Database Info

[Q] WHY can't you delete preinstalled apps?

Hi folks,
As you can tell from the title I'm a smartphone noob and didn't realise you couldn't do this (see the amount of people I've spoke to who didn't even notice you can't delete apps that come with the phone! What's with that?).
But as you can see I emphasised the 'why', 'cause I've searched everywhere but can't find a reason as to why. I'd assume it was just so you can't delete bloatware, but even the Nexus that runs on stock Android has the same issue.
Does anyone know why (or guess why) you can't delete preinstalled apps?
Thanks!

If your device is rooted, all you have to do is download Root Explorer from the market and delete the APK files from the system.
They're located in: /system/app/
You have to press "Mount R/W" on the top right of the application before you can read and write. Make sure hit "Mount R/O" in the same spot after you're done editing though. Also, make sure that what you're deleting isn't something you need and you should probably back-up the .APK files to be safe. If you mess up and don't back up, you can still just re-flash or re-download GAPPS without a problem. Have fun .

Thanks
I was thinking about rooting my phone actually, I'll check that out (I'm sooooo going to back up everything lol).
But! The question was WHY you can't delete the preinstalled apps. Does anyone know the reasoning behind it?

You're welcome mate .
Just for safety I suppose. And you should definitely root your phone, it'll open a whole new world for you!

manufacturer /operator agreements...

tmpchr said:
manufacturer /operator agreements...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That and basically without rooting your phone it's basically like a comps guest profile. A lot less can mess up if you can't play around with certain files/settings.

Makes sense.
Thanks folks

I am also unhappy that i cannot uninstall apps that came with the phone and i have yet to find a good reason as to why not. most of the apps i want to delete are free on the market, already compatible with my phone and can be deleted or uninstalled without causing any major issues.
tmpchr says "manufacturer /operator agreements..."
ok ill buy that, sounds like a good business opportunity, (i would do it) good advertising, shared/reduced costs...etc. but the end user should still have the option to remove.

I totally agree with you guys, at the very beginning I had so big apps installed on my device (motorola xt720), for instance MotoNav was about 1.5 GB and spoiled my battery life. Luckily I discovered how to root the device and now, using "root uninstaller" that you find in the market, all of them are just a memory

You could also use Titanium Backup to remove programs.

Antivirus and tips

Hey there,
I am new on android OS and I have some questions if you can help me please.
1. Should I install any antivirus?
2. Is there something equivalent to icloud?
3. By rooting my htc desire s what benefits I will gain?
4. Do you know any important tips (apps) that I should install?
Thanx

noob1990 said:
Hey there,
I am new on android OS and I have some questions if you can help me please.
1. Should I install any antivirus?
2. Is there something equivalent to icloud?
3. By rooting my htc desire s what benefits I will gain?
4. Do you know any important tips (apps) that I should install?
Thanx
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. Up to you. I've never installed an anti virus program on my phone because they run in the background eating battery and processing power.
2. I don't think it's really an equivalent but google drive alows you to sync folders on your pc with your android phone.
3. By rooting your phone it gives you full control allowing you to get rid of bloatware(pre installed software like soundhound, amazon mp3 etc.)
install custom roms that fit your preference and much more really. So many advantages you should youtube the benefits of rooting.
4.If you root your phone titanium backup is a must. It backs up your apps so when you install new roms you can just press a button and everything gets restored instead of you spending hours downloading and installing apps.

sharpinator said:
1. Up to you. I've never installed an anti virus program on my phone because they run in the background eating battery and processing power.
2. I don't think it's really an equivalent but google drive alows you to sync folders on your pc with your android phone.
3. By rooting your phone it gives you full control allowing you to get rid of bloatware(pre installed software like soundhound, amazon mp3 etc.)
install custom roms that fit your preference and much more really. So many advantages you should youtube the benefits of rooting.
4.If you root your phone titanium backup is a must. It backs up your apps so when you install new roms you can just press a button and everything gets restored instead of you spending hours downloading and installing apps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you can also use my backup root from the market to backup and restore apps after install new roms

No to antivirus
Many options, drop box, Google drive , etc with Android tot are not limited to Google only products add you are with Apple
You can use titanium backup for applications backup and restore, custom recovery for full device backups, a must if you plan to try the many custom ROM options
Would suggest that you follow the index link in my signature and read the many guides in the initial guide section first
Sywepd form my DsereiS

AVG or Sophos are good but to be quite honest i don't use either anymore. If you feel safer using one then i'd say one of those two would do.

avast is also good. it also adds firewall and stolen phone finder.

I installed avast just for the anti theft, then removed the anti virus
Sent from my HTC Desire S using Xparent ICS Blue Tapatalk 2

I've been using Lookout as AV ever since I got my phone. It has negligible impact on battery life.
I have a friend at work, who is a security expert and he got a virus on his Android phone. NOW he uses an AV product.
The apps I can't live without are Titanium Backup, 4EXT Recovery, and ES File Explorer.
Sent from my Desire S

[Q] there was a program like HijackThis for phone

hello, I wonder if there is any program that can create a register or log(HijackThis it´s a pc program)of all the programs and applications that are in the phone, and I want to know what can be uninstalled and deleted because the service provider install applications that I've never really used and all they do is eat memory and slow the phone.
well I hope this time not confuse the forum channel, pls any help would be helpful to be able to enter the modifying phone.
PD: my phone its a Samsung Galaxy s4 GT-I9500 / 16GB +64GB sd / Android 4.2.2 / No ROOT.

It's definitely necessary as our phone process no less harm if under malware attack than our PC. I'm all ears as I was a big fan of HijackThis during the WindowXP period. I'm sure phone with an Operating System would surely have a similar way to detect malwares on our phone. :fingers-crossed:

How can I tell?

Hi there, I just have a quick question, if anybody could help me with this I'd be ever so grateful!
I was given a laptop today by somebody on Portland's Craigslist he gave it to me out of the kindness of his heart, wanted nothing in return,and to me that's not very common so I'm shocked and I Hate that I am, but I'm a little weary of it as well. How can I tell if this wonderful person possibly put some kind of hidden program or files or whatever to spy on me in any way? Whether it be for creepy reasons, monetary gain, or just monitoring in general, where would I look for files, or programs that could be a threat? Is there anyway to actually have these programs running and i not know about it? How can I be sure that he has no ties, no connection, nothing to do with this laptop anymore? Even remotely.....?
I need to be sure that my kids are gonna be safe using this laptop, how can I tell if there is Any invasion to our privacy?
I appreciate Any and All help I can get, I do know a little bit about this stuff but not nearly enough to be comfortable using it,
Thank you in advance

Which operating system is installed? The easiest way to be sure is just to format the hard drive and reload Windows...if Windows 10 is installed you can reset it quite easily through settings but if it's older then you'll need a disk or the installation files. If there's any sort of spy software installed it probably won't be obvious or show up as a program anyways.

I recommend a clean install of Windows 10 too. If that's not possible install Malwarebytes and ESET NOD32 antivirus free trial. Update both and do a full deep scan using both programs.
If it has malware or antivirus software already installed, uninstall it and get fresh versions above software. He may have white listed any malware/spyware he installed so when it scans, it won't show up in the detected list.
Also, I recommend a good firewall too. Personally, the built in Windows firewall lacks, but I'm a control freak.

Android Backup directly to PC

Hello everyone,
i searched for this topic and found several threads without an answer, but all of them were years old, so heres my hope that things have changed over the years (And that Android finally catches up with what i would consider basic functionality and damn, even iPhones can do it...)
Im looking for a backupsolution directly to my PC. A tool for either my PC (Both Windows of Linux would be fine) or my phone (which is a rooted LG G4 with the last, and therefore very old, official Lineage OS (i intend to upgrade to something newer.) I want to backup every app including appdata, my contacs, sms and mediafiles.
I dont have a lot of space left on my phone which rules out any backupsolution that backs up to my phone. Which means Titanium Backup (which besides looking ugly and not very userfriendly by my usual standards for a user interface but the Pro version can apparently otherwise do everything i want) or Nandroidbackups (assuming that they dont fully backup my phone including the rom and therefore would be unusuable for migration to a new Rom) are out. Also the need to manually copy this over after the backup smacks me as slighly cobbled together, but well that might be just me.
I also dont want to use any internetbased solution. Both for ideological and paranoia reasons. Its my data and i dont intend to giving it to others. Therefore any cloudbased services are out.
Which leaves me with backing up directly to my PC. When i started looking for such a soltion i thought that would be easyly solved since it is such a basic usecase. But oh boy how wrong i was.
What i have found so far:
Syncdroid: Cant backup Apps+Appdata.
Helium: endless spinning wheel while checking root (even though i triplechecked, helium HAS root) and without root i cant backup two thirds of the apps i want to backup like all my instant messaging apps). Apparently the issues with root are known but the Devs are silent.
Apowersoft ApowerManager: Is supposedly able to do what i want BUT doesnt have a trial so i could test it (the free version only allows backups but no restore or anything which comes down to a trust issue) and its simply to expensive (20$ per month with the current superduperspecialpricejustforyouandjustnowoffer) to just buy blindfolded. Also again Trustissues for a tool this expensive without a way to fully try before...
So in conclusion: Do i have to throw away my LG G4 and switch to an iPhone to get this basic functionality or did i just overlook something (maybe a hidden feature in Titanium Backup)?
Bonuspoints if this works over wifi and can be automated (like PC is running, PC suite pings phone, finds phone and updates the backup)