Related
I finally got my phone today. I am new to android, and actually i am new to smartphones.. this is my first smartphone and i decided that if i get myself one im going big and im getting the sensation
my question is.. where to begin with? like i just have the phone in my hand.. what is the first thing i should do or configure on the phone? i know its maybe a big question, but any help on how to setup the phone in the best way would be appreciated, as like i said, it is my first smartphone
thanks
Just go through the initial setup and then just use it. Change the home screens to your liking, download some apps and enjoy the handset. There's not a lot else to do as yet
mazinya said:
I finally got my phone today. I am new to android, and actually i am new to smartphones.. this is my first smartphone and i decided that if i get myself one im going big and im getting the sensation
my question is.. where to begin with? like i just have the phone in my hand.. what is the first thing i should do or configure on the phone? i know its maybe a big question, but any help on how to setup the phone in the best way would be appreciated, as like i said, it is my first smartphone
thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Put it through it's paces I reckon to see everything is working out of the box. Sign up to gmail so you can use the market.
Use the GPS, internet, Youtube etc etc. Make sure everything works as they should.
Setting up the screen is already done for you just go to settings>Personalize and pick "Scene" or "Skin" to begin with.
Watch a quick Youtube video http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=How+to+operate+HTC+Sensation&aq=f
But you can customize it to your liking. Watching some videos will makes things quicker to pick up if you're new to Android phones.
Import your numbers to your sd card and then back to your google account, that way you won't lose your numbers if you lose your phone and when the time comes to upgrade to a new phone, you only have to sign in and you can have all your numbers back automatically, oh and your apps will come back too.
Sign into any emails you have and make sure that any new numbers you get you save to google and they will be kept too.
Try whats app and communicate for free across multiple platforms (supports BB, Iphone, symbian and Android) it's kinda like BBM, sign into facebook, twitter everything you have an account for and then sit back and let the phone do the rest, for me this is were HTC Sense stands alone, no other phone integrates social networking better.
Test your GPS out with the Navigation, join latitude and most importantly, make it your own.
Congrats on your new phone.
From all apps menu open "show me"
Very helpful info
Sent from my HTC Sensation Z710e using XDA App
dladz said:
Import your numbers to your sd card and then back to your google account, that way you won't lose your numbers if you lose your phone and when the time comes to upgrade to a new phone, you only have to sign in and you can have all your numbers back automatically, oh and your apps will come back too.
Sign into any emails you have and make sure that any new numbers you get you save to google and they will be kept too.
Try whats app and communicate for free across multiple platforms (supports BB, Iphone, symbian and Android) it's kinda like BBM, sign into facebook, twitter everything you have an account for and then sit back and let the phone do the rest, for me this is were HTC Sense stands alone, no other phone integrates social networking better.
Test your GPS out with the Navigation, join latitude and most importantly, make it your own.
Congrats on your new phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
would u mind telling me how to back them to my google account?
im planning on getting a 16gb card so i wouldnt want any contact to get lost when i change cards
also, should i be downloading juice defender as well?
mazinya said:
would u mind telling me how to back them to my google account?
im planning on getting a 16gb card so i wouldnt want any contact to get lost when i change cards
also, should i be downloading juice defender as well?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sure, if your numbers are on your sim then go to your people (phone book) press menu and click import / export, then import from sim, then select google.
If they're on your actual phone because you've input them one at a time, then click on import / export again and select export to sd card, then straight after it, press menu and click on import / export again, then click import from sd, when it asks where to? you say to google.
After you've done that simply click on menu from the phone book, go to view and just select google, as you have already moved them over.
PS: It may take a moment to sync all the contacts over so if it's dragging it's heels, make sure you have a good connection at the time ie: 3G upwards, preferably WIFI, and press menu, settings, accounts and sync and sync google.
That should sort that out for you
Not sure if you know this but when you save your numbers to google, it also means that you can't lose your numbers and if you change your phone, all you will have to do is sign into your google account and the numbers will come flooding back on their own, this will work for apps too, providing you've told your phone to do so.
Once you've done this with your phone, it won't make any difference what sd card you have in your phone.
As for juice defender, no not really, just go to accounts and sync, tell the phone not to sync stocks and news and weather all the time oh and facebook, just do them manually, i tend to leave google alone and allow it to sync, last thing you need is you turn off google, forget to sync in a month and you lose all the contacts which you aquired in that time!
Juice defender and the like are nifty apps but not really needed unless you have probs with your battery, your not going to get much more than a day from any Smart phone these days besides a nokia 6200000 or whatever they're called, just try to preserve what you can, turn off wireless communications unless you need them, like GPS, WIFI, mobile data and bluetooth.
Like i said b4 alter your account settings for different services, alter the brightness of your phone and when you get the chance to root properly, get autostarts and set up some rules for your phone so your not starting up programs that you don't need, autostarts is like a task killer, but instead of killing open apps and actively running in the background all the time, it actually sets the rules for them so they can be told not to open before they do, sounds hard but it's really easy
Task killers aren't recommended, they kill processes which shouldn't be killed, 99 - 100 people on XDA will tell you that, the other 1 is probably the bloke who moans about having a crap battery all the time
dladz, thank you very very much for the elaborated answer. it is greatly appreciated.
about the battery.. i noticed that i cant see battery percentage like other here are showing.. i see stats but i dont see in percentages how much is left, only in a green line that when it goes down it gets orange and then red.
would i need to install juice defender if i wanna see accurate percentages?
if you have in mind any more useful and necessary apps that i should download and install, it would be great.
When you get it all set up,go and read about the problems others are having and see if you can live with them,example my bluetooth has a bad background noice rendering it almost useless,I thought it was the headset I was using but turned out it's the phone so if a s/w update doesn't fix it then I will have to send it back to HTC,just got it back from a loose charging port fix.So basically if you need to exchange it don't wait like me and have to send it in for warranty repair.
mazinya said:
dladz, thank you very very much for the elaborated answer. it is greatly appreciated.
about the battery.. i noticed that i cant see battery percentage like other here are showing.. i see stats but i dont see in percentages how much is left, only in a green line that when it goes down it gets orange and then red.
would i need to install juice defender if i wanna see accurate percentages?
if you have in mind any more useful and necessary apps that i should download and install, it would be great.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Get the Battery Widget by Elvison.
It will do what you are looking for
Don't obsess over the battery
Congrats on your purchase, I hope you enjoy android and your phone as much as I do. Everyone here has experiences fast battery drain when they get their new phone. The reason is because they're using their new phone a whole lot simply because it's a new phone. It's not rocket science. Just be sure to charge it whenever you can and you'll be fine.
Be sure to check out the free apps in the android market. The thing I love most about android is the voice command ability, and how it's so tightly knit into all of googles services. "text - Mary", "Call - Teresa", "Navigate to In N Out". You can also use voice to text to dictate an email while on the road. Have fun.
Macklessdaddy said:
When you get it all set up,go and read about the problems others are having and see if you can live with them,example my bluetooth has a bad background noice rendering it almost useless,I thought it was the headset I was using but turned out it's the phone so if a s/w update doesn't fix it then I will have to send it back to HTC,just got it back from a loose charging port fix.So basically if you need to exchange it don't wait like me and have to send it in for warranty repair.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i dont wanna jinx myself, but so far i have none of the problem mentioned here on the board and i hope it stays like that although most problems started to pop out at a much later time, so i will keep crossing my fingers it wont. so far im loving it
Yea I just started setting up my phone yesterday too, and it's a little overwhelming, lol. It's gonna be a wild ride, with s-off rumored to come out soon.
mazinya said:
dladz, thank you very very much for the elaborated answer. it is greatly appreciated.
about the battery.. i noticed that i cant see battery percentage like other here are showing.. i see stats but i dont see in percentages how much is left, only in a green line that when it goes down it gets orange and then red.
would i need to install juice defender if i wanna see accurate percentages?
if you have in mind any more useful and necessary apps that i should download and install, it would be great.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your more than welcome m8, hope it helped.
As for the battery, i would put up with it until we are able to permanently root our devices, get a custom recovery on there and the rom's will come flooding in, then there will be a percentage over the battery on your home screen (up the top)
There are apps which will give you a read out, too many to mention but they run in the background and I could do without that and for that reason i wouldn't recommend them because i wouldn't get them, if you don't mind the app running then there are loads on the market.
Paging Dr B said:
Congrats on your purchase, I hope you enjoy android and your phone as much as I do. Everyone here has experiences fast battery drain when they get their new phone. The reason is because they're using their new phone a whole lot simply because it's a new phone. It's not rocket science. Just be sure to charge it whenever you can and you'll be fine.
Be sure to check out the free apps in the android market. The thing I love most about android is the voice command ability, and how it's so tightly knit into all of googles services. "text - Mary", "Call - Teresa", "Navigate to In N Out". You can also use voice to text to dictate an email while on the road. Have fun.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm from Liverpool born n bred and believe me, the people who made the voice recognition did not have scousers in mind when it was made.
I've had some pretty strange things come out of what i've said to my phone, needless to say some other people with strong accents will have the same problem it's funny tho.
If i speak the queens then it works perfect but i must sound like a right tit.
another question i have.. when i download an app or a game from the market.. how do i know if this app\game should be installed on the phone or on the SD card?
Is there an option to to choose where to install the app? (i dont think i have seen an option to choose)
mazinya said:
another question i have.. when i download an app or a game from the market.. how do i know if this app\game should be installed on the phone or on the SD card?
Is there an option to to choose where to install the app? (i dont think i have seen an option to choose)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not so much an option, rather the ability to move it afterwards.
So if an app is installed on my SD card and then im switching cards, then i will have to install this app again right?
Your phone will still know that the app is installed but the files will have shifted so it won't open it or it will force close.
best thing to do is to get a decent SD card and just take care of it, personally when I really install a rom, I clear all the data on it by formatting the card, that way you get a fresh slate.
I back up co pilot and some games my pics, tunes and videos. The reat can be re iinstalled.
Got it... well, i ordered a 16GB card so until the card arrives i will wait with installations
Ok so I did a lot of searching and have not been able to find anything for this... I found a couple of threads started by people asking if it is possible or if there is one that exists but those did not receive any real responses so I'm hoping that one of the amazing devs here can help please.
So what I'd like is a homescreen widget, or possibly a Live wallpaper, which shows the live cards from Google Now.
There are countless Google Now themed UCCW skins that people have put out. I don't want that.
I also found a way to create homescreen icons that LOOK like Google Now cards. But all those do is launch apps, they do not update with live information from Google Now.
I'm not sure why Google Now wasn't created with a widget. It just seems to make sense. It's kind of annoying that you have to open the app to get all this information, instead of having it right in front of your face on your homescreen where you can access other apps quickly as well. I mean the point of google now is to present you with information before you need it right? How is that possible if I can't get the info without opening the app.
So I'm hoping there is, if anything, some sort of work around here.
Maybe someone knows of a way to create a widget with desktop visualizer that will show the live Google now cards and update them.
I'm hoping for a scrollable widget that will be almost exactly like Google Now (i.e new cards will pop up as they do in the app, you can scroll up and down to view all of the cards you currently have, you can swipe to remove cards - (come to think of it you probably won't be able to swipe to remove cards, but maybe a double tap or something?))
It would probably be best if this widget did not include the google search bar and simply showed the google now cards.
I remember hearing about an app in the past that could overlay live wallpapers on each other. Is there a way to overlay an app into a live wall paper? so that you could see Google Now as your live wall paper, even if maybe you can't actually interact with it this way?
For now I'm going to try setting up something with tasker, so that google now will automatically open every morning when I turn off my alarm, and possibly at other points (maybe when a new card pops up or something). Something similar to this could probably be done with the smart actions app if people are interested in trying that out. But honestly I feel like this is not the best solution because I'd rather not have tasker running constantly, eating my RAM and therefore my battery.
So I don't know if the reason there is no widget already is because it simply is not possible. And if it's not possible could someone please explain why?
Also, so that I can try to work on this myself - can someone please help me by telling me which files Google now uses for getting and updating cards? (i.e. the file names I would see in Titanium or under Settings>Apps or in a file explorer where they would be located - I'm guessing somewhere in the /system/ folder) If I can access these I can play around with them and try some things out
TIA to all who reply...
Howdy. My friend Steve and I made Sesame so we wouldn’t have to swipe around looking for things anymore.
It puts your favorite apps in a ranked list on the lock screen along with a keyboard that can filter to pretty much anything in 1 or 2 touches. What’s cool about Sesame is that it learns from your behavior and makes new shortcuts deep into native apps.
This thing is like a power tool for Android. It takes some getting used to but it’s worth it.
Shortcuts it makes today
All your apps (ranked by how often you use them)
All contacts w/ 1 touch to text, call, or email (WhatsApp too!)
Websites you visit (but not when browsing incognito)
Music library and new stuff you listen to (Spotify only atm but expanding soon)
You can Quick Search: Maps, Waze, Netflix, Spotify, Google Music, Chrome, Play Store, Yelp and YouTube
It makes shortcuts back to your searches
Hangouts conversations, including groups
Alarms you set
Uber/Lyft see live ride options w/ ETA & Surge Pricing
Smart Keyboard
The keyboard is designed to pull things up fast. It’s not swipe, it’s faster. You don’t need to type full words. It understands shorthand, so if I want to play music by Ratatat I can type ’S’ for Spotify then ‘R’ and 'Spotify: Ratatat' will come right up. It also learns from your choices so next time only ’S’ might get the job done.
Lock Screen and/or App Switcher
The Lock Screen version displays your notifications and keeps your existing security 100% intact. Note: some device types see display issues when transitioning from Sesame to the system lock screen. If that happens, you can still use it as an app switcher.
There’s no registration and none of the data leaves your device.
It’s still got some rough edges. If you do try it, give it a shot for a few days. Our test users said it took some getting used to but they’d never go back now. We try to get out 2-3 new versions a week. So please give feedback, we want to make it better!
It’s free in the play store, check it out!
Will take it for a spin and give feedback later. thanks.
Hey, I'm Steve. I'm the developer working on this. Happy to answer any questions on how this works.
Hope you like it!
GerManiac said:
Will take it for a spin and give feedback later. thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How'd it go?
We pushed a new update. Version 0.5.16 now makes Reddit shortcuts and has an improved keyboard.
This post didn't exactly catch fire irl like it did in my dreams but if you've tried it and want to give feedback, we're definitely listening. Cheers.
Pwallius said:
How'd it go?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So far so good. I think it's a great idea, and you made the idea into a fantastic app, but I for myself noticed that I hardly launch apps or anything from the lock screen, since I automatically unlock my phone with the fingerprint.
GerManiac said:
So far so good. I think it's a great idea, and you made the idea into a fantastic app, but I for myself noticed that I hardly launch apps or anything from the lock screen, since I automatically unlock my phone with the fingerprint.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What if you could launch it by swiping from the edge of the screen? I'm thinking the upper right edge is easily reachable and out of the way. You could swipe and pull down to pull Sesame up right away.
Lots of people just aren't interested in changing their lock screen but I do think there's some potential here. Thanks!
Pwallius said:
What if you could launch it by swiping from the edge of the screen? I'm thinking the upper right edge is easily reachable and out of the way. You could swipe and pull down to pull Sesame up right away.
Lots of people just aren't interested in changing their lock screen but I do think there's some potential here. Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That sounds good, however, maybe you could give the option to choose from where to swipe, upper right is for me a no go, since I've got a six inch Huawei Mate 8, it would still be reachable but not convenient.
GerManiac said:
That sounds good, however, maybe you could give the option to choose from where to swipe, upper right is for me a no go, since I've got a six inch Huawei Mate 8, it would still be reachable but not convenient.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Roger. That can be done.
I think we're going to try to make the Lock Screen pretty first. Something like this.
There are lock screen apps w/ 50MM users that are basically rotating pretty pictures. They get around all the lock screen compatibility problems by building their own security then having the user turn off the system one. This isn't 100% secure, which is why we didn't go that way. But it'd keep out anyone except a motivated hacker. And if the system security is OFF we can build a seamless experience. So maybe that'd open Sesame up to a wider audience. It'd be totally optional, you could still keep the system security if you wanted.
Thanks for the feedback. It def moves our thinking. Let me know if there's anything else we can improve.
Pwallius said:
Roger. That can be done.
I think we're going to try to make the Lock Screen pretty first. Something like this.
There are lock screen apps w/ 50MM users that are basically rotating pretty pictures. They get around all the lock screen compatibility problems by building their own security then having the user turn off the system one. This isn't 100% secure, which is why we didn't go that way. But it'd keep out anyone except a motivated hacker. And if the system security is OFF we can build a seamless experience. So maybe that'd open Sesame up to a wider audience. It'd be totally optional, you could still keep the system security if you wanted.
Thanks for the feedback. It def moves our thinking. Let me know if there's anything else we can improve.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, I understand, but you are right you are not going to get the audience you want.
Take for example hilocker I've been watching the locker growing but then it grew slower and slower. however it was not only the app which wasn't always running smoothly, but also the little to non response of the dev.
The features however integrated are great.
Giving the user the option to decide to keep security or to have a better experience at the cost of some security, is a good idea.
GerManiac said:
Yes, I understand, but you are right you are not going to get the audience you want.
Take for example hilocker I've been watching the locker growing but then it grew slower and slower. however it was not only the app which wasn't always running smoothly, but also the little to non response of the dev.
The features however integrated are great.
Giving the user the option to decide to keep security or to have a better experience at the cost of some security, is a good idea.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yup. We've got a few cards try to play. Let me know if some insight hits you about this conundrum. Thanks for the legit feedback.
I'll let you know when the next version is out.
No posts in close to three years. Did everyone stop using this? What are you using instead? The googl app?
user2837 said:
No posts in close to three years. Did everyone stop using this? What are you using instead? The googl app?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just started using it on my NexS and it's very good. I've always liked these types of apps having used Fastkey Launcher and Launchboard previously. This is much better and very customizable. I use it as a widget and not the lockscreen.
I read a few threads here..the following are my queries...
hi all. im a new user of a huawei handset and a bit confused with few things..
1- notification sounds for telegram/whatsapp are inconsistent...sometimes i hear the notifications other times they dont sound off..the other important point is, my messages dont appear until i open the app (or click on it to open)....( there a few threads on this issue here and it seems like the problem has not been solved as i tried some of the offered solutions but didnt work)...
2- in the app drawer mode, how can i get the google voice command widget (ok google) on the screen? the widget disappeared when i went to the app drawer mode and it was not available in the widgets section.
3- there is an app called notepad which is huawei based i assume but its mainly for reminders. is there another app by huawei dedicated for taking notes which synchronizes with outlook??
4- does the app store close when downloading a large file? it happened to me everytime with certain large apps. anyone experienced the same? maybe a bug.
5- a HTC related question as someone may have tried it. is it possible to install the APK for blinkfeed on the mate 9? i tried but didnt work...anyone tried it with any success?
6. the final question i have... how do you get to see message notifications on your lock screen like on HTC phones for example??!! Is a similar function available ala HTC??!!
in general, the phone is very good. it has some nifty gestures which are actually handy and can be great in reducing time needed for doing things like the double knuckle action for screen freeze. also, the split screen and cut. very useful. didnt even know about it until i bought it!!!
as opposed to samsung gimmicks those are useful on the mate 9.
i ordered the Chinese version as i wanted 128gb + 6 gb ram.
thanks and advance.
> 5- a HTC related question as someone may have tried it. is it possible to install the APK for blinkfeed on the mate 9? i tried but didnt work...anyone tried it with any success?
I think theres an HTC launcher floating around. Have you checked apkmirror.com?
For Blinkfeed you'd need HTC Sense's framework. I found this, https://forum.xda-developers.com/an...blinkfeed-plugins-devices-08-03-2015-t3049438
Edit: It's post #2
Thanks for the HTC tip. Will try it afterwards
I found a solution to my second query. I deleted and reinstalled google now and somehow both google widgets appeared so its all good now.
However, the two with my highest concerns are queries 1 & 4.
I installed the apk for blinkfeed but the one for the social media were not available from mega!!
How do i actually use the sense/blinkfeed now i installed it??
App Store crash when downloading a large file
This is due to you didn't turn on storage access for google play store.
I don't know why the default permission for storage was off, but apparently if you turn that back on, it will fix the app store crash bug.
Sal_Al said:
I read a few threads here..the following are my queries...
hi all. im a new user of a huawei handset and a bit confused with few things..
1- notification sounds for telegram/whatsapp are inconsistent...sometimes i hear the notifications other times they dont sound off..the other important point is, my messages dont appear until i open the app (or click on it to open)....( there a few threads on this issue here and it seems like the problem has not been solved as i tried some of the offered solutions but didnt work)...
2- in the app drawer mode, how can i get the google voice command widget (ok google) on the screen? the widget disappeared when i went to the app drawer mode and it was not available in the widgets section.
3- there is an app called notepad which is huawei based i assume but its mainly for reminders. is there another app by huawei dedicated for taking notes which synchronizes with outlook??
4- does the app store close when downloading a large file? it happened to me everytime with certain large apps. anyone experienced the same? maybe a bug.
5- a HTC related question as someone may have tried it. is it possible to install the APK for blinkfeed on the mate 9? i tried but didnt work...anyone tried it with any success?
6. the final question i have... how do you get to see message notifications on your lock screen like on HTC phones for example??!! Is a similar function available ala HTC??!!
in general, the phone is very good. it has some nifty gestures which are actually handy and can be great in reducing time needed for doing things like the double knuckle action for screen freeze. also, the split screen and cut. very useful. didnt even know about it until i bought it!!!
as opposed to samsung gimmicks those are useful on the mate 9.
i ordered the Chinese version as i wanted 128gb + 6 gb ram.
thanks and advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ba703863 said:
This is due to you didn't turn on storage access for google play store.
I don't know why the default permission for storage was off, but apparently if you turn that back on, it will fix the app store crash bug.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks. I forgot to update the above post. I have done that and it was fixed.
Also the OK Google thing seems to be working after tweakings in the permissions etc.
I couldn't get the HTC blink feed to work. It seems like I have it but I don't know where to go to activate it!!
The big problem seems to be the notifications.
Hi Everyone! ??
Now that it appears we have a new, solid way to disable and effectively block Amazon bloatware/system apps from our Fire tablets (detailed in this awesome HOW TO guide as discovered by Supersonic27543), I thought I'd take a moment to at least give a good starting effort at updating the very useful system app tracking spreadsheet that bakshi originally created a few months ago (I use it all the time/have found it very helpful!).
With FireOS 5.6.2.0 and 'Show Mode' and what have you, there are more and more stock system apps and I just wanted to see if we could collectively share our findings. I ran the simple ADB command that lists system apps/packages on my HD 8 (2017) and them simply appended the new items onto a copy of bakshi's Google sheet, added some color coding, etc. I haven't had a lot of time to fill in a lot of the app details that I've become familiar with myself, but I wanted to at least get something started. So here is an easier to read html presentation view of my updated sheet, and here is a version allows for filtering/column resizing/comments/etc..
Ummm ?, does someone by chance have any interest in taking ownership of this document? Or maybe at least collectively? ?? I do have more details that I've learned through my own trial and error / several factory resets and I'm more than happy to share, but I'm not really an Android OS wizard or pro. Many of the new apps are part of "Show Mode" / are new calling features (which I find weird / frustrating since we don't even get the full "Echo Show" drop-in / calling experience anyway) ... ??
Hopefully this document can be useful for many of us. I'm happy to hear any thoughts and to share ownership of the document with anyone who wants to take a stab.
Thanks all!
{
"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"
}
richaardvark
My Kindle Fire HD 8 is soooo Slow
Hey me again, so I'm looking at your updated spreadsheet for 5.6.2.0 on the bloatware. I'm trying to understand it - i.e what can I remove safely? I assume the apps that you have marked as 'safe' can be removed. What about the ones that have a blank in the column 'Safe to Remove'? I can see why some shouldn't be removed, but why do I care about amazon.glorialist (for example). I have no idea what that even is - that's not saying much... I guess I'm confused at this point on what I can get rid of. I have my fire HD back to ground zero, running 5.6.2.0 but that's it and it's running pretty good speed wise. But I have to get rid of something because once I install google services I'll be right back where I was (dial-up or less response) so then I might as well as stay with the vanilla Fire. Thanks!
richaardvark said:
Hi Everyone! ?
Now that it appears we have a new, solid way to disable and effectively block Amazon bloatware/system apps from our Fire tablets (detailed in this awesome HOW TO guide as discovered by Supersonic27543), I thought I'd take a moment to at least give a good starting effort at updating the very useful system app tracking spreadsheet that bakshi originally created a few months ago (I use it all the time/have found it very helpful!).
With FireOS 5.6.2.0 and 'Show Mode' and what have you, there are more and more stock system apps and I just wanted to see if we could collectively share our findings. I ran the simple ADB command that lists system apps/packages on my HD 8 (2017) and them simply appended the new items onto a copy of bakshi's Google sheet, added some color coding, etc. I haven't had a lot of time to fill in a lot of the app details that I've become familiar with myself, but I wanted to at least get something started. So here is an easier to read html presentation view of my updated sheet, and here is a version allows for filtering/column resizing/comments/etc..
Ummm , does someone by chance have any interest in taking ownership of this document? Or maybe at least collectively? I do have more details that I've learned through my own trial and error / several factory resets and I'm more than happy to share, but I'm not really an Android OS wizard or pro. Many of the new apps are part of "Show Mode" / are new calling features (which I find weird / frustrating since we don't even get the full "Echo Show" drop-in / calling experience anyway) ...
Hopefully this document can be useful for many of us. I'm happy to hear any thoughts and to share ownership of the document with anyone who wants to take a stab.
Thanks all!
richaardvark
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
DallasRedHead said:
Hey me again, so I'm looking at your updated spreadsheet for 5.6.2.0 on the bloatware. I'm trying to understand it - i.e what can I remove safely? I assume the apps that you have marked as 'safe' can be removed. What about the ones that have a blank in the column 'Safe to Remove'? I can see why some shouldn't be removed, but why do I care about amazon.glorialist (for example). I have no idea what that even is - that's not saying much... I guess I'm confused at this point on what I can get rid of. I have my fire HD back to ground zero, running 5.6.2.0 but that's it and it's running pretty good speed wise. But I have to get rid of something because once I install google services I'll be right back where I was (dial-up or less response) so then I might as well as stay with the vanilla Fire. Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You ask very good questions! hah
With regard to which exact programs should be disabled, a couple of things come to mind. First - I have to be open and say I, myself am still trying to find just the right balance. Every day when I get free time, I tinker around and enable/disable certain apps. By far, the tablet is in a much more use-able state than it was with all those factory-installed apps running, but there are still minor issues that pop up. As you can see from that post of mine you quoted above with the spreadsheet, I kinda foolishly assumed that there'd be kind of a collective conversation about this among HD 8 owners on here, and while I did get some good information and continue to daily, I realized very quickly that there isn't really a one-size-fits-all answer here. So to answer your question, I'd say what apps you disable largely depend on your goals for how you plan to use the device. Some people want to strip the device of anything Amazon as much as possible with the hope of ending up with as close to a stock "Android" device as possible. Some people want to be able to use Alexa still, some people like their Kindle e-books or whatever. I can definitely help you look at which individual apps to disable but would need to know what features you'd like to keep and what features you want to remove. Are you wanting to install a new launcher, or keep the FireOS launcher? Do you want full Alexa as well as "Show Mode"? All things to consider and totally changes what apps you disable or leave be. So that's the first thing to take into consideration when deciding which apps to disable.
Another thing to be aware of is that if you disassemble certain packages this annoying parental control lock warning begins to pop up (I guess you could say Amazon kinda booby-trapped the device, lol). It's not a big deal, but depending on what you disable, you'll notice an annoying pop-up message. The original author of that de-bloat thread (Supersonic27543) mentions this in his OP. There are fixes for this though.
User Ivorin put together a nice list of apps he chose to disable with clear notes and I found this helpful. I've made a few minor modifications however on my own device, added a few more to disable, kept a couple he chose to disable. See his list here.
Another question I have for you is how are you going about installing Google Services? Is there a certain guide/thread you're following? There are several different posts on here with essentially the same set of instructions, but I do think there are a couple of different suggested steps among these posts, with some methods a little better than others. I only ask this because, you shouldn't really experience any major slow-down in performance after installing Google/the Play Store, at least not like it sounds like you've been experiencing. My device(s) overall are pretty snappy and solid. So we should look at that as well.
Sorry I didn't have a simple, one-size-fits-all answer for you, but if you give me just a few more details I'll have answers for you and you should be able to quickly make it all come together.
DallasRedHead said:
But I have to get rid of something because once I install google services I'll be right back where I was (dial-up or less response) so then I might as well as stay with the vanilla Fire. Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is the thread I've typically followed when installing Google Services/Play store. These four files, in this order. It doesn't matter that they're outdated - as soon as you bring it all online it will update itself to the latest versions.
richaardvark said:
You ask very good questions! hah
Well now i have more questions
With regard to which exact programs should be disabled, a couple of things come to mind. First - I have to be open and say I, myself am still trying to find just the right balance. Every day when I get free time, I tinker around and enable/disable certain apps. By far, the tablet is in a much more use-able state than it was with all those factory-installed apps running, but there are still minor issues that pop up. As you can see from that post of mine you quoted above with the spreadsheet, I kinda foolishly assumed that there'd be kind of a collective conversation about this among HD 8 owners on here, and while I did get some good information and continue to daily, I realized very quickly that there isn't really a one-size-fits-all answer here. So to answer your question, I'd say what apps you disable largely depend on your goals for how you plan to use the device. Some people want to strip the device of anything Amazon as much as possible with the hope of ending up with as close to a stock "Android" device as possible. Some people want to be able to use Alexa still, some people like their Kindle e-books or whatever. I can definitely help you look at which individual apps to disable but would need to know what features you'd like to keep and what features you want to remove. Are you wanting to install a new launcher, or keep the FireOS launcher? Do you want full Alexa as well as "Show Mode"? All things to consider and totally changes what apps you disable or leave be. So that's the first thing to take into consideration when deciding which apps to disable.
You asked for it so here goes:
Well in a perfect world I would like it to do everything my laptop does... However back to reality. I got it to:
1. Play how-to videos
2. Pull up other types of information via the web
3. Get mail and my calendar and contacts plus keep the last two updated off my Outlook installed on my PC. (I want the gmail app at least and it’s not on the Amazon app store). I know I can get yahoo thru the Appstore. I would rather use Outlook but refuse to pay for Outlook 365. I need to keep the Fire stock email, calendar and contacts for the program I run on outlook to propagate the calendar/contacts. I’m sure there are others apps but this works and right now that’s all I care about.
4. Play videos when I’m on the road (either wifi or downloaded)
5. I do like the voice to text recognition because without a regular keyboard my typing frustrates me (I use the same on my phone)
6. Read doc files like PDF, Work, EXCEL, PPT etc. Only need a reader, don’t want to create or edit.
7. Not a bit gamer – when waiting at a docs office I play solitaire (mostly) or candy crush so don’t need resources for that.
8. I’m still old fashioned – if I want to read a book I want paper, the same goes for magazines and newspapers. I read on the laptop when I have to. So I could care less about Kindle…
9. I can’t stand the fire launcher but I’ve read where Nova is inconsistent on Fire HD so might be stuck with that unless there is something else out there that works??? (low on my priority list).
10. I do like Alexa because I use it in the house. If she is a big hog I’ll get rid of it.
11. Get rid of the ads
I think that’s the majority of it. I just want to get decent response time but I don’t know what to delete. For example, I tried killing some stuff that was running in the background but didn’t know what those processes were and ended up having to reboot. I did this a few times and got frustrated and quit.
Have I ended up confusing the issue? I just don’t have time to keep tinkering around with this thing. If I can get decent response time and get my must-have apps on there I’ll be happy. I just would like to know what I can kill and be done with it...
Another thing to be aware of is that if you disassemble certain packages this annoying parental control lock warning begins to pop up (I guess you could say Amazon kinda booby-trapped the device, lol). It's not a big deal, but depending on what you disable, you'll notice an annoying pop-up message. The original author of that de-bloat thread (Supersonic27543) mentions this in his OP. There are fixes for this though.
I saw that too but I can deal with that later, the speed right now is the most annoying thing... And the ads...
User Ivorin put together a nice list of apps he chose to disable with clear notes and I found this helpful. I've made a few minor modifications however on my own device, added a few more to disable, kept a couple he chose to disable. See his list here.
Got it.
Another question I have for you is how are you going about installing Google Services? Is there a certain guide/thread you're following? There are several different posts on here with essentially the same set of instructions, but I do think there are a couple of different suggested steps among these posts, with some methods a little better than others. I only ask this because, you shouldn't really experience any major slow-down in performance after installing Google/the Play Store, at least not like it sounds like you've been experiencing. My device(s) overall are pretty snappy and solid. So we should look at that as well.
Well that took some time because I was flip flopping around and the instructions weren’t very clear (I figured it out) but I ultimately got from two sources.
http://rootjunkysdl.com/files/?dir=Amazon Fire 5th gen
He had two ‘features’ I used. 1) remove the annoying ads, 2) fix it so Amazon updates doesn’t break the Google apps.
I started with this one that led me to rootjunky to get Google play services down:
https://lifehacker.com/how-to-get-google-play-on-a-kindle-fire-and-install-any-1790706649
I see the instructions you used are different and I also see that you can disable the ads thru that ‘pm’ command? I saw mention of that in Ivorin’s list that you referred me to – maybe it was in the other ones too, I just saw his comment in that list.
>>>>> OK, so my question is why do I need google play services if you are just downloading the APKs? Someone else mentioned using apkpure.com to get APKs and forget about Google play services but then I read too that some of these sites might have malware etc. and to stay away from them. I’m happy downloading the APKs myself. As you have probably noticed I only know enough to be dangerous, I’ve just really begun to stick my big toe into the Android world.
I also noticed that some apps (non-stock) simply will not install so I just have to go to the web for those.
Sorry I didn't have a simple, one-size-fits-all answer for you, but if you give me just a few more details I'll have answers for you and you should be able to quickly make it all come together.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I Get that and I really can't thank you enough for your time on this!!!
BTW, the first site you sent me to on the bloatware: He has instructions on getting com.amazon.unifiedsharefacebook. FYI it was already on my Fire HD after I went and got it off the site. I did see where someone said it used to be there but the developers got rid of it – I guess not since I have 5.6.2….
richaardvark said:
This is the thread I've typically followed when installing Google Services/Play store. These four files, in this order. It doesn't matter that they're outdated - as soon as you bring it all online it will update itself to the latest versions.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've used the method in the thread you linked multiple times on my HD 10 7th gen running 5.6.1.0 and I can say it works perfectly every time and have never had any issues with Google play store/services acting up in any way.
Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk
Got Google loaded but some issues with internet?
tylerhole said:
I've used the method in the thread you linked multiple times on my HD 10 7th gen running 5.6.1.0 and I can say it works perfectly every time and have never had any issues with Google play store/services acting up in any way.
OK, I loaded the four APKs you and richaardvark suggested. All went fine thank you. So that's all I have on it now, except for Stock and a file manager. I'm trying things one at a time to see if there is a particular app that brings me to my knees. I do still need to remove the bloatware once that's figured out.
What I'm running into is I use the SILK browser to load up sites that I go to all the time just to see if I'm getting decent response. I have two that are so slow on the Fire but not on my phone for example. Now what I'm seeing on the 'draggers' is after a long period it comes back and says "No Internet". All I have to do is hit enter and it loads right up. Does anyone have an idea as to what might be causing this? I tested the same sites on my phone with no issues.... Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
DallasRedHead said:
tylerhole said:
I've used the method in the thread you linked multiple times on my HD 10 7th gen running 5.6.1.0 and I can say it works perfectly every time and have never had any issues with Google play store/services acting up in any way.
OK, I loaded the four APKs you and richaardvark suggested. All went fine thank you. So that's all I have on it now, except for Stock and a file manager. I'm trying things one at a time to see if there is a particular app that brings me to my knees. I do still need to remove the bloatware once that's figured out.
What I'm running into is I use the SILK browser to load up sites that I go to all the time just to see if I'm getting decent response. I have two that are so slow on the Fire but not on my phone for example. Now what I'm seeing on the 'draggers' is after a long period it comes back and says "No Internet". All I have to do is hit enter and it loads right up. Does anyone have an idea as to what might be causing this? I tested the same sites on my phone with no issues.... Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why don't you just install chrome since you have the play store up and running? I use it daily without any issues on mine. And I got rid of all the Amazon crap. You can see all the apps I currently have installed in the attached pics.
Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i like some of the amazon apps but prefer the straight android versions from google play can the book music prime vids work if i get rid of the stock versions a replaced with apks? plus dont want alexa at all or any of the new crap amazon pushed with latest update... is it possible to get uptodate without all the crap? cause im still at 5.6.1.0? i know alot of questions....
tylerhole said:
DallasRedHead said:
Why don't you just install chrome since you have the play store up and running? I use it daily without any issues on mine. And I got rid of all the Amazon crap. You can see all the apps I currently have installed in the attached pics. View attachment 4582486View attachment 4582487
Yes, I will do that. I need to get rid of the Amazon crap too - just need to figure out what I can safely get rid of. I was checking speeds before I loaded it up with standard android apps - which I did last time and my system ran at a crawl so I'm trying to identify one-by-one which one (or ones) are the culprit. (I completely started over from scratch after looking at this forum and getting help from y'all).
BTW. It looks like you use the standard Fire Launcher - is that correct? Thx.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
DallasRedHead said:
tylerhole said:
Why don't you just install chrome since you have the play store up and running? I use it daily without any issues on mine. And I got rid of all the Amazon crap. You can see all the apps I currently have installed in the attached pics. View attachment 4582486View attachment 4582487
Yes, I will do that. I need to get rid of the Amazon crap too - just need to figure out what I can safely get rid of. I was checking speeds before I loaded it up with standard android apps - which I did last time and my system ran at a crawl so I'm trying to identify one-by-one which one (or ones) are the culprit. (I completely started over from scratch after looking at this forum and getting help from y'all).
BTW. It looks like you use the standard Fire Launcher - is that correct? Thx.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My solution to the slow system was to remove all the Amazon stuff that has been deemed safe to remove that I've seen in various threads here. Of course some still want to use some Amazon apps so it's not the solution for everyone. Just keep in mind while you are trying stuff that removing one thing may break something else and cause your tablet to slow down. But best of luck, be sure to post your findings! [emoji4]
As far as my launcher, I actually replaced the nova Launcher and have the widgets working [emoji16]
Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk
Desktops Icons not going away
tylerhole said:
My solution to the slow system was to remove all the Amazon stuff that has been deemed safe to remove that I've seen in various threads here. Of course some still want to use some Amazon apps so it's not the solution for everyone. Just keep in mind while you are trying stuff that removing one thing may break something else and cause your tablet to slow down. But best of luck, be sure to post your findings! [emoji4]
As far as my launcher, I actually replaced the nova Launcher and have the widgets working [emoji16]
Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I posted this in another thread but basically I got everything working and started 'PM Hiding' stuff. I read that 'pm hide' and 'pm disable' are essentially the same. Sometimes I would have to leave the 'com' on front of the name (that I was trying to hide), other times I had to leave it off. I was getting 'new hidden state: true' but after reboot they are all still on my desktop I don't know why.
I was using Richaarvark spreadsheet and only getting rid of 'safe' stuff. Some stuff I don't want to get rid of. Others I wasn't sure. But I definately got rid of all the parental controls, the clock, weather, maps but they are still there and I don't know what I'm doing wrong! Help tremendously appreciated. I'll get back to NOVA once I get this figured out
DallasRedHead said:
I posted this in another thread but basically I got everything working and started 'PM Hiding' stuff. I read that 'pm hide' and 'pm disable' are essentially the same. Sometimes I would have to leave the 'com' on front of the name (that I was trying to hide), other times I had to leave it off. I was getting 'new hidden state: true' but after reboot they are all still on my desktop I don't know why.
I was using Richaarvark spreadsheet and only getting rid of 'safe' stuff. Some stuff I don't want to get rid of. Others I wasn't sure. But I definately got rid of all the parental controls, the clock, weather, maps but they are still there and I don't know what I'm doing wrong! Help tremendously appreciated. I'll get back to NOVA once I get this figured out
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you tried pm disable instead? Hide might only be hiding it in your launcher until reboot. Otherwise, although you'd have to reset to get them back, you could try the method in this thread.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/hd8-hd10/general/tut-root-cleaner-android-experience-hd8-t3797327
I know it says 5.6 and up it won't work, but I'm on 5.6.1.0 and my friend is on 5.6.2.0 and it's worked for both ours.
Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk
tylerhole said:
Have you tried pm disable instead? Hide might only be hiding it in your launcher until reboot. Otherwise, although you'd have to reset to get them back, you could try the method in this thread.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/hd8-hd10/general/tut-root-cleaner-android-experience-hd8-t3797327
I know it says 5.6 and up it won't work, but I'm on 5.6.1.0 and my friend is on 5.6.2.0 and it's worked for both ours.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the info but... I tried pm disable and half of them wouldn't disable - why I went to hide them. Also, when this kept happening what I read was disable requires a rooted device (mine is not).
Do you think I could just try pm uninstalling - I don't want to start over! I've spent hours on this and have brain drain and looked at so many threads. The initial thread I was pointed to was https://forum.xda-developers.com/hd8-hd10/general/a-t3820744/page23#post77476583 and that's what I've been following.
I have 5.6.2 btw. --- AND A HEADACHE!
Thanks!
DallasRedHead said:
Thanks for the info but... I tried pm disable and half of them wouldn't disable - why I went to hide them. Also, when this kept happening what I read was disable requires a rooted device (mine is not).
Do you think I could just try pm uninstalling - I don't want to start over! I've spent hours on this and have brain drain and looked at so many threads. The initial thread I was pointed to was https://forum.xda-developers.com/hd8-hd10/general/a-t3820744/page23#post77476583 and that's what I've been following.
I have 5.6.2 btw. --- AND A HEADACHE!
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you have the HD 8 or 10?
tylerhole said:
Do you have the HD 8 or 10?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have an HD 8.
Interesting, I just checked this. While my desktop icons didn't disappear my searches on chrome have gotten a lot faster! I had two sites that I was testing with that were so slow I would walk away while they loaded up. Now they load up great! Hum.....
DallasRedHead said:
I have an HD 8.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh... I wasn't aware of what device you had so yeah, disregard what I said, my apologies.
tylerhole said:
Oh... I wasn't aware of what device you had so yeah, disregard what I said, my apologies.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No problem but now I don't know where to go from here. Maybe someone will reply from the original post I was following... I'm really just now sticking my toe in the Android world.
DallasRedHead said:
No problem but now I don't know where to go from here. Maybe someone will reply from the original post I was following... I'm really just now sticking my toe in the Android world.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I haven't attempted to do anything regarding disabling or removing system apps on mine without root, plus I have the 10 not the 8 so there's other lil differences too.
That combined with Amazon making things more difficult to be done with every update not sure if I could point you in a direction to go without doing a bunch of digging through threads myself lol.
I'm sure there is someone will be able to chime in and help ya out, just a matter of time. Hope ya get it figured out and I'll be checking back to see what happens! [emoji854]
Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk
can some1 tell me what i did wrong i disable only the safe apk.. reboot the amazon goes into moptimizing system storange application mode forever.. then i have to go into adb and sideload stock firmware