Monday, January 6, 2014

Removing crapware from android

This bit was lifted from a nice blog entry (dissed in comments, but had a tidbit below that is useful).

Android phones are shipped with apps that are there to annoy help you with using your phone, and can't be disabled w/o rooting your phone and proceeding carefully.

this suggests a way to shut them off from launching at lest.  They'll litter your apps button screen, but won't launch when the phone is booted at least.

Here is the link,

http://www.itworld.com/security/381716/want-protect-your-android-phone-heres-how-kill-its-crapware

here is the info:

If you've got Android 4.0 or above and want to disable the crapware without rooting the phone, here's how to do it. Note that many manufacturers have customized Android, so the instructions here might differ a bit from what you'll see on your phone. But the general instructions and principles are the same.
First, go to Settings. You'll find the Settings menu in the App Menu , or else you can get there by pulling down the notification drawer and tapping Settings. Once you're there, go to "Apps." Depending on your phone, it might be called "Manage Apps," or even "Application Manager."
Now swipe to the All apps list. Scroll to find an app you want to disable. Tap it. The App Info page appears. If the app isn't true crapware, there will be an Uninstall button. Simply tap the button to uninstall the app. But if it is crapware, an Uninstall button won't be there. There will, however, be a button that reads either "Uninstall updates" or Disable. If there's an "Uninstall updates" button, tap it. The button will change to read Disable.
Tap the Disable button. That will disable the app, and from now on, the app won't launch in the background. If you want to enable the app, head back to the All apps list. You'll find disabled apps at the bottom. Tap any you want to enable, then tap the Enable button.
Disabling the app, won't actually remove it from your system, which means it will take up hard disk space. That shouldn't be a problem. But if you absolutely, positively want to get the app off your system, you're going to have to root your phone, then use a free piece of software called NoBloat Free. There are plenty of ways to root your phone, and my suggestion is to do an Internet search. Keep in mind that it can prove to be problematic, and you'll void your phone's warranty if you do it, so make sure it's really something you want to do. A few good starting points are this page from Android Central and this page from LifeHacker. Once you've rooted the phone, run NoBloat Free.

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