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[Q] Why there is no uninstall feature in Android?

I have about two weeks experience with Android OS and as a software developer I will be interested to know the technical details behind the Android OS.
I have already noticed this is possible to upgrade applications ported with the handset's ROM i.e. the Market app. This raised the question to me why can't I uninstall applications from the ROM without rooting or risking my handset's warranty to achieve this?
Is my expectation as a user of computers for 20 years unreasonable to think in 2010 with all software development and technological advances the uninstall feature should have been in Android OS from day one?
This is not exactly like Google is the first company in the world developed an OS to just the lack of experience with what users would want. From what I have seen so far in world of Android is that, the first thing users would want to know how to root their handset to remove packages that they have no use for.

My guess is that Google doesn't want users removing Systems apps. I'm assuming that they think that these applications are core and thus don't want you removing them. Remove the market, no more apps... or way to get it back etc.
Applications installed by you can be uninstalled, I'm just thinking it is the same as in windows, you can't uninstall the task manager etc (Bad example but meh =P)

Very simple - to prevent lay users from removing critical components.
Can you imagine the service costs involved in reparing devices that that have been damaged by people trying to remove bloatware?

They still give you the option to restore.

OK DISREGUARD THIS AS I MISSED THE PART ABOUT NEEDING TO ROOT!
They can be removed but its not recommended to do so without know EXACTLY what your removing and weather is vital to your phones operating system.
BUT in order to do so your phone needs root access, and root explorer installed. There are several forums on just about all android support sites that explain how to root, install the manager, and which apps/files NOT to remove.

J_HaX said:
They can be removed but its not recommended to do so without know EXACTLY what your removing and weather is vital to your phones operating system.
BUT in order to do so your phone needs root access, and root explorer installed. There are several forums on just about all android support sites that explain how to root, install the manager, and which apps/files NOT to remove.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ye u can remove almost every stock app but this may affect the stability of your phone, modifying your phone always comes with the option restoring it back to default. If something goes wrong with moding (something really hard and extraordinary rare ) u can restore it. Browsing through Xda might solve many questions, we all didn't wanted stock rom (not because it was bad, because we can have s omething better. This community has VERY VERY good developers.
Androids own!!!

One thing I still don't get is...
How can Google upgrade Market app without the su privilage but the rest of the world has to root their phones to remove bloatware such as 'amazon mp3'?
@ftgg99: How much bloatware in Windows cost Microsoft or PC manufacturers? None in fact they get paid to include them with your hardware. However, I see an issue with mobile devices. You have already paid for the ROM storage, the bigger ROM size is the more expensive your handset would be, then the manufacturer uses your already paid ROM to make even more money by installing bloatware. I would be a fool to think manufacturers would pass on a percentage of the bloatware earnings by reducing the cost of their products to the consumers in this model.
The way I see it, the burden has been put on the communities such as xda. Users wouldn't ask the manufacturers how to root their handsets and this is left to the dedicated individuals to overcome the mess compnies normally leave us with. I'm not going to say the mess is a cost saving measure by companies.

The thing is that there are a lot more people buy and use phones than computers. After someone buys a smart phone with intention to use for calls, text, web and to use some apps, they realize the possibilities of the smart phone, they start digging in to the files, therefore Google blocked the root folder from modifying, otherwise Google would have to repair warrantied phones that didn't have to end up there just because people didn't know or care what they did. But if you got passed ROOTING, you must know what you are doing and from this point you can modify files and apps, but now ROOTING becomes too easy.
Basically just because too many juveniles got their hands on the equipment.

CSharpHeaven said:
One thing I still don't get is...
How can Google upgrade Market app without the su privilage but the rest of the world has to root their phones to remove bloatware such as 'amazon mp3'?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm also very interested to read the answer for this one!

CSharpHeaven said:
One thing I still don't get is...
How can Google upgrade Market app without the su privilage but the rest of the world has to root their phones to remove bloatware such as 'amazon mp3'?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
RAMMANN said:
I'm also very interested to read the answer for this one!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The answer, from my point of view, is quite simple: they just upgrade the application on /data/app ON TOP of the /system/app default Market version. So, you can always go back to your "default" version just by "uninstalling updates".
Summary: they do not upgrade the Market form ROM, just install the new version on top.

CSharpHeaven said:
I have about two weeks experience with Android OS and as a software developer I will be interested to know the technical details behind the Android OS.
I have already noticed this is possible to upgrade applications ported with the handset's ROM i.e. the Market app. This raised the question to me why can't I uninstall applications from the ROM without rooting or risking my handset's warranty to achieve this?
Is my expectation as a user of computers for 20 years unreasonable to think in 2010 with all software development and technological advances the uninstall feature should have been in Android OS from day one?
This is not exactly like Google is the first company in the world developed an OS to just the lack of experience with what users would want. From what I have seen so far in world of Android is that, the first thing users would want to know how to root their handset to remove packages that they have no use for.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you tried to work with iPhone(don't know about iPhone 4)? They build fortress around their system and even the apps you install cannot be uninstalled until you gailbrake it and use 3rd party installer to uninstall. And not talking about the "MONOPLY" they run with AT&T.

"To Root or not to Root?" that's the question...

I don't want to know how to root, I can find my answer for that on Google, however what I don't get is what it does...
I know it unlocks the device somehow, but can't I simply access everything in the system if I compile android from source and install it on the device?
I have downloaded the android source and I believe I can access every possible thing, so why is rooting needed?
If I install an app as a system app, won't it automatically have the permissions to do what I need it to do?

AFAIK rooting is for the people you'd call the end user/consumer or whatever.
If you have a new phone and want to install one of the many custom ROMs around, you simply need a rooted phone.
A custom ROM is in easy terms a custom made User Interface for the phone.
There is lot more complicated stuff going on under the hood, but in general you change the look and feel of you phone's UI.
The phone has to be rooted, because the manufacturers and net providers around pack a lot of useless crap called "bloatware" (like Samsung Shop and Samsung Play and Samsung Sing and Dance and Music and whatnot) on your phone, which often makes it slower than it can be without it.
But naturally the big corps don't want you to be able to get rid of that **** too easily, which is why you don't have access to the system folders as a normal user.
I guess in your case it's possible that you (if you compiled android from source and installed it on your device) so to say have an already rooted phone, since Android itself is rooted by default. Like I said, the manufacturers are the ones to unroot Android in order to dictate which apps their customers might or might not use.
But I'm a noob and am not sure how you would install Android on your phone if it's new (and unrooted by default?) if you haven't rooted it before?
meh, hope that helped a bit at least...

root- you would love to do it after reading this..
Root? what is it?
it is what i call full access to our phone, flash new roms, have dual boot (example- you can have to os like ics and JB), can access the evasive /data folder which holdes the apk/setups of apps installed from playstore and many other things..
If you are concerned about warranty you can unroot your phone and give in your phone for warranty. i have given my phone for warranty like this.
The most important thing i like about root is that i can fix my phone myself (if it is a software problem). any other question please ask, and i will answer it.
Thanks if helped!

I don't have the time for development anymore. I used to play with stuff like that years ago, but life has taken me away from it. I'd still like to be able to access everything on my phone and play with custom roms, and root lets me do that. The end consumer comment is a good one.
As for to root or not root, I tell most people who ask me to root for them what they use their phone for and explain what they would get out of rooting, and explain the risks involved. Seems that people who understand what rooting does are able to do it themselves, and the ones that ask you to do it for them usually decide against it after hearing "there is a tiny chance that your phone could get bricked" lol

If you just want to play emulators etc, how would you benefit from rooting?

IMO rooting is very useful if you want to keep touching system things in a stock rom, optimizing and debloating it, installing other people ROMs, etc... I believe that if you compile your own flavour of android and find no restriction doing whatever you want, you don't need to.

Android phone without root is nothing

McFex said:
AFAIK rooting is for the people you'd call the end user/consumer or whatever.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
:good:
McFex said:
But I'm a noob and am not sure how you would install Android on your phone if it's new (and unrooted by default?) if you haven't rooted it before?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Some phones can just be flashed (for example via usb) which gives you full control, others can be cracked.

Bloatware and how to get rid of it.

I thought that I would ask this question and then see what everyone has to offer.
I recently rooted my LG Volt phone and all is well. My next step is to take off some of the 'Bloatware' that came installed on the phone from VM.
My Question is HOW? and WHAT?
I know I would like to remove CHROME browser but not sure how. I know there are a lot of other apps that could come off that I'm not aware of that just slow down the phone and take up space. Has anyone ever developed a definitive list of the 'possible' bloatware that is installed on phones.
I'm afraid to remove some things incase it is required to operate the phone. So something that is critical to the phone operation should not be included on the list.
Once a list is developed than I could check against it to see what it is possible to remove.
Second part is how. Since my phone is rooted it should be fairly easy but not sure exactly how and to make sure I got all of a piece of software removed or am I leaving something behind that is more wasted space.
This, I would think, would be very useful to amateurs like myself.

JimReid said:
I thought that I would ask this question and then see what everyone has to offer.
I recently rooted my LG Volt phone and all is well. My next step is to take off some of the 'Bloatware' that came installed on the phone from VM.
My Question is HOW? and WHAT?
I know I would like to remove CHROME browser but not sure how. I know there are a lot of other apps that could come off that I'm not aware of that just slow down the phone and take up space. Has anyone ever developed a definitive list of the 'possible' bloatware that is installed on phones.
I'm afraid to remove some things incase it is required to operate the phone. So something that is critical to the phone operation should not be included on the list.
Once a list is developed than I could check against it to see what it is possible to remove.
Second part is how. Since my phone is rooted it should be fairly easy but not sure exactly how and to make sure I got all of a piece of software removed or am I leaving something behind that is more wasted space.
This, I would think, would be very useful to amateurs like myself.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
install app called (system app remover) ....about WHAT : you need to un-install the apps that you don't need but doesn't harm the phone ....like if you are on Samsung phone or sony....you need to un-install chrome and Samsung store ....play groups...
simply my man you can un-install all the apps that shows in your app drawer ...else than that don't remove any thing
good luck :good:

Root when Marshmallow is out?

So i was wondering, should i root my Xperia Z5 dual now with Unlocked BL method on Lollipop or should i wait until Marshmallow is coming out to Xperia devices and root with Marshmallow on board? suggestion anyone?

Is your bootloader already unlocked?
Sent from my Xperia z5 using Tapatalk

Nope not yet.. i dont want to void my warranty yet

Then u may as well wait
Sent from my Xperia z5 using Tapatalk

Never know someone might find a bug in marshmallow to allow locked bootloader root. Anything is possible
Sent from my E6653 using Tapatalk

calvinerico said:
So i was wondering, should i root my Xperia Z5 dual now with Unlocked BL method on Lollipop or should i wait until Marshmallow is coming out to Xperia devices and root with Marshmallow on board? suggestion anyone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ive unlocked my device's bootloaders, rooted them all.. And i can honestly say, i dont regret it at all. Ive debloated the phone completely, ive even removed core system apps and services that i dont need or use.. I removed everything related to nfc (the NFC chip is actually used as a tracking device and stuff). Im very pedantic when it comes to blocking anything with hidden permissions and blocking apps from having open unrestricted access to my files, location, info etc etc.. My firmware is. Very clean, to give you an idea of how much ram and storage space i freed up.. Before debloating my phone and cleaning out unnecessary system apps from my device.. The the system was using up anywhere from 2.2-2.7GB RAM... Thats extremely high considering thats more than 75% of your total ram..
After debloating my device..
System only uses 1.4-1.7GB RAM..
And to put the icing on the cake. The battery now lasts aaaaages even when playing games and doing a lot of heavy use., the phone barely even gets warm as well. Which is an added bonus.. When my phone is in sleep / doze state (screen off) my device has lastest up to almost 10hrs with only 1% battery left ... Loll
But if youre worried about voiding warranty, then just gotta be patient and wait for an exploited firmware with rootable system.
I suspect it wont be too long of a wait

TheTecXpert said:
Ive unlocked my device's bootloaders, rooted them all.. And i can honestly say, i dont regret it at all. Ive debloated the phone completely, ive even removed core system apps and services that i dont need or use.. I removed everything related to nfc (the NFC chip is actually used as a tracking device and stuff). Im very pedantic when it comes to blocking anything with hidden permissions and blocking apps from having open unrestricted access to my files, location, info etc etc.. My firmware is. Very clean, to give you an idea of how much ram and storage space i freed up.. Before debloating my phone and cleaning out unnecessary system apps from my device.. The the system was using up anywhere from 2.2-2.7GB RAM... Thats extremely high considering thats more than 75% of your total ram..
After debloating my device..
System only uses 1.4-1.7GB RAM..
And to put the icing on the cake. The battery now lasts aaaaages even when playing games and doing a lot of heavy use., the phone barely even gets warm as well. Which is an added bonus.. When my phone is in sleep / doze state (screen off) my device has lastest up to almost 10hrs with only 1% battery left ... Loll
But if youre worried about voiding warranty, then just gotta be patient and wait for an exploited firmware with rootable system.
I suspect it wont be too long of a wait
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey,
Would you mind telling us what apps/core apps did you remove?

ChristianLetti said:
Hey,
Would you mind telling us what apps/core apps did you remove?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Certainly
Removed The Following from device.. on a (Rooted Xperia Z5, Unlocked Bootloader)
----------------------
Browser (small app) --- (this app is so useless, it just doesn't belong)
Explore (Sony) ---- (Not interested)
Facebook ---- (I dont use facebook)
Linked in ---- (Dont use / need it)
Playstation App ---- (Dont need / use it)
Account Manager (Sony) ---- (Useless, Not needed)
Creative Effect --- (I Dont bother with camera effects and photo editing, i just take photos as they are)
Drive --- (Google, Again- I Dont need / use it.. cloud storage on google.. no thanks!)
File Commander ---(Don't like it) (I use ESFileExplorer instead)
Google Lyrics Extension --- (Like seriously, Wtf is the point of this useless app) its legit, useless. haha..)
Google Play Books ---(Dont need/use it.. pointless app, waste of space/ram)
Google Play Games --- (I dont sign in with my information to play games) (Problematic App, Just delete it) even after deleting it i play every game fine, without any problems.. (Safe to get rid of it)
Google Play Movies --- (AGAIN, unwanted bloatware, Who The. **** would even consider using this, pay to watch movies, HAHA yeah right!)
Google Play Music --- (Yet AGAIN, unwanted useless bloatware, when i can use Youtube/TubeMate instead)
Google Play Newsstand --- (GET OFF MY DEVICE, Extremely Useless bloatware AGAIN.) I hate anything google relation UNLESS it's needed (Play store, Play services, like thats fair enough)
Google+ ------(Hell no, GONE.. I dont need it and dont want it, To me it is considered BLOATWARE) most google related APPS also ask for unrestricted / Excluse access to your entire device.. Like wtf.. NO thanks!
Hangout ------(bye bye bloatware)
Movie Creator ------( Dont need / use it ) simple video recording is plenty for my use..
News & Weather ------( Don't Want it on my device, When i can simple check everywhere else with consuming ram / space) drains battery aswell.
Photos ------(Dont need it, WHy would i use it when I have an App called ALBUM that works good enough) (And I'm not in to the whole photo sharing/social crap that goes along with it.. (Bloatware in my eyes)
Playstation Video ------(Dont use / Need it)
*****ALSO, I removed the default theme Colors that i did not like/want.. I kept Dark & Red.. I deleted the rest though "Orange, Purple, Blue, Green, White" each one was 8MB .. (Dont need things on my device that i wont be using, Right?? ****
Socialife ------( Blah blah blah, Gone!!!)
Sound Photo ------(ahhh yeaaah--nahhhhh) useless to me.. Considered bloatware.
TalkBack ------( Gone )
Video------- (Unwanted Bloatware)
Weather Widget -------(No Thanks, As small as this app Appears to be) It is a god damn battery killer.. Thats A fact!!!! Location>
And that should pretty much be it for now, unless i have missed anything..
Hope that was enough info for you mate ..
Then,

A few others i removed, are a few pointless key modules as well (mainly camera related)
(Lips, sunshine etc) these modules are obvious to spot.. Their icons are of little smiley faces each module with a different color smiley face.. Get rid of all the ones you dont need / want..
Also remember to always restart your device when disabling / force stopping / deleting apps/services / modules / core services etc so that any remaining residual files are removed completely and the new (device spring clean) takes effect.
So restart once you have removed everything you dont want or need..

FYI, removing some of the bloatware resulted in reproducible 'random' restarts on LP.
Sent from my E6653 using Tapatalk

millicent said:
FYI, removing some of the bloatware resulted in reproducible 'random' restarts on LP.
Sent from my E6653 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It never did that to me on LP..

TheTecXpert or any of the others, forgive me for my ignorance or stupidity lol, but rather new to playing with my phone, I have always rooted my Sony's mainly for custom roms to get extra options etc, but now looking to expand my horizons.
I'm not a complete newly to programming (have done my share 13 years ago) lol but also have a fairly I.T knowledgeable background.
Are you able to explain or advise or point to another thread that explains how you removed all the excess system apps etc (yes I have looked but usually at work with limited Time)

Hey man,
Don't worry about your warranty ! It's not a problem voiding it as soon as you know how to repair a bootloop or those sortr of things. It will (of course) won't void your technical warranty and, trust me, it worth it (see @TheTecXpert , he done a lot of great things )
Of course this is your choice to wait. It's a good solution too, but rooting is very cool on Android. Think twice

Hi cab13,
Z5 is already running mm, flashed it and now rooted and bl unlocked so not concerned about warranty. I have found it near impossible to brick these things lol, just not sure how to remove all the apps that TheTecXpert did, Wether it was done with programming or something as simple as root Explorer(if so what directory)
---------- Post added at 07:55 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:08 PM ----------
Hi cab13,
Z5 is already running mm, flashed it and now rooted and bl unlocked so not concerned about warranty. I have found it near impossible to brick these things lol, just not sure how to remove all the apps that TheTecXpert did, Wether it was done with programming or something as simple as root Explorer(if so what directory)

smiley.raver said:
TheTecXpert or any of the others, forgive me for my ignorance or stupidity lol, but rather new to playing with my phone, I have always rooted my Sony's mainly for custom roms to get extra options etc, but now looking to expand my horizons.
I'm not a complete newly to programming (have done my share 13 years ago) lol but also have a fairly I.T knowledgeable background.
Are you able to explain or advise or point to another thread that explains how you removed all the excess system apps etc (yes I have looked but usually at work with limited Time)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey, I usually just use ADB to get rid of apps I don't want/need. The ADB shell commands are very similar to *nix commands.

theprince1991 said:
Hey, I usually just use ADB to get rid of apps I don't want/need. The ADB shell commands are very similar to *nix commands.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
@smiley.raver
The simplest way that I went about removing all the excessive apps/bloatware was by using a program from the google play store called "System App Safe Remover" or "System App Uninstaller", anything that gives you direct access to ROOT SYSTEM APPS.. You can use ADB, for but for those not completely technically savvy in the "Command Shell" I would highly recommend not using ADB..
Anyway, Once you launch the APP (of your choice) , you will be in a menu with ALL APPS that you can remove.. they will be in categories and alphabetical order.. the App will specif things like "could remove", "should keep", "Key Module" etc etc...
From there you can just uninstall all the crap that is not need and anything else you dont want.. In an earlier post I have a long list of APPS and modules that I removed from my phone which gave me an OVERALL stable, clean, fast and Battery Life improvement on the device.. I'm happy with it.. And Warranty is never an Issue for me since i've always rooted ALL of my Sony Xperia devices and have never had any issues with them..
But everyone is different and has their own preferences on how they do things ..

TheTecXpert said:
@smiley.raver
The simplest way that I went about removing all the excessive apps/bloatware was by using a program from the google play store called "System App Safe Remover" or "System App Uninstaller", anything that gives you direct access to ROOT SYSTEM APPS.. You can use ADB, for but for those not completely technically savvy in the "Command Shell" I would highly recommend not using ADB..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dude nice find! Thanks WAY more convenient than ADB :good::good::good:

theprince1991 said:
Dude nice find! Thanks WAY more convenient than ADB :good::good::good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No worries bro. Any time [emoji6]
Sent from my E6653 using XDA-Developers mobile app

Hy!
So,i have a z5 dual e6683 marshmallow
What imei should i use to unlock bloader?
After that,what guide do i follow to root it ?

thedude90 said:
Hy!
So,i have a z5 dual e6683 marshmallow
What imei should i use to unlock bloader?
After that,what guide do i follow to root it ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You need to supply your device's imei which is located in Settings>About phone.. Pretty straight forward bro.
Sent from my E6653 using XDA-Developers mobile app

Moving Play Store Apps to Custom ROM / Lineage

Hi all. I have bought FPse, currently on my new XZ2 (which I'm loving so far). I had a Play Store voucher so have some remaining credit, which I'll use to source some apps. My question is before I get involved in unlocking the bootloader, rooting etc., can I back up the apps so that I can then transfer them to my device once I have installed LineageOS or the Sony supported AOSP? I like the idea of Android, not so much Google. I don't have an SD card yet to use in this, but will be getting one in the near future (most likely around 200GB) but think I have a spare one laying around I could use in the short term for this.
The device is new and apart from a few apps and contacts, I have no data on the phone really yet so would like to get this done fairly soon before I get a lot of stuff on there.
Thanks in advance for any help with this.

Most backup apps should work. Titanium backup is one of (not the) best. There are plenty of tutorials for it

I have read about Titanium backup but my understanding is it needs root to worry properly. While the aim of this is ultimately a new room and root, I'll probably end up using Xperifix to get there, so I won't be able to backup the apps properly. I'll read some more about TB though first. Thanks for your response.
Also I'd like to apologise for putting this question in here, I only realise afterwards that Android General isn't meant for questions.
Edit: having now read more about TB, it looks like they have added this functionality which is great news. I'll give that a try in the near future, thanks again.