I posted this on another thread which asked for 2.1 eclair stock apps, but this works for 2.2 as well. And so this could be easier to search
The list below describes all stock i5800 apks under /system/app. You can see this folder via RootExplorer or FileExplorer or the like, or see them through Titanium Backup, although they might be out of order and with different names (they will use the display name rather than apk name on Titanium).
YES -- Indicates an application can be removed, but please don´t remove them without reading the description.
NO -- Means an application is essential or pretty important for the functionality of your phone.
Some of these descriptions have been based off of Insanity´s I9000 Galaxy S ROM, however all of these have been tested on the I5800 (this is not just a copy paste, rather I based my original understanding of this list in his).
Use at your own risk, I cannot be held responsible if you break your phone.
If your are going to attempt this, first your should have some knowledge of flashing your phone via ODIN, because if you happen to delete something that was important to you, you might need to reflash.
Keep in mind you don´t need to delete apps right off the bat. You can rename them from Application.apk to Application.OLDapk or whatever. This will prevent your phone from recognizing them as applications without you having to fully remove them. When you are sure of your choices and want to free up space, go ahead and delete them.
Some firmware versions will have .odex files with the same name as the .apk. When deleting and apk, delete it´s respective .odex. If you are going to rename an .apk, then rename the .odex as well (aka Application.OLDodex)
AccountAndSyncSettings.apk -- NO, Sync settings, this is required, even if out don´t sync, this is because it syncs more than just calendar and contacts, it is the effective sync to your google account, required for just about anything.
ApplicationsProvider.apk -- NO, required for application installation and uninstall.
audioTuning.apk -- ?, not really sure about this one. I guess this is an automatic sound adjustment according to background noise, however I´ve never seen this into effect. If you´re feeling lucky, you can try removing it, however I´ve never monitored this actually showing up resource managers.
AxT9IME.apk -- YES, This is the stock Samsung keyboard. You can remove it, but even if you have swype, swype doesn´t have all of the keyboard layouts. I´d leave it, to my opinion, this is kind of essential.
BadgeProvider.apk -- NO, Something to do with messaging and email. Removing this causes SMS and email related apps to force close. Even if you manage to keep the program open for long enough without it foce closing, you won´t be able to send messages, they´ll just be stuck on "sending".
Bluetooth.apk -- YES, incorrectly named, this apk actually manages the Bluetooth printing rather than the bluetooth itself. If you have no need for bluetooth printing, this won´t ever be missed or will never bother you in any occasion.
BluetoothOPP.apk -- NO, this apk actually manages file transfer between phones. Remove this and you´ll never be able to transfer files. This actually includes streaming music through Car bluetooth and headsets, since they effectively speaking, file transfers.
BluetoothServices.apk -- NO, provides general framework for Bluetooth. If you´re going to use bluetooth for any reason, this apk is a must. Removing this one breaks all other bluetooth applications.
BluetoothTestMode.apk -- YES, this is activated when you need to test the fidelity of your bluetooth. You can do that by going into the test section by typing the secret code *#*#197328640#*#*. Removing it is possible, however, some BT connections actually test the bluetooth to measure how much data is transfered. This way, it calculates the buffer size it needs to use, and at what quality media can be streamed. Removing it can disrupt communications with those BT terminals or you can experience fade-outs, where while listening to songs, the sound will fade every few seconds, because of inadequate bandwith. (this can occur even with this application left as is, if your BT terminal doesn´t have the auto regulation feature)
Browser.apk -- YES, removing this will make you lose your browsing ability (not internet as a whole). If you have firefox or opera for android, and like those best, you can remove this without any problems.
BuddiesNow.apk -- YES, this is just that widget offered by the TouchWiz launcher. If you don´t use it, remove it.
CallSetting.apk -- NO, do you like to use your phone for... umm calling people? This is kind of essencial, it will allow call setting to be edited. Stuff like call waiting and forwarding will not work if you remove this, as well as other stuff I didn´t have time or willingness to test, as soon as I confirmed dialpad and other things while calling had been disabled.
Camera.apk -- NO, this is the camera application. If you find an alternative one (I don´t think there are any on the market) you could remove it.
CameraFirmware.apk -- NO, this is the actual ROM (if you will) for the camera. Without this, camera.apk is useless.
CertInstaller.apk -- NO, Installs certificates for the apps you install. I assume without this, you cannot give permissions for apps to do things and access certain folders and files. I´m guessing if you don´t have this installed, you couldn´t even install root on your phone. So in short, no.
ClockPackage.apk -- YES, however this controls the alarm clock, stopwatch, world time and timer. There are alternative applications online if you want, but this seems to do the job pretty well and all under the same apk.
Contacts.apk -- NO, this controls the contacts application (the contacts / groups / history / activities tabs). Removing this will make you have to call everyone by physically inputing their number.
ContactsProvider.apk -- NO, this controls contacts sync. Pretty useful if you still don´t use google contacs sync, you should try it. In theory if you don´t use it, you could remove it, but I don´t know what effect it would have on your contacts.
CSC.apk -- NO. This breaks CSC. According to insanity, this can be removed after first successful boot, but if you ever have to hard reset or restore factory settings, this will not allow you to boot successfully.
DataCreate.apk -- NO.
DialerTabActivity.apk -- NO. This controls the dialer. Even if you have all your contacts already stored, you cannot call them without this app.
Divx.apk -- YES. This is some licesing information for the video player. I don´t really watch alot of videos on my phone, but after removing this I´ve never had any problems. If you do remove it, and have problems, post it on the comments.
Dlna.apk -- YES. This is allshare. Never had any use for it, and it shall not be missed.
DownloadProvider.apk -- NO. Handles file downloads and market downloads.
DrmProvider.apk -- NO. In theory, you cannot remove it, it will break your ability to play DRM protected files, aka, Ringtones and SMS notifications. I´ve been in the process of de-DRMing my ringtone files. I would imagine, if you don´t have a reason to play DRM protected files, this could be removed. However keep in mind all DRM protected files will not be able to play. This apk takes up a lot of memory and stays on all the time on the background. It is one of my most hated apks, it serves no function rather than to protect you from copying or editing the stupid samsung ringtones.
DrmUA.apk -- NO, see above.
DualClock.apk -- YES. Dual clock widget. If you don´t need, remove it.
Email.apk -- NO. According to insanity, removing this will break things.Haven´t tried it yet though.
EnhancedGoogleSearchProvider.apk -- YES. This controls that ability to hold the menu button for a second or two and the search menu pop up. I usally keep it.
FactoryTest.apk -- YES. Removed it without any problems. If you have ever run autostarts, you´ll realize how much of a hog this apk really is during some actions.
FlashPlugin.apk -- YES. This allows flash content to be displayed, so even though you can, I don´t recommed it.
FlashSVGPlayer.apk -- YES. As far as I know, this is the player which provides you to view the flash content through the plugin above. Removing this might break your flashplugin.
FMRadio.apk -- YES. Radio player.
Gallery3D.apk -- YES. This is a battery hog. It´s that fancy 3D accelerometer enhanced gallery. If you remove it, you won´t be able to easily access photographs though. If you want a good replacement, I would suggest QuickPic, it does the job, it´s fast and doesn´t hog memory (although its not fancy like the 3D Gallery)
GlobalSearch.apk -- YES. This is the search function on your phone. Remember the Enhanced search this above, well, that actually accesses this to do the search. That can be removed and this will be fine (although you´ll have to access the search feature by the app drawer). But if you remove this, the enhanced search will be useless.
Gmail.apk -- YES. Don´t use gmail? It can be removed, but will break Talk.apk as well.
GmailProvider.apk -- YES. I guess it is tied to gmail.apk. See above.
GoogleApps.apk -- ?. This is didn´t even come installed on my phone, so I guess it´s not that important.
GoogleCheckin.apk -- ? Same as above.
GoogleContactsSyncAdapter.apk -- YES. Syncs contacts through google. This can be removed, but you won´t be able to sync contacts.
GooglePartnerSetup.apk -- NO.
GoogleSearch.apk -- YES. This is the google search widget you can add onto your launcher desktop.
GoogleSettingsProvider.apk -- NO.
GoogleSubscribedFeedsProvider.apk -- ?. Don´t know, this is not on my phone.
GpsSetup2.apk -- NO. This sets up GPS configurations.
gtalkservice.apk -- YES. You might have this as talk.apk or gtalkservice.apk, although it´s all the same thing, it´s Google Talk.
HTMLViewer.apk -- YES. No side effects were noticed when removing this.
HwCodec.apk -- ?. Don´t have this on my phone.
IcsService.apk -- ?. Don´t have this on my phone.
InfoAlarm.apk -- YES. This is the daily briefing widget. Don´t need it remove it.
InputEventApp.apk -- NO.
Layar-samsung.apk -- YES. Layar. Seems awesome on paper. Never has been of any use in reality.
LbsTestMode.apk -- YES. GPS testing mode. Can be accessed via *#*#197328640#*#*, but not needed per se.
lcdtest.apk -- YES. Removing this will cause your screen to not turn off when you lock your phone. By installing spare parts you can fix this, however if you don´t use spare parts for any other reason, that´s just replacing a passive apk for one that invades your phone on all levels. So I rather just leave it and not worry about it.
LogsProvider.apk -- NO. Lots of things will crash and force close if you do.
Maps.apk -- YES. Google Maps apk. If you don´t use it, remove it, but it is pretty useful, since it has gps navigation as well.
MarketUpdater.apk -- NO. Remove this and when the market gets updated you won´t be able to access it.
MediaProvider.apk -- NO. Needed to access media files and ringtones.
MediaUploader.apk -- YES. This uploads pictures to picassa (facebook as well?). If you don´t need it, remove it.
Memo.apk -- YES. Remove it and you won´t be able to write memos though.
Mms.apk -- NO. This controls MMS sending and recieving on the phone.
MobileTrackerEngineTwo.apk -- YES. This app and the next control the tracker ability on your phone. What this does is if you lose your phone you can use this to track it down and find it. If it gets stolen, you can use this to lead the cops to the thief. Although this is an awesome idea, if you don´t live in a perfect world, it would be wiser not to go after the guy who stole your phone in case he decides to, hum..., go kill you afterwards... Besides, I live in Argentina, and the cops cannot be trusted to do this kind of job... they´ll tell you they can´t do anything. These things stay on memory all the time and really consume battery, so if you don´t care about this feature and really just take care of your stuff, you´ll not be needing these two apps.
MobileTrackerUI.apk -- YES. See Above. I forgot to mention though an extra feature this offers though. If you have these 2 apks installed, you have the samsung apps and singin (you´ll see them later further down), you can use another apk called wipereciever.apk to remotely wipe all the data on your phone, in case you are very privacy concious. However, removing any of these 2 apks, removing samsung apps and not setting up a samsung apps account before your phone gets stolen, this feature becomes disabled. Really in my opinion, its too much stuff to be worried about, and my phone doesn´t contain any nuclear launch codes. So I rely on my lock screen password to protect my data. (Most thieves don´t have the knowhow to crack the lockscreen protection and access the info inside the phone. At most they´ll get bored and might find the info on how to flash a new ROM or reset to factory settings, where your info will be deleted and your privacy sensitive stuff with it).
MtpApplication.apk -- YES. Required to sync with Kies. Do you flash your ROMs rather than update through Kies, this is useless to you then. (Updating through Kies is the equivalent of upgrading from XP to windows 7. It does the job, but it never works as well as installing from scratch.)
MusicPlayer.apk -- YES. This is the music player. If you remove this, you can still preview sounds and stuff through the SoundPlayer.apk. This can be effectively replace by PowerAMP and Winamp. In fact, if you have a stable music player alternative installed, I would recommend you delete this, since it could cause clashes and you might even get both players playing different songs at the same time via Bluetooth.
MyFiles.apk -- YES. This is the default file viewer installed by Samsung. If you use RootExplorer, this is kind of pointless. However, I sometime do things on the go and need to access things fast. I usually use this for everyday use and leave RootExplorer just to do alterations such as what we are doing in this list, so as to not delete important things by accident.
NetworkLocation.apk -- YES. This is the semi-accurate GPS simulation. It uses Cellphone Cell information to estimate your location, rather than using the battery hog GPS antenna. If you remove this, things like automatic weather location will be broken (you´ll have to input your location manually). I usually leave this on, because since it uses the very GSM network used by the phone, it seems like hitting two birds with one stone. Using the real GPS will force you to have two antennas working together. This wastes a lot of battery, and really most of the time the network location does a pretty good job of narrowing down your location. If you use GPS A LOT, I recommed just buying one of those TomToms or Garmin GPS, it has better maps, better accuracy and the very device is optimized to use only the GPS antenna, therefore wasting less battery, and not wasting your phone battery life.
OtaProvisioningService.apk -- NO. According to insanity, this is required. However see wssyncmlnps.apk to get more of an idea.
PackageInstaller.apk -- NO.
Personalization.apk -- NO.
Phone.apk -- NO. Remove this and you won´t have the dialer application. Even though your phone will theoretically work, you just won´t be able to dial out or view missed calls and stuff.
PhoneCrashNotifier.apk -- ?. Don´t know, my phone doesn´t have this.
PhoneErrService.apk -- NO.
Phone_Util.apk -- NO.
PicoTts.apk -- YES. This is part of the text to speech (not speech to text). If you´re blind, this is kind of important, because the phone will read via a a robotic voice things to you. This is also part of the Google GPS application where it will tell you "turn left" "keep right". If you remove this, GPS navigation will work, you just won´t have someone talking to you. If you decide to remove this, remove TtsService.apk as well.
Preconfig.apk -- NO.
RilFactoryApp.apk -- ?. The galaxy 3 seems to be the only phone in the world that has this. Nowhere I have seen is this apk mentioned. I have no idea what this does.
SamsungApps.apk -- YES. Samsung apps, if you remove this, you can remove signin.apk as well. If you remove this, and you manage your music and have apps via Kies, they might not work, however Kies will still connect (if you want to update firmware via Kies). By removing this, your samsung and touchwiz widgets will still work.
SamsungWidget_CalendarClock.apk -- YES. Calendar clock widget.
SamsungWidget_FeedAndUpdate.apk -- YES. Feeds and Updates widget.
SamsungWidget_StockClock.apk -- YES. Stock clock widget.
SamsungWidget_WeatherClock.apk -- YES. Weather clock widget.
SecDownloadProvider.apk -- NO. I believe this has to do with the maket, so I´d just leave it alone.
serviceModeApp.apk -- NO. Required for secret codes and service tasks, such as those accessed by secret codes.
Settings.apk -- NO. Isn´t settings explicit enough?
SettingsProvider.apk -- NO. Some Carriers will send you settings via sms or internal message. This is mostly for those people who don´t really know how to configure their phone (anyone not reading XDA ). Although it seems banal, it could be useful at some point, and some people have reported things force closing because of this
SetupWizard.apk -- NO. In theory can be deleted after first successful boot. However this could cause problems if you need to factory reset
shutdown.apk -- NO. Tells you your battery is low and manages shutdown notifications.
signin.apk -- YES. See SamsungApps.apk
SisoDrmProvider.apk -- NO. Has to do with the DRM. If you successfully manage to remove DRMUA and DRMService, maybe this can be removed as well. Don´t know, haven´t been able to rid my phone from drm still.
SnsAccount.apk -- YES. Does the feeds sync with facebook and twitter. Without this, you won´t be informed of new tweets of your friends saying "OMG! I´m at the toilet reading cosmo magazine. LOLZ".
SnsProvider.apk -- YES. See above.
SoundPlayer.apk -- YES. This, not to be confused with MusicPlayer.apk plays sounds and previews ringtones. Even though it can be removed, you´ll be pretty limited if you do, since it works a bit faster and to the point than MusicPlayer. It doesn´t genera playlist, history and has no visualization. It just plain to the point plays sounds. Even if you have Winamp, PowerAMP, cubed or whatever I recommend keeping this.
Stk.apk -- YES. You know those annoying menus your carrier offers you, you know, to inform you about your hororscope (no I didn´t misspell it), roaming information or traffic information, making you send a message so they can send you the info back? This is the menu apk for that. Don´t want to download your carrier (payed) games or apps telling you bad jokes? Delete this.
Street.apk -- YES. Streetview for Google Maps. Removing it will not break google maps, but you won´t get to view street pictures.
Swype.apk -- YES. Swype keyboard, and awesome alternative to samsung´s. It does a good job at predicting text, but not essential if you like to manually type all words out.
syncmldm.apk -- YES. Device Management. I read something somewhere but don´t really remember what it was. I deleted this accidentally while trying to delete syncmlds.apk but nothing has broken yet...
syncmlds.apk -- YES. This has to do with the Synchronize page options in the settings menu. If you don´t use it, it has no meaning in your life.
Talk.apk -- YES. Google Talk. There was some chatter about removing this breaking Gmail or the Market. As far as I´ve read, this can be removed, although I still haven´t gotten around to trying it out.
TalkProvider.apk -- YES. See above.
TelephonyProvider.apk -- NO.
thinkdroid.apk -- YES. This is the mobile version of a microsoft office clone. Removing this will not let you open .doc or .xls or .pps on your phone.
TouchWiz30Launcher.apk -- NO. Even though if you use Zeam or LauncherPro or GoLauncher, removing this is kind of dangerous. Let me explain. A while ago when I was a virgin at ODIN flashing and new to the phone, i deleted this because I was using LauncherPRO. I had also deleted something that made my phone force close all the time. I didn´t trust flashing yet, and in my haste, I decided to restore factory settings. The thing is, when you do that, it deletes all non stock apps and reconfigures the phone to use stock apps. When I that, even though the phone booted, I couldn´t access anything, because launchers also control the appdrawer. My phone was literally blank, although if was working. The problem is, if you factory reset, the settings that control your USB connection as MODEM or PDA go back to its original settings. As mine did. So I couldn´t get to anywhere on my phone and couldn´t get my computer to recognize the phone. Until I flashed it via Odin (after a 7 hour desperation overnight, and finding some miracle Samsung USB x64 drivers for mobile phones on a forum) the phone was in effect soft bricked.
If you remove anything from this list and have problems, you can factory reset or prepare you contacts and apps for a flashing via ODIN. If you delete however, you won´t even be able to prepare yourself or backup anything. I wish this upon no one, so I advise keeping this, just to be on the safe side.
TouchWizCalculator.apk -- YES. Calculator app, although can be removed, it´s pretty cool and functional.
TouchWizCalendar.apk -- YES. Calendar app, although can be removed, it´s pretty cool and functional.
TouchWizCalendarProvider.apk -- NO. This has something to do with calendar sync and seems to be the connection between the calendar app and the phone´s internal calendar and date settings.
TtsService.apk -- YES. See PicoTts.apk
TwWallpaperChooser.apk -- YES. Wallpaper Chooser. If you have 3DGallery or QuickPic installed, you can use those to set wallpaper, even though there are some wallpapers (internal to this apk) you won´t get.
UNAService.apk -- ?. I have no idea what this is, and so doesn´t insanity.
UserDictionaryProvider.apk -- YES. You know when you add new words, like names and nicknames to your keyboard prediction? This is where those are kept. Delete this and you´ll have to write like the English Academy of Words wants you to write. LOLZ and WTF won´t be recognized as words and you´ll have to write them out everytime you write them, rather than it being available to you via prediction.
Vending.apk -- NO. Part of the Android Market. Actually this IS the Market.
VideoPlayer.apk -- YES. Video player. Do as you wish.
VoiceDialer.apk -- YES. Allows you to dial by speaking someone´s name. Most people´s names when I say them, tend to return something entirely different from what I was looking for. Sometimes though, it surprises. For some reason this sometimes doesn´t work if you don´t have mobile internet activated, making me believe this actually sends via internet the recording, and an algorith somewhere in the Google empire sends the decodification back... Very ineffective.
VoiceRecorder.apk -- YES. Allows you to record your voice. Some people complain the quality is too low, however I use this as a notepad, rather than writing my to-do list, I speak them. Much faster and much easier. Don´t see why something such as this would need audiophile levels of quality.
VpnServices.apk -- YES. VPN for Android. Perhaps gMote or applications that allow you to control your phone via PC desktop might require this. I don´t , so I delete it, and it doesn´t break anything.
wipereceiver.apk -- YES. Remember mobile tracker? This is the apk that lets you wipe your data remotely.
WlanTest.apk -- YES. Tests wireless settings, via the same test menu mentioned on the above test apks. Required for OTA updates.
WriteandGo.apk -- YES. Write and Go application.
wssomacp.apk -- NO. Required for SMS messaging.
wssyncmlnps.apk -- YES. This is Over The Air Programming. What this does is if your provider decides it has a better way to configure your device or alterations to do to improve something, they´ll send you a message telling to dial such and such number. Your phone will go into download mode and somethings will be updated. My carrier never has done such things, and really I trust the guys from XDA to configure my phone way better than my carrier. I usually remove this.
YouTube.apk -- YES. Since android has limited flash support, this application allows you to take the full youtube experience, rather than having to access youtube through the browser. Delete it if you don´t watch videos.
you simply dint have to start a new thread you could have said nikkpap to add this to the 1st post?
here is his thread>>http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1005512
thanks for your hard work anyways
Related
Hi again hope that this will help....
This list here contains all of the Stock Android Apps, lets you know whether they’re safe to remove or not, and a bit more information about these apps.
http://www.mediafire.com/?alkh5gohmndw6r4
P.S. You can simply use Root Explorer to delete the apps...
nice this would help people i guess
Very nice. I've been looking for something like this for a while now.
Edit:: Except for the fact that some of those apps you actually can remove. Ie. Gmail.apk if you use k-9.
Did you make the list?
Also, this list is not from a stock rom :S
why not 2.2?
This list seems pretty subjective. You should define what you mean by safe before asking for other people to get involve since I think opinions will differ on plenty of your "no8"s
gimme a few hours and I'll upload a list... I have mine way way streamlined...
Most of the stuff though, I followed from Insanity's I9000 ROM. I've been meaning to do this, now you've just given me reason..
Will post back in an hour
List
Here is whole list:-
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
IF you cant see the list the you can download the Pic from here.
for mobile version download pic from here.
@ rudolf895 Really mate you ROCK... Thanks... and in Greek Ευχαριστώ.
barqers said:
Edit:: Except for the fact that some of those apps you actually can remove. Ie. Gmail.apk if you use k-9.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you remove Gmail.apk, Google Talk stops working too, so be careful. Also I can't see twlauncher in the list, it should be kept even if you use another launcher. I removed it once, and something started to force close 5-10 times a minute.
nikkpap said:
@ rudolf895 Really mate you ROCK... Thanks... and in Greek Ευχαριστώ.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
no problem your doing some great work here...making a linux tool aint easy work!
And your still taking the pain to do it! That is something that makes ppl like you special
Stock I5800 Applications Debunked
The list below describes all stock i5800 apks under /system/app. You can see this folder via RootExplorer or FileExplorer or the like, or see them through Titanium Backup, although they might be out of order and with different names (they will use the display name rather than apk name on Titanium).
YES -- Indicates an application can be removed, but please don´t remove them without reading the description.
NO -- Means an application is essential or pretty important for the functionality of your phone.
Some of these descriptions have been based off of Insanity´s I9000 Galaxy S ROM, however all of these have been tested on the I5800 (this is not just a copy paste, rather I based my original understanding of this list in his).
Use at your own risk, I cannot be held responsible if you break your phone.
If your are going to attempt this, first your should have some knowledge of flashing your phone via ODIN, because if you happen to delete something that was important to you, you might need to reflash.
Keep in mind you don´t need to delete apps right off the bat. You can rename them from Application.apk to Application.OLDapk or whatever. This will prevent your phone from recognizing them as applications without you having to fully remove them. When you are sure of your choices and want to free up space, go ahead and delete them.
Some firmware versions will have .odex files with the same name as the .apk. When deleting and apk, delete it´s respective .odex. If you are going to rename an .apk, then rename the .odex as well (aka Application.OLDodex)
AccountAndSyncSettings.apk -- NO, Sync settings, this is required, even if out don´t sync, this is because it syncs more than just calendar and contacts, it is the effective sync to your google account, required for just about anything.
ApplicationsProvider.apk -- NO, required for application installation and uninstall.
audioTuning.apk -- ?, not really sure about this one. I guess this is an automatic sound adjustment according to background noise, however I´ve never seen this into effect. If you´re feeling lucky, you can try removing it, however I´ve never monitored this actually showing up resource managers.
AxT9IME.apk -- YES, This is the stock Samsung keyboard. You can remove it, but even if you have swype, swype doesn´t have all of the keyboard layouts. I´d leave it, to my opinion, this is kind of essential.
BadgeProvider.apk -- NO, Something to do with messaging and email. Removing this causes SMS and email related apps to force close. Even if you manage to keep the program open for long enough without it foce closing, you won´t be able to send messages, they´ll just be stuck on "sending".
Bluetooth.apk -- YES, incorrectly named, this apk actually manages the Bluetooth printing rather than the bluetooth itself. If you have no need for bluetooth printing, this won´t ever be missed or will never bother you in any occasion.
BluetoothOPP.apk -- NO, this apk actually manages file transfer between phones. Remove this and you´ll never be able to transfer files. This actually includes streaming music through Car bluetooth and headsets, since they effectively speaking, file transfers.
BluetoothServices.apk -- NO, provides general framework for Bluetooth. If you´re going to use bluetooth for any reason, this apk is a must. Removing this one breaks all other bluetooth applications.
BluetoothTestMode.apk -- YES, this is activated when you need to test the fidelity of your bluetooth. You can do that by going into the test section by typing the secret code *#*#197328640#*#*. Removing it is possible, however, some BT connections actually test the bluetooth to measure how much data is transfered. This way, it calculates the buffer size it needs to use, and at what quality media can be streamed. Removing it can disrupt communications with those BT terminals or you can experience fade-outs, where while listening to songs, the sound will fade every few seconds, because of inadequate bandwith. (this can occur even with this application left as is, if your BT terminal doesn´t have the auto regulation feature)
Browser.apk -- YES, removing this will make you lose your browsing ability (not internet as a whole). If you have firefox or opera for android, and like those best, you can remove this without any problems.
BuddiesNow.apk -- YES, this is just that widget offered by the TouchWiz launcher. If you don´t use it, remove it.
CallSetting.apk -- NO, do you like to use your phone for... umm calling people? This is kind of essencial, it will allow call setting to be edited. Stuff like call waiting and forwarding will not work if you remove this, as well as other stuff I didn´t have time or willingness to test, as soon as I confirmed dialpad and other things while calling had been disabled.
Camera.apk -- NO, this is the camera application. If you find an alternative one (I don´t think there are any on the market) you could remove it.
CameraFirmware.apk -- NO, this is the actual ROM (if you will) for the camera. Without this, camera.apk is useless.
CertInstaller.apk -- NO, Installs certificates for the apps you install. I assume without this, you cannot give permissions for apps to do things and access certain folders and files. I´m guessing if you don´t have this installed, you couldn´t even install root on your phone. So in short, no.
ClockPackage.apk -- YES, however this controls the alarm clock, stopwatch, world time and timer. There are alternative applications online if you want, but this seems to do the job pretty well and all under the same apk.
Contacts.apk -- NO, this controls the contacts application (the contacts / groups / history / activities tabs). Removing this will make you have to call everyone by physically inputing their number.
ContactsProvider.apk -- NO, this controls contacts sync. Pretty useful if you still don´t use google contacs sync, you should try it. In theory if you don´t use it, you could remove it, but I don´t know what effect it would have on your contacts.
CSC.apk -- NO. This breaks CSC. According to insanity, this can be removed after first successful boot, but if you ever have to hard reset or restore factory settings, this will not allow you to boot successfully.
DataCreate.apk -- NO.
DialerTabActivity.apk -- NO. This controls the dialer. Even if you have all your contacts already stored, you cannot call them without this app.
Divx.apk -- YES. This is some licesing information for the video player. I don´t really watch alot of videos on my phone, but after removing this I´ve never had any problems. If you do remove it, and have problems, post it on the comments.
Dlna.apk -- YES. This is allshare. Never had any use for it, and it shall not be missed.
DownloadProvider.apk -- NO. Handles file downloads and market downloads.
DrmProvider.apk -- NO. In theory, you cannot remove it, it will break your ability to play DRM protected files, aka, Ringtones and SMS notifications. I´ve been in the process of de-DRMing my ringtone files. I would imagine, if you don´t have a reason to play DRM protected files, this could be removed. However keep in mind all DRM protected files will not be able to play. This apk takes up a lot of memory and stays on all the time on the background. It is one of my most hated apks, it serves no function rather than to protect you from copying or editing the stupid samsung ringtones.
DrmUA.apk -- NO, see above.
DualClock.apk -- YES. Dual clock widget. If you don´t need, remove it.
Email.apk -- NO. According to insanity, removing this will break things.Haven´t tried it yet though.
EnhancedGoogleSearchProvider.apk -- YES. This controls that ability to hold the menu button for a second or two and the search menu pop up. I usally keep it.
FactoryTest.apk -- YES. Removed it without any problems. If you have ever run autostarts, you´ll realize how much of a hog this apk really is during some actions.
FlashPlugin.apk -- YES. This allows flash content to be displayed, so even though you can, I don´t recommed it.
FlashSVGPlayer.apk -- YES. As far as I know, this is the player which provides you to view the flash content through the plugin above. Removing this might break your flashplugin.
FMRadio.apk -- YES. Radio player.
Gallery3D.apk -- YES. This is a battery hog. It´s that fancy 3D accelerometer enhanced gallery. If you remove it, you won´t be able to easily access photographs though. If you want a good replacement, I would suggest QuickPic, it does the job, it´s fast and doesn´t hog memory (although its not fancy like the 3D Gallery)
GlobalSearch.apk -- YES. This is the search function on your phone. Remember the Enhanced search this above, well, that actually accesses this to do the search. That can be removed and this will be fine (although you´ll have to access the search feature by the app drawer). But if you remove this, the enhanced search will be useless.
Gmail.apk -- YES. Don´t use gmail? It can be removed, but will break Talk.apk as well.
GmailProvider.apk -- YES. I guess it is tied to gmail.apk. See above.
GoogleApps.apk -- ?. This is didn´t even come installed on my phone, so I guess it´s not that important.
GoogleCheckin.apk -- ? Same as above.
GoogleContactsSyncAdapter.apk -- YES. Syncs contacts through google. This can be removed, but you won´t be able to sync contacts.
GooglePartnerSetup.apk -- NO.
GoogleSearch.apk -- YES. This is the google search widget you can add onto your launcher desktop.
GoogleSettingsProvider.apk -- NO.
GoogleSubscribedFeedsProvider.apk -- ?. Don´t know, this is not on my phone.
GpsSetup2.apk -- NO. This sets up GPS configurations.
gtalkservice.apk -- YES. You might have this as talk.apk or gtalkservice.apk, although it´s all the same thing, it´s Google Talk.
HTMLViewer.apk -- YES. No side effects were noticed when removing this.
HwCodec.apk -- ?. Don´t have this on my phone.
IcsService.apk -- ?. Don´t have this on my phone.
InfoAlarm.apk -- YES. This is the daily briefing widget. Don´t need it remove it.
InputEventApp.apk -- NO.
Layar-samsung.apk -- YES. Layar. Seems awesome on paper. Never has been of any use in reality.
LbsTestMode.apk -- YES. GPS testing mode. Can be accessed via *#*#197328640#*#*, but not needed per se.
lcdtest.apk -- YES. Removing this will cause your screen to not turn off when you lock your phone. By installing spare parts you can fix this, however if you don´t use spare parts for any other reason, that´s just replacing a passive apk for one that invades your phone on all levels. So I rather just leave it and not worry about it.
LogsProvider.apk -- NO. Lots of things will crash and force close if you do.
Maps.apk -- YES. Google Maps apk. If you don´t use it, remove it, but it is pretty useful, since it has gps navigation as well.
MarketUpdater.apk -- NO. Remove this and when the market gets updated you won´t be able to access it.
MediaProvider.apk -- NO. Needed to access media files and ringtones.
MediaUploader.apk -- YES. This uploads pictures to picassa (facebook as well?). If you don´t need it, remove it.
Memo.apk -- YES. Remove it and you won´t be able to write memos though.
Mms.apk -- NO. This controls MMS sending and recieving on the phone.
MobileTrackerEngineTwo.apk -- YES. This app and the next control the tracker ability on your phone. What this does is if you lose your phone you can use this to track it down and find it. If it gets stolen, you can use this to lead the cops to the thief. Although this is an awesome idea, if you don´t live in a perfect world, it would be wiser not to go after the guy who stole your phone in case he decides to, hum..., go kill you afterwards... Besides, I live in Argentina, and the cops cannot be trusted to do this kind of job... they´ll tell you they can´t do anything. These things stay on memory all the time and really consume battery, so if you don´t care about this feature and really just take care of your stuff, you´ll not be needing these two apps.
MobileTrackerUI.apk -- YES. See Above. I forgot to mention though an extra feature this offers though. If you have these 2 apks installed, you have the samsung apps and singin (you´ll see them later further down), you can use another apk called wipereciever.apk to remotely wipe all the data on your phone, in case you are very privacy concious. However, removing any of these 2 apks, removing samsung apps and not setting up a samsung apps account before your phone gets stolen, this feature becomes disabled. Really in my opinion, its too much stuff to be worried about, and my phone doesn´t contain any nuclear launch codes. So I rely on my lock screen password to protect my data. (Most thieves don´t have the knowhow to crack the lockscreen protection and access the info inside the phone. At most they´ll get bored and might find the info on how to flash a new ROM or reset to factory settings, where your info will be deleted and your privacy sensitive stuff with it).
MtpApplication.apk -- YES. Required to sync with Kies. Do you flash your ROMs rather than update through Kies, this is useless to you then. (Updating through Kies is the equivalent of upgrading from XP to windows 7. It does the job, but it never works as well as installing from scratch.)
MusicPlayer.apk -- YES. This is the music player. If you remove this, you can still preview sounds and stuff through the SoundPlayer.apk. This can be effectively replace by PowerAMP and Winamp. In fact, if you have a stable music player alternative installed, I would recommend you delete this, since it could cause clashes and you might even get both players playing different songs at the same time via Bluetooth.
MyFiles.apk -- YES. This is the default file viewer installed by Samsung. If you use RootExplorer, this is kind of pointless. However, I sometime do things on the go and need to access things fast. I usually use this for everyday use and leave RootExplorer just to do alterations such as what we are doing in this list, so as to not delete important things by accident.
NetworkLocation.apk -- YES. This is the semi-accurate GPS simulation. It uses Cellphone Cell information to estimate your location, rather than using the battery hog GPS antenna. If you remove this, things like automatic weather location will be broken (you´ll have to input your location manually). I usually leave this on, because since it uses the very GSM network used by the phone, it seems like hitting two birds with one stone. Using the real GPS will force you to have two antennas working together. This wastes a lot of battery, and really most of the time the network location does a pretty good job of narrowing down your location. If you use GPS A LOT, I recommed just buying one of those TomToms or Garmin GPS, it has better maps, better accuracy and the very device is optimized to use only the GPS antenna, therefore wasting less battery, and not wasting your phone battery life.
OtaProvisioningService.apk -- NO. According to insanity, this is required. However see wssyncmlnps.apk to get more of an idea.
PackageInstaller.apk -- NO.
Personalization.apk -- NO.
Phone.apk -- NO. Remove this and you won´t have the dialer application. Even though your phone will theoretically work, you just won´t be able to dial out or view missed calls and stuff.
PhoneCrashNotifier.apk -- ?. Don´t know, my phone doesn´t have this.
PhoneErrService.apk -- NO.
Phone_Util.apk -- NO.
PicoTts.apk -- YES. This is part of the text to speech (not speech to text). If you´re blind, this is kind of important, because the phone will read via a a robotic voice things to you. This is also part of the Google GPS application where it will tell you "turn left" "keep right". If you remove this, GPS navigation will work, you just won´t have someone talking to you. If you decide to remove this, remove TtsService.apk as well.
Preconfig.apk -- NO.
RilFactoryApp.apk -- ?. The galaxy 3 seems to be the only phone in the world that has this. Nowhere I have seen is this apk mentioned. I have no idea what this does.
SamsungApps.apk -- YES. Samsung apps, if you remove this, you can remove signin.apk as well. If you remove this, and you manage your music and have apps via Kies, they might not work, however Kies will still connect (if you want to update firmware via Kies). By removing this, your samsung and touchwiz widgets will still work.
SamsungWidget_CalendarClock.apk -- YES. Calendar clock widget.
SamsungWidget_FeedAndUpdate.apk -- YES. Feeds and Updates widget.
SamsungWidget_StockClock.apk -- YES. Stock clock widget.
SamsungWidget_WeatherClock.apk -- YES. Weather clock widget.
SecDownloadProvider.apk -- NO. I believe this has to do with the maket, so I´d just leave it alone.
serviceModeApp.apk -- NO. Required for secret codes and service tasks, such as those accessed by secret codes.
Settings.apk -- NO. Isn´t settings explicit enough?
SettingsProvider.apk -- NO. Some Carriers will send you settings via sms or internal message. This is mostly for those people who don´t really know how to configure their phone (anyone not reading XDA ). Although it seems banal, it could be useful at some point, and some people have reported things force closing because of this
SetupWizard.apk -- NO. In theory can be deleted after first successful boot. However this could cause problems if you need to factory reset
shutdown.apk -- NO. Tells you your battery is low and manages shutdown notifications.
signin.apk -- YES. See SamsungApps.apk
SisoDrmProvider.apk -- NO. Has to do with the DRM. If you successfully manage to remove DRMUA and DRMService, maybe this can be removed as well. Don´t know, haven´t been able to rid my phone from drm still.
SnsAccount.apk -- YES. Does the feeds sync with facebook and twitter. Without this, you won´t be informed of new tweets of your friends saying "OMG! I´m at the toilet reading cosmo magazine. LOLZ".
SnsProvider.apk -- YES. See above.
SoundPlayer.apk -- YES. This, not to be confused with MusicPlayer.apk plays sounds and previews ringtones. Even though it can be removed, you´ll be pretty limited if you do, since it works a bit faster and to the point than MusicPlayer. It doesn´t genera playlist, history and has no visualization. It just plain to the point plays sounds. Even if you have Winamp, PowerAMP, cubed or whatever I recommend keeping this.
Stk.apk -- YES. You know those annoying menus your carrier offers you, you know, to inform you about your hororscope (no I didn´t misspell it), roaming information or traffic information, making you send a message so they can send you the info back? This is the menu apk for that. Don´t want to download your carrier (payed) games or apps telling you bad jokes? Delete this.
Street.apk -- YES. Streetview for Google Maps. Removing it will not break google maps, but you won´t get to view street pictures.
Swype.apk -- YES. Swype keyboard, and awesome alternative to samsung´s. It does a good job at predicting text, but not essential if you like to manually type all words out.
syncmldm.apk -- YES. Device Management. I read something somewhere but don´t really remember what it was. I deleted this accidentally while trying to delete syncmlds.apk but nothing has broken yet...
syncmlds.apk -- YES. This has to do with the Synchronize page options in the settings menu. If you don´t use it, it has no meaning in your life.
Talk.apk -- YES. Google Talk. There was some chatter about removing this breaking Gmail or the Market. As far as I´ve read, this can be removed, although I still haven´t gotten around to trying it out.
TalkProvider.apk -- YES. See above.
TelephonyProvider.apk -- NO.
thinkdroid.apk -- YES. This is the mobile version of a microsoft office clone. Removing this will not let you open .doc or .xls or .pps on your phone.
TouchWiz30Launcher.apk -- NO. Even though if you use Zeam or LauncherPro or GoLauncher, removing this is kind of dangerous. Let me explain. A while ago when I was a virgin at ODIN flashing and new to the phone, i deleted this because I was using LauncherPRO. I had also deleted something that made my phone force close all the time. I didn´t trust flashing yet, and in my haste, I decided to restore factory settings. The thing is, when you do that, it deletes all non stock apps and reconfigures the phone to use stock apps. When I that, even though the phone booted, I couldn´t access anything, because launchers also control the appdrawer. My phone was literally blank, although if was working. The problem is, if you factory reset, the settings that control your USB connection as MODEM or PDA go back to its original settings. As mine did. So I couldn´t get to anywhere on my phone and couldn´t get my computer to recognize the phone. Until I flashed it via Odin (after a 7 hour desperation overnight, and finding some miracle Samsung USB x64 drivers for mobile phones on a forum) the phone was in effect soft bricked.
If you remove anything from this list and have problems, you can factory reset or prepare you contacts and apps for a flashing via ODIN. If you delete however, you won´t even be able to prepare yourself or backup anything. I wish this upon no one, so I advise keeping this, just to be on the safe side.
TouchWizCalculator.apk -- YES. Calculator app, although can be removed, it´s pretty cool and functional.
TouchWizCalendar.apk -- YES. Calendar app, although can be removed, it´s pretty cool and functional.
TouchWizCalendarProvider.apk -- NO. This has something to do with calendar sync and seems to be the connection between the calendar app and the phone´s internal calendar and date settings.
TtsService.apk -- YES. See PicoTts.apk
TwWallpaperChooser.apk -- YES. Wallpaper Chooser. If you have 3DGallery or QuickPic installed, you can use those to set wallpaper, even though there are some wallpapers (internal to this apk) you won´t get.
UNAService.apk -- ?. I have no idea what this is, and so doesn´t insanity.
UserDictionaryProvider.apk -- YES. You know when you add new words, like names and nicknames to your keyboard prediction? This is where those are kept. Delete this and you´ll have to write like the English Academy of Words wants you to write. LOLZ and WTF won´t be recognized as words and you´ll have to write them out everytime you write them, rather than it being available to you via prediction.
Vending.apk -- NO. Part of the Android Market. Actually this IS the Market.
VideoPlayer.apk -- YES. Video player. Do as you wish.
VoiceDialer.apk -- YES. Allows you to dial by speaking someone´s name. Most people´s names when I say them, tend to return something entirely different from what I was looking for. Sometimes though, it surprises. For some reason this sometimes doesn´t work if you don´t have mobile internet activated, making me believe this actually sends via internet the recording, and an algorith somewhere in the Google empire sends the decodification back... Very ineffective.
VoiceRecorder.apk -- YES. Allows you to record your voice. Some people complain the quality is too low, however I use this as a notepad, rather than writing my to-do list, I speak them. Much faster and much easier. Don´t see why something such as this would need audiophile levels of quality.
VpnServices.apk -- YES. VPN for Android. Perhaps gMote or applications that allow you to control your phone via PC desktop might require this. I don´t , so I delete it, and it doesn´t break anything.
wipereceiver.apk -- YES. Remember mobile tracker? This is the apk that lets you wipe your data remotely.
WlanTest.apk -- YES. Tests wireless settings, via the same test menu mentioned on the above test apks. Required for OTA updates.
WriteandGo.apk -- YES. Write and Go application.
wssomacp.apk -- NO. Required for SMS messaging.
wssyncmlnps.apk -- YES. This is Over The Air Programming. What this does is if your provider decides it has a better way to configure your device or alterations to do to improve something, they´ll send you a message telling to dial such and such number. Your phone will go into download mode and somethings will be updated. My carrier never has done such things, and really I trust the guys from XDA to configure my phone way better than my carrier. I usually remove this.
YouTube.apk -- YES. Since android has limited flash support, this application allows you to take the full youtube experience, rather than having to access youtube through the browser. Delete it if you don´t watch videos.
excellent job!
i deleted the stk.apk using root explorer and it was successfully deleted. after i press back button and go back to the application folder, the stk.apk still there. how to permanently delete this apk?
azaini said:
how to permanently delete this apk?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try to reboot the phone.
UPDATE/EDIT: September 12th, 2011 -
I am depreciating this thread and will no longer check on or support it. For more information on this topic:
See MT4GS Stock App Encyclopedia for information about the apps themselves.
See Bloater to make stock app removal easier then you could ever imagine it being.
UPDATE/EDIT: August 21st, 2011 -
Posts 19 through 25 are a summary and how-to of what we have learned about removing apps from the stock rooted rom so far. Skip ahead if you want, otherwise the thread is a good read all the way through.
Now that we have a working S-OFF/Root procedure, a lot of us want to kill some of the stuff that came pre-loaded on our phones.
Root is required, and performing a backup through Clockworkmod is a necessity as well. Both backup and restore actions have been tested and working in CWM 4.0.0.9.
I am not responsible for what happens to your device after removing these files, so make sure you make a CWM backup BEFORE you start mucking around with this.
Some other threads that have been dealing with this for this device are Here, Here and Here. I would like to thank the people who have contributed, and continue to do so in those threads. I made this one in "themes and apps", as I think that people in the future coming in will look here first and this may cut down future confusion and questions.
There are a couple of ways you can accomplish this, but i'll start with the (almost) longest way. See the bottom of the post for other options.
We will be using a file manager to accomplish this task, "File Expert", free from the Google market. (I recommend "Root Explorer", a paid app, but if you've come this far you should get it at some point).
You will need to hit options, choose more, then Mount. Select "Mount as Read Write" to be able to delete the files/folders.
Listed below are the apps and what you have to delete to remove them.
Archived to code tags to make the post smaller. The summaries I wrote out are full page further in the thread, so it's easier to see the whole process.
Themes:
Code:
Aubergine
/system/app/aubergine.apk
/data/data/com.tmobile.theme.aubergine
Brooklyn
/system/app/Brooklyn.apk
/data/data/com.tmobile.theme.brooklyn
Jazz
/system/app/Jazz.apk
/data/data/com.tmobile.theme.jazz
Retro
/system/app/Retro.apk
/data/data/com.tmobile.theme.retro
Spring
/system/app/Spring.apk
/data/data/com.tmobile.theme.spring
Live Wallpapers
/system/app/LiveWallpapers.apk
/system/app/LiveWallpapers.odex
/data/data/com.android.wallpaper
Magic Smoke Wallpapers
/system/app/MagicSmokeWallpapers.apk
/system/app/MagicSmokeWallpapers.odex
/data/data/com.android.magicsmoke
Music Visualization Wallpapers
/system/app/VisualizationWallpapers.apk
/system/app/VisualizationWallpapers.odex
/data/data/com.android.musicvis
Sense Live Wallpaper
/system/app/Mode10Wallpapers.apk
/system/app/Mode10Wallpapers.odex
/data/data/com.htc.android.wallpaper
Streak Live Wallpaper
/system/app/HTCLivewallpaperStreak.apk
/system/app/HTCLivewallpaperStreak.odex
/data/data/com.htc.livewallpaper.streak
Weather Live Wallpaper
/system/app/HtcWeatherWallpaper.apk
/system/app/HtcWeatherWallpaper.odex
/data/data/com.htc.WeatherWallpaper
Widgets:
Code:
HTC Widget Download Manager
/system/app/WidgetDownloadManager.apk
/system/app/WidgetDownloadManager.odex
/data/data/com.htc.wdm
Bookmark Widget
/system/app/htcbookmarkwidget3d.apk
/system/app/htcbookmarkwidget3d.odex
/data/data/com.htc.fusion.htcbookmarkwidget
Calculator Widget
/system/app/htcCalculatorWidget.apk
/system/app/htcCalculatorWidget.odex
/data/data/com.htc.android.fusion.calculator
Calendar Widget
/system/app/htccalendarwidgets3d.apk
/system/app/htccalendarwidgets3d.odex
/data/data/com.htc.htccalendarwidgets
Clock Widget
/system/app/htcclock3dwidget.apk
/system/app/htcclock3dwidget.odex
/data/data/com.htc.clock3dwidget
FM Radio Widget
/system/app/com.htc.FMRadioWidget.apk
/system/app/com.htc.FMRadioWidget.odex
/data/data/com.htc.FMRadioWidget
Friend Stream Widget
/system/app/com.htc.FriendStream3DWidget.apk
/system/app/com.htc.FriendStream3DWidget.odex
/data/data/com.htc.FriendStream3DWidget
Mail Widget
/system/app/htcmailwidgets3d.apk
/system/app/htcmailwidgets3d.odex
/data/data/com.htc.htcmailwidgets
Messages Widget
/system/app/com.htc.htcmsgwidgets3d.apk
/system/app/com.htc.htcmsgwidgets3d.odex
/data/data/com.htc.htcmsgwidgets3d
Music Widget
/system/app/com.htc.MusicWidget.apk
/system/app/com.htc.MusicWidget.odex
/data/data/com.htc.MusicWidget3D
Photo Widget
/system/app/HtcPhotoWidget.apk
/system/app/HtcPhotoWidget.odex
/data/data/com.htc.photowidget3d
Setup Widget
/system/app/HtcSetupWidget.apk
/system/app/HtcSetupWidget.odex
/data/data/com.htc.setupwidget
Sync Widget
/system/app/com.htc.Sync3Dwidget.apk
/system/app/com.htc.Sync3Dwidget.odex
/data/data/com.htc.Sync3DWidget
Tips for Home Widget
/system/app/HtcTipWidget.apk
/system/app/HtcTipWidget.odex
/data/data/com.htc.rosiewidgets.tip
Trends Widget
/system/app/com.htc.TrendsWidget.apk
/system/app/com.htc.TrendsWidget.odex
/data/data/com.htc.Trends3DWidget
Twitter Widget
/system/app/com.htc.Twitter3DWidget.apk
/system/app/com.htc.Twitter3DWidget.odex
/data/data/com.htc.Twitter3DWidget
Weather Widget
/system/app/HtcWeather3DWidget.apk
/system/app/HtcWeather3DWidget.odex
/data/data/com.htc.widget3d.weather
System-Type Apps:
Code:
App Sharing
/system/app/appsharing.apk
/system/app/appsharing.odex
/data/data/com.htc.appsharing
AppPack
/system/app/MallLite-4.0.92.apk
/data/data/com.tmobile.appack
Backup
/system/app/MobileBackup.apk
/data/data/com.voxmobile.sync.mobilebackup2
Calculator
/system/app/calculator.apk
/system/app/calculator.odex
/data/data/com.android.calculator2
Home Screen Tips
/system/app/Protips.apk
/system/app/Protips.odex
/data/data/com.android.protips
Setup
/system/app/HTCSetupWizard.apk
/system/app/HTCSetupWizard.odex
/data/data/com.htc.android.htcsetupwizard
Swype
/system/app/Swype.apk
/data/data/com.swype.android.inputmethod
T Mobile Device Carbon
/system/app/TmobileAndroidDeviceCarbon-c42-n123.apk
/data/data/com.zipwhip.devicecarbon.tmobile
T Mobile TV
/system/app/com.mobitv.client.tmobiletvhd
/data/data/com.mobitv.client.tmobiletvhd
Video Chat
/system/app/qik.apk
/data/data/com.qiktmobile.android
Apps:
Code:
Adobe Reader
/system/app/AdobeReader.apk
/data/data/com.adobe.reader
Bejeweled 2
/system/app/Bejeweled2_trust5.apk
/data/data/com.eamobile.bejeweled2_small
DT-Sync
/system/app/desktopPointer-signed-v6.apk
/data/data/com.doubletwist.desktopPointer
Facebook
/system/app/HtcFacebook.apk
/system/app/HtcFacebook.odex
/data/data/com.htc.socialnetwork.facebook
Flickr
/system/app/flickr.apk
/system/app/flickr.odex
/data/data/com.htc.socialnetwork.flickr
Friend Stream
/system/app/FriendStream.apk
/system/app/FriendStream.odex
/data/data/com.htc.friendstream
Media Room
/system/app/MediaRoom.apk
/system/app/MediaRoom.odex
/data/data/com.htc.MediaLauncher
Netflix
/system/app/netflix-17-release-android-marketplace-upgrade.apk
/data/data/com.netflix.mediaclient
Peep
/system/app/HtcTwitter.apk
/system/app/HtcTwitter.odex
/data/data/com.htc.htctwitter
PhotoGrid
/system/app/HtcPhotoGridWidget3D.apk
/system/app/HtcPhotoGridWidget3D.odex
/data/data/com.htc.rosiewidgets.photogridwidget3d
Polaris Office
/system/app/PolarisOffice.apk
/data/data/com.infraware.docmaster
Slacker Radio
/system/app/slackerradio.apk
/data/data/com.slacker.radio
Telenav GPS Navigator
/system/app/TMOUS_Navigator.apk
/data/data/com.telenav.app.android.telenav
Zinio Reader
/system/app/ZinioReader.v2.03.3312.Regular.apk
/data/data/com.zinio.mobile.android
ZS Provider
/system/app/ZinioSettingsProvider.v2.03.3198.TMobile.Smartphone.apk
/data/data/com.zinio.android.settings
I have removed all of these apps from my system, and it still runs fine. No problems.
You may get a crash report to send to HTC while removing some of these things (I denied it), but you can ignore it. You will get them it when removing themes for sure.
I don't see why using an app to remove these (like Absolute System) would be an issue - just make sure to go back and manually delete the .odex files, as such apps probably won't get them.
And, of course, you could always use a terminal emulator to (rm) remove the files/folders manually.
Also, for the more adventurous: (but it wasn't a problem)
Internet
/system/app/Browser.apk
/system/app/Browser.odex
/data/data/com.android.browser
(I replaced with "Opera Mobile" by Opera Software ASA - Free app)
Mail
/system/app/mail.apk
/system/app/mail.odex
/data/data/com.htc.android.mail
(Removing mail does not prevent GMAIL from working correctly)
Music
/system/app/HtcMusic.apk
/system/app/HtcMusic.odex
/data/data/com.htc.music
Music Enhancer
/system/app/HtcMusicEnhancer.apk
/system/app/HtcMusicEnhancer.odex
/data/data/com.htc.musicenhancer
(I replaced with "Android Music" by JRTStudio - Free app)
If anyone else finds things they can safely remove, please post it for others to play with.
Have fun!
deleted most of those and got
'uids on the system are inconsistent' every time on boot
careful...
Can you list which ones you removed to cause that?
Also, were you using a theme that you deleted?
CWM backup is vital when starting to mess with this - I haven't had to restore due to system issues.
I'd love to try to duplicate your problem on my phone to find a fix. Thanks!
I prefer not to actually delete apps in case I ever want to unroot (though this probably isn't that likely but still) and I understand that by doing so, those apps need to be present. if any of you are interested, there is a free app on the market that I discovered. just search "antek" in the market and it freezes whatever bloatware you have so that it no longer runs in the background and should you want to recover it, all you do is just "defrost" it and it runs exactly as it did before. I've saved loads of battery by using this.
I'm using a custom theme that wasn't deleted. I understand that I could get the cyanogenmod fix_permissions script to fix this, but haven't located it yet.
I stuck to your list before this happened except for swype and a few others.
Wasn't looking for help with the issue, just wanted to let you know it happened. Ofcourse I made a backup before and after.
fix_permissions didn't solve. Gonna restore and try again. Btw I didn't freeze first, I just deleted. Doubt that's the reason though.
Protricity said:
fix_permissions didn't solve. Gonna restore and try again. Btw I didn't freeze first, I just deleted. Doubt that's the reason though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm sorry to hear that it's not working out so great for you. Glad to hear you did a backup first though.
It might be good to note, and I should have said it at the beginning, I did a fresh factory reset on my phone just before the S-OFF/Root procedure, and hadn't used any of the things I got rid of.
They were basically just deleted right off the phone before it got used.
Keep us updated on how it's going, and as info comes in i'll add what I can to help. Knowing what apps you got rid of specifically could narrow it down some, and what ones you used first might help as well.
Of course, restoring a backup eliminates the problem, and you may or may not be able to reproduce after - please let us know either way, and thanks for the input!
For our next trick, we're gonna dump HTC Sense.
Blue6IX said:
okay - sorry to post after myself but I got rid of kidzone.
First, I restored a CWM backup I made right after root/busybox installation.
So, my phone state is fresh S-OFF/Root with SU & busybox installed.
It may be important to note that I did a factory reset to my phone just before S-OFF/Root & had a freshly formatted MicroSD card.
I then installed ADW Launcher from the Market, and hit my "home" key. Selected "Use Default" and chose ADW Launcher.
Now my phone defaults to ADW as it's launcher.
I then installed "Absolute System" from the Market, and used it to remove "HTC Sense"
Closed out Absolute System, then scrolled between all 5 ADW desktop screens, powered down the phone, then powered up again. (*NOTE fastboot = off)
Booted fine, was able to ditch sense without issue, and KIDZONE IS GONE!
As always, make sure to do a fresh system backup before messing with anything like this, but Kidzone is linked to sense, and replacing sense with another launcher will remove it.
HTC Sense was the only app removed from the phone, and I haven't checked everything to make sure it works yet, but no HTC crash report to send, and no force close issues. (yet - to be determined)
I've been itching to ditch sense since I got the phone, and this was my first quick test at it. Works good so far.
Edit to add:
Checked the "personalize" option at the top of the "settings" list. This just brings you back to the main desktop, doesn't throw an error.
I knew this one thing would be messed up somehow after ditching sense, but the fact that it doesn't make a problem and just closes the menu is fine by me.
I'll spend the rest of the day testing out my phone without sense to see how it runs. I'll post back how it went tomorrow.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Quoted myself from the kidzone thread, I want to put the info for slimming down my phones apps here.
I'm going to see how the phone runs on just the free version of ADW for a day, then see about coming up with a procedure to remove apps and keep it all stable in the process.
Happy modding!
Protricity said:
fix_permissions didn't solve. Gonna restore and try again. Btw I didn't freeze first, I just deleted. Doubt that's the reason though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Also, a thought. Boot to CWM and clear the dalvik cache.
I looked up some info on this since rooting the other day, and after uninstalling apps it's good to do to clear out the old app data. Something to consider - it might solve your problem.
Blue6IX said:
For our next trick, we're gonna dump HTC Sense
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Does the camera app still work after you deleted sense? I wouldn't want to lose that..
I froze "T-mobile Name ID" and everything seems to be working fine.
You might also want to mention that you can temp-root your device, then freeze these apps, and they will stay frozen after reboot. Just, for anyone that doesn't want to perma-root their device right now (like me). It's not very stable to perma-root your device right now. Just read that if your MT4GS dies and your perma-rooted, you will either have to buy a new battery or find a way to charge your battery without your phone... some issue with the HBoot... So till thats fixed, and till i'm sure things are stable. I'll stick with my Temp-Root
nldroid said:
Does the camera app still work after you deleted sense? I wouldn't want to lose that..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The camera app still works, but I haven't used all the features.
I would assume this still does work completely, though, because this is only getting rid of the sense launcher, and not the underlying frameworks that power it. (which I hear the camera is dependent upon.)
A solid day of running ADW instead of sense as my launcher has been fine, i'll go play with the camera for a little while and get back to you with a more complete answer to this.
dansl said:
I froze "T-mobile Name ID" and everything seems to be working fine.
You might also want to mention that you can temp-root your device, then freeze these apps, and they will stay frozen after reboot. Just, for anyone that doesn't want to perma-root their device right now (like me). It's not very stable to perma-root your device right now. Just read that if your MT4GS dies and your perma-rooted, you will either have to buy a new battery or find a way to charge your battery without your phone... some issue with the HBoot... So till thats fixed, and till i'm sure things are stable. I'll stick with my Temp-Root
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This had to do with a charging issue using Clockworkmod 4.0.0.8 which is fixed with Clockworkmod 4.0.0.9.
I have personally run my battery to completely dead using CWM 4.0.0.9 and it charged up and booted fine.
Good to know that freezing apps stays after reboot on temp-root, that's an awesome find!
Also, just found this.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1150805
Post by rmk40, talking about freezing bloatware apps on the HTC Sensation. There are some apps ppl have frozen on there that are also on the MT4GS. I'm going to look through it now and will check back later.
The Notes app from:
/system/app/androidnotes.apk
Is that it, or is there more in the /data folder?
I think it may be /data/data/com.marigold.android.notes
and /data/data/com.marigold.android.notes/databases/notes
But I don't want to delete it without being fully sure, can someone verify this for me?
nldroid said:
Does the camera app still work after you deleted sense? I wouldn't want to lose that..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep, the camera app works completely. I tested all the modes, and used all the different manual settings in the last option. Nothing was broken, it was all fine.
Removing just the sense launcher and replacing it with something else has no impact on the camera, and I would imagine anything else that requires sense frameworks. We should test anything before making that blanket statement, though, but consider camera.apk to be tested and working without the sense launcher.
dansl said:
Also, just found this.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1150805
Post by rmk40, talking about freezing bloatware apps on the HTC Sensation. There are some apps ppl have frozen on there that are also on the MT4GS. I'm going to look through it now and will check back later.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's awesome - while i'm busy re-inventing the wheel, way to pick up where someone else left off. I glanced through there quickly, but i'm kinda having fun figuring this out. I definitely look forward to hearing what you've learned browsing through, and i'll get there at some point.
Thanks clicked on that helpful post!
Sinfamy said:
The Notes app from:
/system/app/androidnotes.apk
Is that it, or is there more in the /data folder?
I think it may be /data/data/com.marigold.android.notes
and /data/data/com.marigold.android.notes/databases/notes
But I don't want to delete it without being fully sure, can someone verify this for me?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep, you were right on. Delete the .apk in bold, then go delete the folder in bold. Once you delete the folder in /data/data, then your second line about the database in notes becomes moot, since it will have already been deleted.
Updated my list of stuff too (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=16683780).
One thing i found that I couldn't quite figure out what is was for, is the Com.Redbend.SWM-C app. I've read that it might be used for tracking/analytics or DRM content... i dont know, but I froze it, and everything seems to be working fine still! I read someone had issues with Youtube, but youtube has been working fine for me.
thank you for this thread and thanks to dansl too. I was able to remove sense and a lot of the htc bloatware, making the phone a lot better.
I don't know what doubleshotandroidzipgroup was that was running in the background, but i froze it and it seems fine...
So it seems like this thread has been helping people, in conjunction with the other threads on the different aspects of this subject. I don't deal with freezing apps, it always seemed cleaner to me to just get rid of them.
I know in some cases that's not possible, maybe for us maybe not. I've sure learned a lot from this project, and from what people have discovered by freezing apps.
I want to take a moment to thank everyone who has contributed towards what we've learned here.
I took the time to really work out what has to be done to remove the various things we discovered, and the next few posts reflect the contributions everyone has made to this project.
Also, i'm hoping that this road map we are making will cut the time down it takes for developers to introduce roms for our device. Having the locations, and user test data of what you can dump should take some of their headache away. This is one of the motivations behind my trying to lay this all out like this, making it easier not only for us to use now, but for developers to refer to later.
Enjoy, i've had fun with it so far!
There was an initial surge of testing what could or could not be removed from the phone right after we got root, which has mostly passed now. Most of the obvious "I can get rid of this" stuff has been figured out, and the rest of the things we can safely get rid of will take a closer look and involve a bit of head scratching to figure out.
Meantime, I felt like it was a good idea to summarize what we know a bit, and come up with a good procedure for removing stuff that was both simple and stable. You could (and I, as well as others, have) delete(d) this stuff all at once without issue, but i'm more comfortable with a more cautious approach - and I know others will be too.
To that end, i've taken the time to test this method a few times, re-engineer it, tweak things, change the order up a bit, and finally lay it out here. We all pretty much want to get the most out of our phones, and for almost all of us here the "extras" pre-installed on our phones get in the way of this.
This'll be fun, and pretty painless - so - ready to remove some bloat?
Setup 1: We're going to go backwards in time a few steps. The ideal situation here is:
00 - Backup all phone data to somewhere off the phone itself.
01 - Factory reset phone, power down.
02 - Remove microsd card, format in computer.
03 - re-insert microsd card in phone, power on.
04 - Set up your Gmail account, enable the Market on your phone.
05 - S-OFF (if necessary), installing CWM 4.0.0.9 and Rooting your phone.
06 - Installing Busybox and Root Checker, verifying that both root and busybox are obtained/available on your phone.
07 - Uninstalling Busybox installer, checking Busybox installation in Root Checker again, then uninstalling Root Checker.
08 - Power down your phone, and boot into recovery mode.
09 - Make a CWM backup of your system in recovery, then rebooting your phone.
10 - (optional, but recommended) Making a copy of the CWM backup to another place, like your computer.
If you did/do it this way then you can always restore to a clean CWM backup from right after you got Root & Busybox on your phone, in the cleanest ready state it can be.
Otherwise, do a CWM backup of your system now, before following the instructions laid out below to be able to restore your phone if something goes wrong.
I'll try and help anyone who needs it if something doesn't go right, but please understand you do this at your own risk and backups are your best friend!
Setup 2: Tools.
01 - Install Root Explorer.
+ Other file managers may work with varying degrees of success, and there are some free alternatives, but nothing that will do the job like Root Explorer. I highly recommend this app, and if you're going to be doing this kind of stuff on your phone you should probably pick it up. You at least need a file manager capable of read/write access to your system folders, and that can copy and delete.
02 - Install Absolute System Root Tools.
+ Again, there are probably free alternatives out there, but this program is pretty awesome and I recommend it. You should have an app that lets you uninstall system apps, and lets you clear their data before uninstalling. One thing to note, is that it won't delete the .odex files of installed apps, so you'll have to go back and get them manually with Root Explorer.
03 - Before performing any steps listed below, you should make backups of all the files you will delete. I list the locations of everything so you can navigate to it with Root Explorer and copy the files somewhere else, like your sdcard. I would also go so far as to say you should make a CWM backup before attempting each of the steps below, but i'm overly cautious when it comes to backups - that's up to you.
(You could end up making changes in files you aren't working in, without realizing it. A Nandroid backup is the only way to ensure you can restore those files if that should happen)
** - Use Absolute System to uninstall .apk files listed below, and it will also get the /data/data location as well. You will have to go back and get the .odex files manually. If you choose not to use an app to uninstall the .apk files listed below, I wrote out their full path location so you can use Root Explorer to delete them manually.
** - Changes made to /system/etc are mirrored in /etc as soon as you make them. All changes made in /system/ are mirrored in the main directory in any corresponding folders or files in real-time as you make them.
** - I recommend removing all widgets and shortcuts/folders or any other items that may be on your desktop before starting this process. You can always put back anything that survives later when you are done.
** - It might be a good idea to turn off GPS, Mobile Networks, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi before proceeding. Optional, but recommended.
Feel free to skip any apps you want to keep along the way, and you don't necessarily have to go in order, but it'll be cleaner that way. Part of the organization behind it is to make it easy for the user to remember what they are doing, and break it down into smaller blocks so you'll lose less progress if something goes wrong.
Now that we're past all that, lets get down to business.
Part 1: Stock themes and wallpapers.
00 - Make sure your phone is set to the "System" theme before continuing (default theme). Then take a picture with your camera, or get a picture you like on your phone. Set this as your background wallpaper.
01 - Using Absolute System, uninstall the stock themes:
-com.tmobile.theme.Aubergine
+ /system/app/Aubergine.apk
+ /data/data/com.tmobile.theme.Aubergine
-com.tmobile.theme.Brooklyn
+ /system/app/Brooklyn.apk
+ /data/data/com.tmobile.theme.Brooklyn
-com.tmobile.theme.Jazz
+ /system/app/Jazz.apk
+ /data/data/com.tmobile.theme.Jazz
-com.tmobile.theme.Retro
+ /system/app/Retro.apk
+ /data/data/com.tmobile.theme.Retro
-com.tmobile.theme.Spring
+ /system/app/Spring.apk
+ /data/data/com.tmobile.theme.Spring
02 - Using Absolute System, uninstall the stock live wallpapers:
-com.android.wallpaper (Android Live Wallpapers)
+ /system/app/LiveWallpapers.apk
+ /data/data/com.android.wallpaper
-com.htc.android.wallpaper (HTC Sense Live Wallpaper)
+ /system/app/Mode10Wallpapers.apk
+ /data/data/com.htc.android.wallpaper
-com.htc.android.image_wallpaper (HTC Slide Show Wallpaper)
+ /system/app/HtcImageWallpaper.apk
+ /data/data/com.htc.android.image_wallpaper
-com.android.magicsmoke (Magic Smoke Wallpapers)
+ /system/app/MagicSmokeWallpapers.apk
+ /data/data/com.android.magicsmoke
-com.android.musicvis (Music Visualization Wallpapers)
+ /system/app/VisualizationWallpapers.apk
+ /data/data/com.android.musicvis
-com.htc.livewallpaper.streak (Streak Live Wallpaper)
+ /system/app/HTCLivewallpaperStreak.apk
+ /data/data/com.htc.livewallpaper.streak
Okay, we are done with Absolute System for the moment.
Fire up Root Explorer, and go to:
03 - /system/app/ (delete the files: )
-HtcImageWallpaper.odex
-HTCLivewallpaperStreak.odex
-LiveWallpapers.odex
-MagicSmokeWallpapers.odex
-Mode10Wallpapers.odex
-VisualizationWallpapers.odex
Still in Root Explorer, now go to:
04 - /system/customize/resource/ (delete the files: )
-htc_wallpaper_01.jpg
-htc_wallpaper_01_lockscreen.jpg
-htc_wallpaper_02.jpg
-htc_wallpaper_03.jpg
-htc_wallpaper_04.jpg
-htc_wallpaper_05.jpg
-htc_wallpaper_06.jpg
-tmo_wallpaper_01.png
-tmo_wallpaper_02.png
-tmo_wallpaper_03.png
-tmo_wallpaper_04.png
-tmo_wallpaper_05.png
-tmo_wallpaper_06.png
-tmo_wallpaper_grid_preview_01.png
-tmo_wallpaper_grid_preview_02.png
-tmo_wallpaper_grid_preview_03.png
-tmo_wallpaper_grid_preview_04.png
-tmo_wallpaper_grid_preview_05.png
-tmo_wallpaper_grid_preview_06.png
-tmo_wallpaper_preview_01.png
-tmo_wallpaper_preview_01_land.png
-tmo_wallpaper_preview_02.png
-tmo_wallpaper_preview_02_land.png
-tmo_wallpaper_preview_03.png
-tmo_wallpaper_preview_03_land.png
-tmo_wallpaper_preview_04.png
-tmo_wallpaper_preview_04_land.png
-tmo_wallpaper_preview_05.png
-tmo_wallpaper_preview_05_land.png
-tmo_wallpaper_preview_06.png
-tmo_wallpaper_preview_06_land.png
-wallpaper.jpg
-wallpaper.png
Still in Root Explorer, last place to go is:
05 - /system/etc/ (delete folder: )
-slideshow
(These are all the sample images for the HTC slideshow live wallpaper.)
06 - Exit Root Explorer, Reboot your phone to recovery. In CWM choose advanced and then "Wipe Dalvik Cache". Hit back and then "Wipe Cache Partition". Reboot your phone. (It will take a little while longer to boot since you wiped your cache, but not much)
After booting back up and making sure everything still works:
07 - Reboot into recovery, make a CWM Nandroid backup of your system. Make sure to back this up somewhere off the phone too.
Congratulations! You now have a recovery image of your phone with all of the stock themes and wallpapers removed.
There's a bunch of crap that comes with this phone, including Bejeweled 2, dT Sync, KidZone, My Account, My Device, Notes, Slacker Radio, T-Mobile Mail, T-Mobile TV, TeleNav GPS, qik Video Chat, and Zinio Reader.
Which of these can I uninstall (using Titanium Backup) and not mess things up? I ask because Media Room has T-Mobile TV and Slacker Radio tiles and I don't want to lose access to my videos and FM radio if Media Room refuses to start after uninstalling say Slacker Radio.
There are already lots of threads about that in this forum... Just search or browse and you'll find lots of useful info. You can freeze Media Room, T-Mobile TV, and Slacker Radio without any problems at all, but if you freeze one or the others and they're trying to access the other program that may cause problems. Just make a NANdroid backup and experiment! That's what we're all doing!
unclespoon said:
There are already lots of threads about that in this forum... Just search or browse and you'll find lots of useful info. You can freeze Media Room, T-Mobile TV, and Slacker Radio without any problems at all, but if you freeze one or the others and they're trying to access the other program that may cause problems. Just make a NANdroid backup and experiment! That's what we're all doing!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks. I was searching for 'uninstall'.
T-Mobile tv
Slacker radio
Any themes you dont like
Doubletwist
T-Mobile carbon device
Gmail
Maps
Google search
T-Mobile telenav
Sent from my myTouch_4G_Slide using xda premium
This thread sums up our pool of knowledge, spread over a couple of threads and condensed into one.
We were bouncing back and forth between freezing and uninstalling, in various configurations right after we got root, and I re-wrote everything into posts 19 through 25.
You can pick and choose what you want to get rid of - the only apps that have a dependency on something else are:
-The two "my account" apps, which is explained in the thread and:
-Widgets after removing the Sense launcher.
Removing the Sense launcher (rosie.apk) means you can't use a majority of the pre-installed widgets that come on the phone. It's safe to remove any and all widgets without affecting the apps they link to, whether you remove the Sense launcher or not.
In that thread I linked, we do not cover removing any of the Sense frameworks or deep system files, just surface .apks - so it's all pretty safe there. The stock camera app will still function, as well as anything else that depends on Sense frameworks to run correctly.
You can pick and choose what you want to get rid of in the list - and it's very specifically listed where the .apk and /data files are located so you can make sure everything got removed ok.
I would recommend using Absolute System Root Tools to uninstall the apps, and make sure to clear the data first.
Go back afterwards and use Root Explorer to delete the empty data folders left behind, and the .odex files that Absolute system (or any other uninstaller) won't get rid of.
Again, all the paths and full names of the .apk and .odex files, as well as the /data folders are listed explicitly in the thread, so you should have no trouble finding everything for each specific app you want to get rid of.
It was a big effort from quite a few people here to track it all down, and we are still adding more stuff to the list. If you find something you can get rid of that we haven't covered, add it to the thread so others don't have to re-invent the wheel.
Happy hunting!
Edit -*(you can use Absolute System to remove those folders and files left behind with the root system file browser I believe, but I prefer root explorer and if you're gonna do this kind of stuff you should pick it up anyway - it's worth the money)
I have no experience with titanium backup, but if you can do all the functions of that with it, then more power to you, post up here if you can use that to delete the empty folders and .odex files that it probably won't get.
Hi!
Yeah, yeah, I know, I know, I'm a noob... Well, sort of actually coz even if it's my first public message I've been roaming this forum for quite a while. And thanks to you guys I understood how to root, how to flash a CD Rom and so on. Without disturbing anyone, ain't it nice?:good:
But now I have a question, I couldn't find the answer anywhere on the web hence this post.
I'm rooted on both my Galaxy Mini and my Galaxy Tab P6210 and I noticed that some apks leave files like webview.db, googlestats etc. on the data/data/whateverapk/databases folders.
On the Mini I found how to prevent those annoying files from polluting my system(yep, I don't like cookies and similar spying stuff) by changing the databases folder's perms to --x --- ---, or even sometimes -- --- ---. For the most stubborn apks I rwx --- --- the databases folder, then I erase all the text in the unwanted file and finally I lock the file's perms to --- --- ---. It works with most apks including Dolphin Mini and Opera Mini, cool. Only one or two resist and FC if I attempt to modify too much the perms but it's OK, I don't use then that often and I don't mind to delete the trash manually.
The problem is that on the Galaxy Tab it doesn't work on most apks, it makes them FC. I've tried all the possible perms combinations but nope, FC.
I guess, since the concerned apks are the same on my Mini and on my Tab, that it has to do with the OS, Gingerbread for the Mini, Honeycomb for the Tab. I noticed as well that some of the files on the Tab are different, on the Mini it's mostly googleanalytics.db, webview.db and webviewCache.db files, whereas on the Tab I have, apart from the above mentioned ones, some webview.db-shm, webview.db-wal, webcookieschromium.db and webcookieschromiumprivate.db files.
I guess .db has something to do with dropbox, but I don't use any dropbox, and I even deleted the (empty by the way) folder in my system. When I open those files I can see that they have something to do as well with sqlite, but I don't have any built in sqlite. I have one that has been installed by an apk in the /xbin folder but I erased it and it didn't change anything (don't worry, I put the sqlite back afterwards). It's very annoying, those files spy on us guys, they record all the web sites we visited, the email(s) or facebook accounts we use etc.
For now I have put bookmarks on my home screen and I delete manually the troublesome files just after I opened the relevant apk but hey, it's not very convenient!
Anyone knows how I can prevent them from coming back everytime I use an apk?
Thanks a lot for your help, and sorry for the long post:angel:
Already 3 days and over 50 views but no answer yet, what's wrong?
Is it that my question is of absolute no interest?
Or that the way I explained my problem was not clear?
Or that no one knows how to do it?
Or a bit of the 3?
It seems that you want to remove unnecessary garbage files that have been left out by some applications. I recommend that you use SD Maid, free is good enough, but of course PRO is better.
Anyway, SD Maid can clean File Corpses and clean the system files like the ff:
/data/log
/data/tombstones
/data/system/dropbox
/cache
Temporary Files
Log Files
Gallery Thumbnails(This one can really build up even with just the same files. I'm not exactly sure as to why it adds again and again but it saves me a lot. Like 300~600MB)
Empty Directories
LOST.DIR Directories
It can also optimize DBs. All of these are available on the free version.
As for cookies in browser, you can uncheck "accept cookies" but this might cause some websites to malfunction or not work.
Other things like cache you can use History Eraser, One Tap Cleaner and etc.
Hope I helped.
I think most don't want to delete them because they are normal caches and cookies, also some apps' settings are stored on those database files. I don't see any advantages in deleting those files (apart from saving couple of MBs storage space...) They aren't any "bad" or "spying" files.
By the way, the .db means database, not dropbox.
Sent from my GT-P6210
miksumortti said:
I think most don't want to delete them because they are normal caches and cookies, also some apps' settings are stored on those database files. I don't see any advantages in deleting those files (apart from saving couple of MBs storage space...) They aren't any "bad" or "spying" files.
By the way, the .db means database, not dropbox.
Sent from my GT-P6210
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Correct me If I'm wrong but it is necessary to clean caches and cookies once in a while because it can hog the device. Sometimes old caches are stored even if they are of no use anymore. It's like the principle of filling up your internal storage too much that you can see a dramatic decrease in performance. These kind of files updates a lot and does not seem to overwrite existing files or at least delete those that are unnecessary. It is not needed however to clean it every after use. Just once or twice a week is good enough.
Thanks for your answer but it's not what I was meaning, let me explain more clearly.
Take any app, say a mp3 cutter. It doesn t need any internet connection to work but when one downloads it one sees that it requires internet access permission. One thinks it s ok and one downloads it. But then in the mp3 cutter databases one finds those webview.db files, and this is why I say that it spies on us coz why this mp3 cutter needs such databases? The same with offline dictionaries, or one tap cleaner (a very bad one by the way, put it through privacy blocker and you ll be amazed of all the infos it takes from you), or mp3 players etc. On browsers like dolphin it s the same story, and when one views those files one sees that they record all the sites one has been through although the apk doesn t need it (I know it for sure coz I delete the files before my browsing cession and it still works). Disabling the cookies doesn t help, it just prevents you from accessing web sites that need cookies like gmail, yahoo and the like. Apps like LBE or privacy blocker show partly what those apks do in our back, taking our IMEI number, our contacts, reading our sms and sending everything to who knows where and for who knows what purpose. But they don t show the databases leaks...
As I said in my first post another parameter is that for a same apk, with the same version, let s say dolphin 2.3, on my Galaxy Mini running GB I managed to block the perms and thus to prevent those files to pollute my system but on my Tab running HC it doesn t work and FC the apks. Plus the files are not the same, there are more of them and with different extensions on HC (again using the same apk on both GB and HC).
So the answer lies somewhere in the OS but I couldn t find where due to my limited knowledge and that s why I m here
Any hint or idea on how to eradicate those files from their source? Of course one can delete them manually and that s what I do but it would be so nice not to have to do it all the time. It s not about saving space, those files weight next to nothing, it s about privacy.
By the way I deleted most google apks and this is already a big relief. Other setting I did include blocking all the perms of the usagestats folder, of the throttle folder (well I just left r--, ---, --- otherwise it bootloops). Download testlogging and you will see for exemple of many spying stuff the google apks put on your tablet...
Anyway, back to the topic:
how can I permanently block those files? Many people on this forum and elsewhere are very concerned with their privacy, to the extend that some create privacy watching apks, but to my knowledge nobody ever bothered about those databases files although they represent a big privacy hole in our systems...
Thanks a lot for your help!
Send from my barebone Galaxy Tab P6210, 34 system apks left and counting down
Apart for some real serious stuff, apps need some way to persist information. If you prevent them to, you should expect fc when they try, no?
That's too much paranoia for me.
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Graffiti Exploit said:
Correct me If I'm wrong but it is necessary to clean caches and cookies once in a while because it can hog the device. Sometimes old caches are stored even if they are of no use anymore. It's like the principle of filling up your internal storage too much that you can see a dramatic decrease in performance. These kind of files updates a lot and does not seem to overwrite existing files or at least delete those that are unnecessary. It is not needed however to clean it every after use. Just once or twice a week is good enough.
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Yes, the caches can get bloated if the app doesn't remove unnecessary things automatically. In that case a clean is ok.
Sent from my GT-P6210
@unclefab
If the mp3 cutter that you mentioned in your example has ads it needs the internet permission for them, and some ad providers make the database files automatically. They just contain some ad web address cache and only "personal" information saved is your language setting, at least from my experience.
And blocking the apps saving the information doesn't help with privacy really much because they can still access the info, they just can't save it in the databases. A malicious app can send the info without saving it too.
Sent from my GT-P6210
leodfs said:
Apart for some real serious stuff, apps need some way to persist information. If you prevent them to, you should expect fc when they try, no?
That's too much paranoia for me.
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I have to agree with this one. Messing up with permissions can cause issues to certain applications and it really seems that he is paranoid.
If your concerned about such privacy, you shouldn't download the app on the first place. Although some developers get rid of such permissions because of some people's concern, this is unlikely to happen to every application. HC is a different platform from Gingerbread and so such issues that you have mentioned may occur.
Have you tried firewalls like DroidWall? I'm not sure if it really works, but it might lessen your burden from manually deleting files or privacy concerns like your data being accessed/used. Again, not sure.
Don t worry, I m not paranoid, my Tab is well protected, I have rather intricated settings between Privacy Blocker, LBE (by the way and FYI, LBE conflicts with Droidwall, both can t work together) Rom Tool Box, Logging Test and Permissions denied, so I don t think that any apk can steal any info from me!!!
Actually it s more a matter of principle, why apks like let s say Dolphin or Opera record all the sites I ve surfed, eventhough they don t need to do so (coz they still work after I deleted those files manually). And about the exemple given above, why apks which don t display adds need to have an internet permission and to put such webview.db files in the databases? Of course I m not obliged to download them, and actually I ve already erased many such apks, but for some I don t have any choice, specially for dictionaries (I travel a lot and need such stuff).
Plus it s a matter of curiosity, where the heck lies the source of those files? And why can I block those files easily on GB but not on HC? Yes, it s because the OS is different, I know, but how does it work? I don t know so much about Android OS but I like it and I want to learn more.
So back to the question, how can I tweak my system in order to prevent those files from appearing everytime use an apk? There are enough experts on thsi forum so hopefully someone knows the answer.
And BTW, when I see the difference between GB and HC, I mean more spying from the Google/Android OS, then I feel less eager to upgrade to ICS coz for sure it will get even worse, not to mention JB...
You're not saving passwords in your browsers/webview-based-apps, right?...
Do you mind explaining why webview.db databases have you concerned?
Thanks.
They are saving information from him, that's why. Nothing can save his information, I think that is the point.
Dude relax, there are spy apps, there loggers, but you are blacklisting all webview based ones.
And as some guy told before, if they want to spy you, they don't need to save anything.
But seriously, you don't need to study much on Android OS to known why what you are doing are causing fc. Take any app in any platform that have internal Conf and db files. Corrupt them and mess with permissions, you should get something similar.
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Thank you for explaining me why they Fc but I had understood it by myself from the very begining, I m what you call a noob but I m not brain dead:silly:
All what I want to know is what generates those files in the OS, and how to prevent it from happening, provided that it s possible.
Apart from that it s ok for me if other people don t mind having files in their databases which record their web activity, and if they don t feel uneasy to know that the more advanced the Android OS the more files there is and the more difficult it is to block them (I said already 2 times that on Ginger Bread I block all those files and that the apks don t FC, which prove that the files are not required by the apks to work normally).
Thanks
I am not calling you noob buddy, but you were trying to solve a problem with no elegance at all.
Contact developers and ask why they are using webview and that you are not comfortable with files it creates. But if you use a program that uses it you have to accept those files, simple.
A lot of details of stuff like webview are API specific so changes version to version. So access of those files may changes on each version of android, as well as file location, name or how to handle errors. So the fact that what you did worked on gb, helps you with no conclusions.
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I didn t mean thay you (tu) called me a noob but that you in general (vos) call newbies noobs. Sorry for the misunderstanding, it s one of the many limitations of english compated to latin or germanic languages
So it sounds like what I was asking about is impossible to do, well, well, I will see what I can do with apktool, maybe I can change something in the manifest or ressources or I don t know where. Just for info, here s what s insideone of those files when it s newly created and before it starts spying:
SQLite format 3@
-� g
���k �6� `���" �tablepasswordpasswordCREATE TABLE password (_id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY, host TEXT, username TEXT, password TEXT, UNIQUE (host, username) ON CONFLICT REPLACE)/
Cindexsqlite_autoindex_password_1password�+�)tablehttpauthhttpauth CREATE TABLE httpauth (_id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY, host TEXT, realm TEXT, username TEXT, password TEXT, UNIQUE (host, realm) ON CONFLICT REPLACE)/Cindexsqlite_autoindex_httpauth_1httpauth
�"�tableformdataformdataCREATE TABLE formdata (_id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY, urlid INTEGER, name TEXT, value TEXT, UNIQUE (urlid, name, value) ON CONFLICT IGNORE)/Cindexsqlite_autoindex_formdata_1formdataR}tableformurlformurlCREATE TABLE formurl (_id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY, url TEXT)J%cindexcookiesIndexcookiesCREATE INDEX cookiesIndex ON cookies (path)�� tablecookiescookiesCREATE TABLE cookies (_id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY, name TEXT, value TEXT, domain TEXT, path TEXT, expires INTEGER, secure INTEGER)W--ctableandroid_metadataandroid_metadataCREATE TABLE android_metadata (locale TEXT) ��en_GB
@unclefab
Even if the webview.db has always all the fields it doesn't mean they need to have a value or string. For example the "password" field is almost always emtpy.
Sent from my GT-P6210
A little old, but worth the reading:
forensicsferret.wordpress.com/2010/09/30/android-browser-forensics/
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Why would I use such apks?
I said it already, it s because I need them. I deleted some and replaced them by similar apks more privacy friendly, but for some I don t have any choice. For exemple browser. I managed to lock the perms on opera mini and it still works but you know opera mini, on some sites it doesn t display correctly so I have to use dolphin whose perms can t be locked. Talking about it I will try boat browser, it s not as good as dolphin but if it doesn t have those files it could be a solution...
Same stories with dictionaries. I m a language teacher who lives in asia and I need far eastern languages dictionaries. Try to find a thai english or thai indonesian dictionary which can work without those files... BTW if you are interested I found a good english chinese which works without any .db garbage;-)
Thanks for the links, interesting article, some food for thoughts...
I think I did something stupid and I would like some help in fixing it.
I didn't know that Google's magazine subscriptions can be "archived" or "deleted". Apparently archiving is what you do to your issues when you're done reading them to clear up memory capacity, and can be re-downloaded if you want in the future. Deleting is completely removing your ability to access this issue forever. I thought that once something was deleted from my device I could just go back on Google Play and get it back (or worse, re-buy it) but no... when I go browse the Maximum PC catalogue, the March issue (the one I deleted) isn't available anymore, it's just gone. Am I understanding this correctly?
Is there some way to fix this? To undo accidental deletions. I didn't think it would be so permanent.