enter in shell using adb -d shell before running the command,<a href="https://docs.samsungknox.com/CCMode/G988B_Q.pdf">https://docs.samsungk...
docs.google.com
I made a custom preset with the 85 items in the list of " Safe to uninstall ". Only 71/86 where showing, some I wanted to keep like Android Auto.
--> I seems to have to choice but start from a bigger list and go through it myself.
After checking each items of that 109 list, vs the spreadsheet and sometimes google, I actually ended up reducing the list, or keeping more items. My final list is currently 68 applications to remove.
I also removed additional things like Netflix.
FINAL LIST:
Samsung SM-N986B_[All]_presetJSDec2020.txt
In the process I learned that this list seems rather personal to do. Yet, some items are marked not to be removed due to battery drain, so the initial list of 109 seems risky. I would say some manual work is mandatory.
8) Moving on, time to uninstall. Done.
9) Time to configure the basics again (basically language, etc...). Done.
10) Time to migrate data from old phone to new phone, I used "Samsung smart switch" app, installed it on both phone, used wifi, and unselected unwanted things. Done after some 1-2 hours (not so much data but it was slow and I interrupted twice).
11) Now the phone looks ok, a few apps had to be manually reinstalled like MCDonald's crapp.
12) Time to recover authenticator, relogin to apps, etc...Some apps I can't do now like RSA token, needs to regenerate a token elsewhere. GoogleAuth was simple, I could easily export from old phone/import new phone..
13) Phone works for now. I see I missed to remove some stuffs like "My files" which was basically simply like file explorer but from Samsung. That was indicated as "not remove" but probably can be ( com.sec.android.app.myfiles ).
Edit: day +1 after the step 13. Phone works properly. No visible impact on battery drain (seems high, as usual and with little usage overnight, same as before any intervention from my side). Unable to continue anything for now, being ill. Everything seems to work, even without the stuffs I removed.
On that note, I got rid of youtube and yt music, and installed YoutubeVance.
I tested the basics (phone, camera...) looks ok.
Note: this is WIP and more sharing the journey, as well as learning. Usually I would unlock bootloader, root, and install a decent ROM from XDA; but not happening this time.

Thanks for sharing cyber.cat thread ! Used it and removed 20+ useless app

ouroukai90 said:
Thanks for sharing cyber.cat thread ! Used it and removed 20+ useless app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Glad that could help- The tool from Cyber Cat and the threads are useful. Yet I saw quite a few tools/options around.
The idea was to share the experience of using one, do some sort of decrapifying/debloating and comment.
For me even if I expected a bit that, I was a bit surprise that this operation needs a lot of customization.
Let's say it was easier to start from a fresh Android ROM and add some selected Google apps, rather than trimming down that Samsung junk (That something I usually do with custom roms, here I stayed with official Samsung ROM, so I did not have that possibility to start fresh).

I see Android 11 update should come soon (around January 2021?).... I take it that they will reinstall all their garbage in the OTA update... And we will have to decrapify again!?

Yes I guess for a major update it will maybe reinstall crap like "tips" from Samsung. But i've done this using beta4 OneUI3.0 and it work very well

Is it possible to uninstall the google app? And then install it again? I have problems with hey google not working

Anskjer said:
Is it possible to uninstall the google app? And then install it again? I have problems with hey google not working
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, which app specifically?
Not sure what is "hey google", are you talking about "Google Assistant"?
Anyway, usually clear cache, not uninstall/reinstall...(then clear data when sure what you doing...)

htchd2sucks said:
Yes, which app specifically?
Not sure what is "hey google", are you talking about "Google Assistant"?
Anyway, usually clear cache, not uninstall/reinstall...(then clear data when sure what you doing...)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The assistant is inside the google app. Clear cache I have try but didn't work. Thanks for the help

The phone shown me an update yesterday (01/01/2021), OneUI3, Android 11.
It updated without any issue, and all my apps and things are properly there after.
One strange thing is it was allegedely updating 470 apps on my phone, I don't remember having so many.
Another thing to notice, is that I did not notice any new garbage apps after the update. For example, some emoticons junk was not reinstalled. Also, the default keyboard remains Gboard, like I set myself before the update.
Anyway, time to check now, in details.
Verdict: # Total applications: 421
Some junk have been installed again during the update. (after my previous cleaning, I was at:
# Total applications: 361)
I don't see the same type of junk as it was before, like Netflix apps, Bixby...etc... So it's rather strange.
One horrible app I found is "eBay Partner Attribution". What is it? Affiliate marketing is a referral program where sites pay commissions to affiliates who send traffic to their site that results in a sale.
Well done Samsung, installing junk to get additional money...
App killed on sight (com.ebay.carrier).
I also removed com.google.android.videos.
That will be all for now, don't have the time to do better.

Is it really safe to debloat all knox related stuff? just asking if it helps anything?

jirka607 said:
Is it really safe to debloat all knox related stuff? just asking if it helps anything?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think knox junk tripping is only if you replace your bootloader:
Knox
I think removing the apps only is not tripping it (anyway, if it is, my phone is fine without it).
It depends what you mean "safe" anyway, if you are talking about some features that might not work, or a broken phone for example.

Thanks, im not sure if you should put the Knox app in the safe list.

danterape said:
Thanks, im not sure if you should put the Knox app in the safe list.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try to delete it then u'll see xD