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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.
Platform: Fire HD 8 (6th edition)
OS: 5.4.0.1
Willing to rollback?: Yes (it has broken some email functionality)
Launcher: Nova paid
I have activity launcher installed, as well as launcherhijack v3.
I have set the home screen button in accessibility, and have Nova enabled as the home. I have Nova enabled as the launcher, but have not deleted the fire launcher, as I would prefer not to.
The issue I'm having is that I can't seem to use widgets. I have read up on adb use for the fire, but Windows doesn't want to play nicely, and I don't currently have a linux machine available (yes, I could VM one, or setup a bootable USB, but I'm looking for a solution that would work with what I have currently in place).
Issue: Any time I go to place a widget on a Nova launcher screen, it brings up the list per normal, but when I go to place the widget, I get bounced back to the Kindle settings UI, and am unable to sort out a workaround.
Any suggestions would be appreciated, particularly if they don't require ADB, as so far Windows does not want to allow me to update the ADB drivers (it shows them as current stock drivers and functioning, as well as stating that the ones from google are a no-go).
Sadly, pushed the update when I did not expect it, so all of this was done after update rolled out. Play store was isntalled prior, and settings are for allowing debugging and developer settings, so at least I got the play store on prior to the update (which apparently some people are having issues with). For me, the store is working well, as is sideloading, which is why I'm thinking there must be a reliable solution to get widgets functioning in Nova without needing to ADB command it on.
Thank you,
--bb
No, you definitely need a working adb, it's your gate to all Fire HD hacks and improvements. If you can't - stay with Amazon bits and don't ask questions like this here.
Thanks to @DragonFire1024, we have a pretty nice hack to enable widgets on any launcher; it's very easy to apply and use. But PLEASE don't complain about prerequisites, if you can't get adb working on Windows, it's better to stay off all hacks and actually this site. Just enjoy your Amazon Fire HD (it's pretty cool even with OEM software installed).
Agreed! There is no need to be rude to those who are just learning. I appreciate those like Dragon who gives help to others without making them feel like idiots. With the help of this forum, I have gotten everything but gmail working! And that weird go to black screen and back to lock screen when I swipe application off the screen. An sure it will get fixed.
The widget script might work in a terminal emulator. Jack Pals on the play store is by far the best. Just search for terminal emulator for Android, place the script in the internal storage and try running it in the emulator. I honestly don't know if that will work though as all the hacks I do are usually with ADB.
DragonFire1024 said:
The widget script might work in a terminal emulator. Jack Pals on the play store is by far the best. Just search for terminal emulator for Android, place the script in the internal storage and try running it in the emulator. I honestly don't know if that will work though as all the hacks I do are usually with ADB.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you! I will give that a try.
Let's try to keep the comments directly related to Q&A for this device.
Getting snarky with other users and starting a back and forth argument is off-topic, and usually rude (both violations of the rules).
So, please; keep the Off-topic back and forth off the thread. If you are offended by, or feel another user's comment violates the rules, simply REPORT the comment and do not engage the other user further. No need to add MORE clutter.
Thanks for your cooperation.
sensboston said:
No, you definitely need a working adb, it's your gate to all Fire HD hacks and improvements. If you can't - stay with Amazon bits and don't ask questions like this here.
Thanks to @DragonFire1024, we have a pretty nice hack to enable widgets on any launcher; it's very easy to apply and use. But PLEASE don't complain about prerequisites, if you can't get adb working on Windows, it's better to stay off all hacks and actually this site. Just enjoy your Amazon Fire HD (it's pretty cool even with OEM software installed).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you please explain to me how I can update the ADB? I'm not familiar with how to do this at all.
https://www.xda-developers.com/install-adb-windows-macos-linux/
Yeah, but...
bladebarrier said:
https://www.xda-developers.com/install-adb-windows-macos-linux/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is where I started, but I have been unable to find a way to find anything mentioning ADB (much less enable it) on our Fire HD 8 (7th Generation).
I have been looking through multiple guides for the past 20 minutes, but the newest firmware seems to have hidden or disabled the ability on the actual device. I am logged into the tablet on the main account, but even under "Device Administrators" it says "No available device administrators".
Did Amazon manage to lock these down to be nothing but a pimp for Amazon (as was their intended goal)?
Edit: Fire OS 5.6.1.0
Did Amazon manage to lock these down to be nothing but a pimp for Amazon (as was their intended goal)?
Yes, they did. It's the razor and blades business model. Such as one item is sold at a low price (or given away for free) in order to increase sales of a complementary goods.
When you go into the Setting then into Device Options, is Developer Options at the bottom of the list? If it isn't I think you need to tap the Serial Number 7 times, then it should appear and that is where you can enable ADB.
The dedication of the members of the xda forums are the only reason why a lot of devices such as these manage to reach their potential. I'm pretty new here (joined in February) but I never seen any member give up on a device. What most see as frustration, including myself, a lot of the members here not only see a challenge but an opportunity.
caldersm44 said:
Agreed! There is no need to be rude to those who are just learning. I appreciate those like Dragon who gives help to others without making them feel like idiots. With the help of this forum, I have gotten everything but gmail working! And that weird go to black screen and back to lock screen when I swipe application off the screen. An sure it will get fixed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For now without a rooted device the kick to the lock screen cannot be fixed. That is an unfortunate event which is a result of disabling fire launcher without root. Gmail is give or take. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. If I really had to take a guess I would say Google and Amazon are fighting between each other to get Gmail to work or stop working. It seems when enough users complain Gmail stops working within a few minutes it works again in a couple days later Amazon stops it. I would go back to an old version of Gmail, take your pick and keep trying different versions from there. If he older versions don't work that I'm at a loss at the moment. I do not currently use Gmail on my Amazon tablets. Only because I get too much mail lol. however with that having been said I have never had a problem with Gmail on any of my Amazon tablets with or without root.
dondraper23 said:
Did Amazon manage to lock these down to be nothing but a pimp for Amazon (as was their intended goal)?
Yes, they did. It's the razor and blades business model. Such as one item is sold at a low price (or given away for free) in order to increase sales of a complementary goods.
When you go into the Setting then into Device Options, is Developer Options at the bottom of the list? If it isn't I think you need to tap the Serial Number 7 times, then it should appear and that is where you can enable ADB.
The dedication of the members of the xda forums are the only reason why a lot of devices such as these manage to reach their potential. I'm pretty new here (joined in February) but I never seen any member give up on a device. What most see as frustration, including myself, a lot of the members here not only see a challenge but an opportunity.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the reminder of how to enable Developer Options - it has been a while since I had to do that. ADB is now enabled!
Thanks to everyone in the xda-developers community!
AnotherNameFFS said:
Thanks for the reminder of how to enable Developer Options - it has been a while since I had to do that. ADB is now enabled!
Thanks to everyone in the xda-developers community!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Glad you got it enabled! It's one of those steps that is easy to forget
Why are you saying that he should get off the site. Thats rude
Have had my Swift 2x for a few months and have been happy on the whole. Camera is just average but for the price it's a cracking phone.
Anyway, the recent announcement of the lockscreen ads for a discount on a new phone leaves me a bit uneasy. A lot has been mentioned about Truecaller replacing the stock dialer and for me the introductory period comes to an end in a week or so and I suppose the ads will start popping up on that.
I fully realise that Wileyfox need a funding stream but I do not like ads. This has got me to un Wileyfox my phone!
I installed the Non-Nexus dialer from apk mirror, google messages and contact from playstore and disabled truecaller and the stock messages and contacts. The bit that has me worried is that I prefer google stuff to what came with the phone originally.
Thing is I have felt today that my phone as a bit smoother and quicker.
Trying to avoid flashing Lineage as once Ive started flashing then I dont stop until I break it!!!!!
Anyway, just wondering if someone else feels the same.
First thing I did after the Nougat update was disable the Truecaller and install the nonnexus
However, that's all the unwileyfoxing I needed to do (ok I installed Nova launcher since I was used to it, but in fact I haven't found anything wrong with Foxhole per se). I'm still very happy with the phone and especially with the software support. As in, this feels the best phone I ever had.
(as to the recent changes re. Wileyfox income flow, the jury is still out on that - as long as I can disable stuff I don't really care that much)
I did exactly the same right after getting the phone.
Installed Google Phone, Contacts, Messages and disabled the original ones. Reflashed opengapps to get rid of the clutter, switched to Nova Launcher. Happy camper.
Just stumbled on to this post after purchasing a Wileyfox Swift 2 plus completely forgetting that Cyanogen isn't a thing anymore. . I'm coming from a heavily rooted OnePlus One (via a windows phone, but shhhhh) and wondered if you guys had any advice on what to instantly do to the phone?
iomOllie said:
Just stumbled on to this post after purchasing a Wileyfox Swift 2 plus completely forgetting that Cyanogen isn't a thing anymore. . I'm coming from a heavily rooted OnePlus One (via a windows phone, but shhhhh) and wondered if you guys had any advice on what to instantly do to the phone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As stated before in this thread:
- update the phone to the latest version (OTA)
- disable the Truecaller program and install another dialer (the 'nonnexus' version of the google phone app is my personal fave works well enough)
- install the launcher of your choice (though I find there's nothing wrong with Foxhole, you can disable the news feed if you like, I was just used to Nova Launcher)
- I've also disabled 'Wileyfox Account', because I don't need it; if they roll out some actual use for it that I find interesting, we'll see later.
For the rest there's nothing wrong with the basic installation, in my opinion. Good luck with the phone.
(I haven't rooted my phone since I didn't see the need; if you need root for something, I can't help you there)
by the way, re. Windows Phone: I had a Nokia 620 or something and was really, really happy with it. But for the lack of apps for the platform (banking apps, mainly) I would have happily stayed on. But nowadays, a smartphone without mobile banking is... sad
dryhte said:
As stated before in this thread:
- update the phone to the latest version (OTA)
- disable the Truecaller program and install another dialer (the 'nonnexus' version of the google phone app is my personal fave works well enough)
- install the launcher of your choice (though I find there's nothing wrong with Foxhole, you can disable the news feed if you like, I was just used to Nova Launcher)
- I've also disabled 'Wileyfox Account', because I don't need it; if they roll out some actual use for it that I find interesting, we'll see later.
For the rest there's nothing wrong with the basic installation, in my opinion. Good luck with the phone.
(I haven't rooted my phone since I didn't see the need; if you need root for something, I can't help you there)
by the way, re. Windows Phone: I had a Nokia 620 or something and was really, really happy with it. But for the lack of apps for the platform (banking apps, mainly) I would have happily stayed on. But nowadays, a smartphone without mobile banking is... sad
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you so much for your help, did everything you said except Nova Launcher (although I love it, I'll try anything new) had this phone about two hours and love it (especially for £150)
The only reason I rooted my first android (Sony Xperia Play) was to be able to listen to YouTube music without the app being open. Then I discovered the world of possibilities. But you're right, it is sad, hence why I'm holding off rooting this time (as you can't use android pay on a rooted device)
My Nokia hated being touched whilst on charge, would constantly lose cell signal, but the batter would last all day!
iomOllie said:
Thank you so much for your help, did everything you said except Nova Launcher (although I love it, I'll try anything new) had this phone about two hours and love it (especially for £150)
The only reason I rooted my first android (Sony Xperia Play) was to be able to listen to YouTube music without the app being open. Then I discovered the world of possibilities. But you're right, it is sad, hence why I'm holding off rooting this time (as you can't use android pay on a rooted device)
My Nokia hated being touched whilst on charge, would constantly lose cell signal, but the batter would last all day!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I used to root my phones but being honest, most stock android is pretty ok at the moment. I would usually root to install ad blocking but now I use dns66 so android pay and other software works without a hitch.
I use GoogleNow as a launcher btw.
divvykev said:
I used to root my phones but being honest, most stock android is pretty ok at the moment. I would usually root to install ad blocking but now I use dns66 so android pay and other software works without a hitch.
I use GoogleNow as a launcher btw.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just simple tweaks like transparent notification shade and moving the clock (I hated it on the right hand side) and even changing the battery icon. I've heard Magisk seems to be able to root your phone whilst keeping Android Pay?
Feel free to tell me to use Google (or the search function) but, what is dns66?
iomOllie said:
Just simple tweaks like transparent notification shade and moving the clock (I hated it on the right hand side) and even changing the battery icon. I've heard Magisk seems to be able to root your phone whilst keeping Android Pay?
Feel free to tell me to use Google (or the search function) but, what is dns66?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dns66 is an adblocker which workd witthout root.
divvykev said:
Dns66 is an adblocker which workd witthout root.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In the thread about Dns66 it is stated that the app might interfere with downloads on Nougat (due to a download manager bug). Don't you have any issues with this?
dryhte said:
In the thread about Dns66 it is stated that the app might interfere with downloads on Nougat (due to a download manager bug). Don't you have any issues with this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not had any issues.
Hey all, my OnePlus 6t should be arriving tomorrow and I plan to unlock the bootloader and root it to be able to gain additional control over what I can disable. Previous phones I've just installed LineageOS immediately but in the meantime I'd like to disable as much as possible with root on the stock Oxygen OS installed while waiting or an unofficial LOS build. Is there a list somewhere that provides all services to disable (Google Play Services, etc.) to achieve this? I've searched but haven't been able to find anything and am trying to achieve as close to LineageOS as possible on the stock rom while I wait. Thanks!
Disable? Nuke that stuff, haha..... So I just updated to 9.0.10 so I kept a list of what I immediately removed:
ANT HAL Service (Do not remove if you use Fitness trackers, at least that is my understanding)
Basic Daydreams 9 (I don't use this)
BugReportLite
CardPackage
Chrome
com.oem.logkitdservice V1.0
com.oneplus.factorymode.specialtest v1.0
Drive
Duo
Factory Mode V1.01...
GMail
Google Pay
Play Movies / TV
Play Music
Live Wallpaper Picker (I don't use live wallpapers)
Notes (Decide if this is useful to you or not)
NVBackupUI
OnePlus System Service 1.0.0.1...
OnePlus Wallpaper (I don't use OP wallpapers, this may reset your wallpaper, even if you weren't using a OP wallpaper. Just reselect a new wallpaper no big deal. Note this does not remove all the stock wallpapers though)
OnePlus Widget (I don't use OP widgets)
OnePlusLogKit 1.0.0...
Photos
Push 1.2.0.18....
YouTube
The only real fallout I've had is I've noticed the phone needs to be setup before you strip this stuff out. Something I'm removing prevents setting up new accounts. So I can't add new Google accounts or emails after doing this? Not sure what that's about, but you can always dirty flash the ROM to temporarily fix that. Then remove unnecessary things again.
It's worth noting I believe there's still several things left that I would consider bloat, when I get a few minutes, I'm going to try and remove some more things and see what happens. So it could be leaner yet.
OhioYJ said:
Disable? Nuke that stuff, haha..... So I just updated to 9.0.10 so I kept a list of what I immediately removed:
ANT HAL Service (Do not remove if you use Fitness trackers, at least that is my understanding)
Basic Daydreams 9 (I don't use this)
BugReportLite
CardPackage
Chrome
com.oem.logkitdservice V1.0
com.oneplus.factorymode.specialtest v1.0
Drive
Duo
Factory Mode V1.01...
GMail
Google Pay
Play Movies / TV
Play Music
Live Wallpaper Picker (I don't use live wallpapers)
Notes (Decide if this is useful to you or not)
NVBackupUI
OnePlus System Service 1.0.0.1...
OnePlus Wallpaper (I don't use OP wallpapers, this may reset your wallpaper, even if you weren't using a OP wallpaper. Just reselect a new wallpaper no big deal. Note this does not remove all the stock wallpapers though)
OnePlus Widget (I don't use OP widgets)
OnePlusLogKit 1.0.0...
Photos
Push 1.2.0.18....
YouTube
The only real fallout I've had is I've noticed the phone needs to be setup before you strip this stuff out. Something I'm removing prevents setting up new accounts. So I can't add new Google accounts or emails after doing this? Not sure what that's about, but you can always dirty flash the ROM to temporarily fix that. Then remove unnecessary things again.
It's worth noting I believe there's still several things left that I would consider bloat, when I get a few minutes, I'm going to try and remove some more things and see what happens. So it could be leaner yet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Perfect, thank you! It's supposed to arrive today and the plan is to nuke as much as possible from the get go, I'll let update this if there's anything else that I remove in addition to your list. Thanks again!
Skidoo03 said:
Perfect, thank you! It's supposed to arrive today and the plan is to nuke as much as possible from the get go, I'll let update this if there's anything else that I remove in addition to your list. Thanks again!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No worries. I've removed those same things from every update now, and everything's been fine, other than the one problem I've mentioned above. There's still a couple test modes I think could be removed? Pretty sure the additional unused icon packs could go as well. I want to test removing the shot on oneplus deal, I'm not sure if that would upset the camera or not (I'm guessing probably not). Still a slew of OP stuff left as well, I need to look into and see what it's for. Primarily I want to make sure all the OP logging stuff was gone and that should be.
OhioYJ said:
Primarily I want to make sure all the OP logging stuff was gone and that should be.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is what I'm aiming for as well, at least until a stable-enough LineageOS build is released to flash.
Hi @OhioYJ,
Thank you for the spectacular list. Thinking of using it as I'm on OP7 which is basically the OP6T plus (same screen size etc.)
A couple noob questions,
- when you say "Nuke that stuff", do you mean uninstall it using Titanium Pro?
- what's the benefit of nuking vs. freezing (also with Titanium Pro)?
- are you still on that phone, and has your list evolved much?
Thanks in advance for any thoughts or advice you might have time to share.
In Magisk repo you can find debloat script. Whit a terminal emulator you can easy remove and reinstall apps.
who ah way said:
Hi @OhioYJ,
Thank you for the spectacular list. Thinking of using it as I'm on OP7 which is basically the OP6T plus (same screen size etc.)
A couple noob questions,
- when you say "Nuke that stuff", do you mean uninstall it using Titanium Pro?
- what's the benefit of nuking vs. freezing (also with Titanium Pro)?
- are you still on that phone, and has your list evolved much?
Thanks in advance for any thoughts or advice you might have time to share.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes "nuke" means uninstall it. Freezing lets you easily put it back if something goes wrong. If you uninstall it and something goes wrong you will have to dirty flash the ROM, or find that to put back. Removing it entirely gains you space. I did find a few more things that were safe to remove, but I dont use use OOS (sorry should have kept a list). I only used it while they were sorting things out in Lineage. So I was going back and forth between the two. I still have / use the phone but only run LOS these days.
Out of that list the things that jump out at me, I know I removed the oneplus switch app, shot on one plus, and the extra icon options as well that I wasnt using.
I really like the hardware profile of this phone. I am not a fan of all the Samsung apps and services. I know that defeats the purpose of buying a note 20 ultra, but at the same time. I don't think there will be an android phone released this year that will actually compete with this power house of a device. While I am currently in the iPhone camp, I am looking to switch back to android. I have yet to find a phone that makes that permanent and I always just go back to iPhone. I am asking this because that was the main reason I never kept the note 10+, had so many issues with their services and apps that after a few days I said **** it and just switched back.
I know there are some things that can be done via adb to remove and disable certain things on previous samsung devices. The question is how much of samsungs bloat can you actually disable and remove from this phone?
swagglepuff said:
I really like the hardware profile of this phone. I am not a fan of all the Samsung apps and services. I know that defeats the purpose of buying a note 20 ultra, but at the same time. I don't think there will be an android phone released this year that will actually compete with this power house of a device. While I am currently in the iPhone camp, I am looking to switch back to android. I have yet to find a phone that makes that permanent and I always just go back to iPhone. I am asking this because that was the main reason I never kept the note 10+, had so many issues with their services and apps that after a few days I said **** it and just switched back.
I know there are some things that can be done via adb to remove and disable certain things on previous samsung devices. The question is how much of samsungs bloat can you actually disable and remove from this phone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can disable or uninstall anything you want with adb but once uninstalled you may be up a creek without a paddle. I am proficient with adb but I us Package Disabler Pro from the Play Store. If you disable something important just go back and re-enable it.
I've been using adb since the T-Mobile G1, back then you had to use adb commands just to get a screen shot. Package disabler pro has 3 tabs - bloat, system apps and apps you've installed.
If you read about how to uninstall chinese apps from chinese phones, you will xome across a post which explains how to debloat from adb. Try it if you want to debloat
PD MDM package blocker, buy direct from their website for like $3.99, not it's on Playstore. Uses little battery or resources as it runs at boot in the background.
You can block or unblock apks as you wish and set a widget to turn off/on selected ones.
Playstore is one I do this with as it's always busy in the background. You can block carrier software updates so unwanted firmware isn't jammed down your throat.
I have about 60 blocked apks.
It will block all bloatware and many system apks however not all of Knox and Samsung Pay.
You can kill wittle Bixby, amen. However the cam needs Bixby Vision and Bixby Vision framework to function properly.
Rarely does malfunction but if it does you will need to disable it as system administrator as it will run in Safe Mode too. You can save your blocked list for future reloads or refreshes too.
Without this app my unrooted Samsungs be a complete mess... it's my favorite apk. It gets loaded first.
blackhawk said:
PD MDM package blocker, buy direct from their website for like $3.99, not it's on Playstore. Uses little battery or resources as it runs at boot in the background.
You can block or unblock apks as you wish and set a widget to turn off/on selected ones.
Playstore is one I do this with as it's always busy in the background. You can block carrier software updates so unwanted firmware isn't jammed down your throat.
I have about 60 blocked apks.
It will block all bloatware and many system apks however not all of Knox and Samsung Pay.
You can kill wittle Bixby, amen. However the cam needs Bixby Vision and Bixby Vision framework to function properly.
Rarely does malfunction but if it does you will need to disable it as system administrator as it will run in Safe Mode too. You can save your blocked list for future reloads or refreshes too.
Without this app my unrooted Samsungs be a complete mess... it's my favorite apk. It gets loaded first.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That picture you attached brings me hope!! I ran into a lot of issues when I tried the note 10 will all the different crap it has you set up. Had to factory reset in less than 24 hours of having the phone to fix issues with Samsung services mainly Bixby and smart control services. I honestly like the simple ass turn on iPhone use iPhone setup. I miss having the little things around like changing my icons. I miss tasker the most, that program is stupidly powerful and had some really useful profiles setup.
swagglepuff said:
That picture you attached brings me hope!! I ran into a lot of issues when I tried the note 10 will all the different crap it has you set up. Had to factory reset in less than 24 hours of having the phone to fix issues with Samsung services mainly Bixby and smart control services. I honestly like the simple ass turn on iPhone use iPhone setup. I miss having the little things around like changing my icons. I miss tasker the most, that program is stupidly powerful and had some really useful profiles setup.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Samsung has the most customizable non-rooted phones there are. Apple doesn't come close.
It comes at price though as there's a lot to learn.
You need to play with it, a lot.
The Good Lock apps especially One Hand Operation+, custom themes and hundreds of free icon packs are some of the Samsung Android perks.
The 10+ is my first phone to have the memory I need; 1 tb.... hell yeah.
The bad part is unlike Apple there can be conflicts caused by the many different software's and hardware's.
A reload is ok; the next load is always better.
I'm on my 3rd... my SD card is the data/backup drive now. So I won't need to upload near as much the next reload.
I backup all my apks for the next reload to save time and in case they go playstore extinct.
swagglepuff said:
That picture you attached brings me hope!! I ran into a lot of issues when I tried the note 10 will all the different crap it has you set up. Had to factory reset in less than 24 hours of having the phone to fix issues with Samsung services mainly Bixby and smart control services. I honestly like the simple ass turn on iPhone use iPhone setup. I miss having the little things around like changing my icons. I miss tasker the most, that program is stupidly powerful and had some really useful profiles setup.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you like to tinker, you can also use substratum to theme your Samsung now. You need substratum lite and synergy to make it work. Been using it since the Note 8, the current instructions are toward the end of the thread.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/apps/substratum/official-starting-substratum-andromeda-t3798316
blackhawk said:
my SD card is the data/backup drive now. So I won't need to upload near as much the next reload.
I backup all my apks for the next reload to save time and in case they go playstore extinct.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What do you use to backup abs does it Also retain the data? Looking for something similar while also saving the app/data
Sent from my SM-N986U1 using Tapatalk
Ziocomposite said:
What do you use to backup abs does it Also retain the data? Looking for something similar while also saving the app/data
Sent from my SM-N986U1 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Apk Export: https://play.google.com/store/apps/...ort&pcampaignid=APPU_1_A_9MX9iMKsnesAWR5Z_YDA
Remember to save a backup copy to your SD card and/or computer in case the OS crashes and burns. It's rare but it can happen especially if your loading new 3rd party apps.
It allows you to backup system apps/updates too.
Occasionally you want the 2nd update to a system app but the 3rd one is buggy and the factory loaded version is inferior to the 2nd update; no problem if you saved the 2nd or whatever version!
Unfortunately if the app doesn't allow you to export the settings data your boned. Apps like Poweramp fortunately do, it take a lot of work to configure it, lol I keep a couple backups.
Also explore Demo Mode. You can stop animations completely to get even more speed as well as other system tweaks. Get Samsung's Sound Assistant to dail in the volume settings.
As for 3rd launchers be warned, those reloads I talked of were caused by a 3rd party launcher.
Put the phone in a boot loop.... twice.
I've tried a couple launchers but none ran as good as the native Samsung one. It's fast, reliable and isn't a power hog.
You're going to have a lot of fun... I'm still learning new things about my 10+ and Pie.
The 20 U is a very capable Android
This is what my stock 10+ looks like.
blackhawk said:
Apk Export: https://play.google.com/store/apps/...ort&pcampaignid=APPU_1_A_9MX9iMKsnesAWR5Z_YDA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Much appreciated. Will download and give it a try.
Have been using Action Launcher since Note 8 and works so far with gestures on the N20U!
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.actionlauncher.playstore
Sent from my SM-N986U1 using Tapatalk
Ziocomposite said:
Much appreciated. Will download and give it a try.
Have been using Action Launcher since Note 8 and works so far with gestures on the N20U!
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.actionlauncher.playstore
Sent from my SM-N986U1 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's a great app. No ads.
It allows batch processing too.
All too often a new owner and/or update kills a once great app, so...