Guidelines to Disabling Bloat Packages - Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra Questions & Answers

Does anyone have recommendations on how to go about disabling packages to help with battery life and general minimization of unnecessary things? I'm using Package Disabler Pro for Samsung.
For example: I just searched for "Bixby" and disabled every single package I saw. Is that safe? I'm always worried I'm going to end up having the opposite effect by disabling something I "can't" (shouldn't).
Any other obvious candidates beyond Bixby? Guidelines for how to go about it most effectively/efficiently?
Thanks in advance! It's been a while since I disabled packages this way.

PsiPhiDan said:
Does anyone have recommendations on how to go about disabling packages to help with battery life and general minimization of unnecessary things? I'm using Package Disabler Pro for Samsung.
For example: I just searched for "Bixby" and disabled every single package I saw. Is that safe? I'm always worried I'm going to end up having the opposite effect by disabling something I "can't" (shouldn't).
Any other obvious candidates beyond Bixby? Guidelines for how to go about it most effectively/efficiently?
Thanks in advance! It's been a while since I disabled packages this way.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not so sure if this is what you mean:
Considering Samsung bloatware is one of the reasons why I ditched Samsung phones - I had 3 Note 2 and they were my last Samsung phones, until now. I was hoping too that the Samsung bloatware is now minimal. Apparently there's still the Samsung email, Music, Messages, Phone app, etc.
I searched around and found this guide. I dunno if the procedure will work for the N20U5G. I have yet to receive my unit. Until then I can't confirm.

i aim to err on the side of caution when disabling apps. even with that approach i managed to cripple my phone few times. i disabled Samsung device security once, forgot about it, and then spent few days despairing why may i couldn't update apps no more. My suggestion would be to disable app by app and remember what's disabled to undo it if need be. Also research what you want to disable, you can Google it directly from package disabler, and then make a decision.
One more thing disabling apps will not have significant effect on battery life or phone performance. It is more for us to feel in control.

Related

Going to town with disabling apps...

Hello,
I just recently got my htc sensation temp. rooted and have been disabling apps. So far, I have just taken care of the obvious ones, but I see people going to TOWN on this phone! I also see people talking about having huge increases in performance. I have seen slight improvment, but nothing great. Are there any particular apps that people are stopping that I should be aware of, or is it due to people nearly clearing the phone of everything on it?
Ive been going through the task manager, and looking for things running that I dont need. (Found apps such as google maps running little sub programs that I dont want for instance). I try to find the name of the program, and then pm disable. Is this what everyone is doing, or are you guys just wiping stuff and seeing what happens?
BTW-I have zero experience with this sort of thing, yet still figured out how to get where I am, thanks this forum.
Matt
http://files.virtuousrom.com/~rmk/pyramid_apk_details.txt
Please search next time. This was in the first "Remove bloat" thread in development section.
No offense, but I wasnt asking for any lists...I was asking for something much more specific.
I saw that list...
What I asked was whether or not there is a method to the madness, or are people just removing EVERYTHING that they can despite whether or not they want it? I saw several apps in there that id like to have, such as the calculator.
Matt
I think people are just disabling what they don't want: carrier apps & other preloaded crap
Hello,
I am now running into a snag...Everything I try to disable, only says "killed". I can still enable a process that I disabled, and then disable it again, but no new disabled processes? Is this due to the root being weak, like it is, or something else?
Thanks,
Matt

Note 10.1 Bloatware

Does anyone have a full listing of every app removable from the stock rom without killing it? I've frozen lots of stuff that I don't believe should impact general performance, but end up having to completely wipe and reinstall due to something I've frozen rendering my screen unusable. I think it's in the Samsung apps, but haven't done enough testing to determine which apps it NEEDS to have running in order to work.
The tablet can boot up just fine but as soon as I go to unlock it, it just sits at the homescreen unresponsive to any button or touch input.
nickhimself said:
I've frozen lots of stuff that I don't believe should impact general performance ... The tablet can boot up just fine but as soon as I go to unlock it, it just sits at the homescreen unresponsive to any button or touch input.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is not a "bloatware" issue (and it kills me when people go hunting for this stuff, unused software really has minimal impact).
You may be suffering from a problem I'd discovered with the Samsung kernel (namely, it doesn't reserve enough memory that the Android framework needs in order to do InterProcess Communication).
Can you try this kernel (rename the file to "boot.img" and flash it with either Odin or Mobile Odin) and tell me if that fixes anything for you?
The meaning of my quoted sentence in your post was central to the freezing issue I had following a reboot after I'd disabled apps. I didn't disable them because I thought my tablet was running slowly, I disabled them because I didn't want 200 applications installed because some guy in Samsung's marketing department said "well they have to have twelve different notepad applications, nine clocks, four calendars, several methods of backing up data to various cloud services, and also put a whole bunch of wallpapers in there for no reason because I really like cats and flowers so other people probably do too."
Also, sorry to tell you this kcrudup, but... I'm already using your kernel anyway
nickhimself said:
... following a reboot after I'd disabled apps ... I'm already using your kernel anyway
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Click to collapse
OK, as long as this is a case of "shooting yourself in the foot", then.
BTW, wallpapers (as just one example) take up NO resources if not used, and since you're not going to be installing anything in /system anyway, what's the point?
(BTW, it's not just you I'm talking to here- it's all the other Quixotic "bloatware" folks out there. Unless something like "Better Battery Stats" are showing multiple wakelock instances and/or Alarms, y'all are wasting your time on that; eliminating "bloatware" is the "ATK" of ICS+)
kcrudup said:
OK, as long as this is a case of "shooting yourself in the foot", then.
BTW, wallpapers (as just one example) take up NO resources if not used, and since you're not going to be installing anything in /system anyway, what's the point?
(BTW, it's not just you I'm talking to here- it's all the other Quixotic "bloatware" folks out there. Unless something like "Better Battery Stats" are showing multiple wakelock instances and/or Alarms, y'all are wasting your time on that; eliminating "bloatware" is the "ATK" of ICS+)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think it's more carryover from working with windows for so long. I'm used to, possibly even trained, on expecting the first steps after a new install to be Clean Out Everything and Trim Services ASAP.
I just don't like feeling like I have no power over a stock ROM through removing any and every piece of software I just don't want.
nickhimself said:
I just don't like feeling like I have no power over a stock ROM through removing any and every piece of software I just don't want.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sure, I get that. One thing to remember (and I've worked on a number of Android devices over the years for a number of manufacturers and carriers) is that no manufacturer (nor carrier, believe it or not) wants to do anything that reduces overall performance (even predatory ones like VZW who'd rob your Grandmother if there's a dime to be made off her).
What's instructive is to run BBS and check on "Alarms", "Network" and "Partial Wakelocks" at the reference "Since Boot" after the tablet's been on a while- you'll see that all this "bloatware" isn't even a factor in the parts of the system that count.
Basics
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1634624
jje

What are the bare essentials I need so the S8+ runs with no hiccups?

Hi. I was carefully in ADB cutting bloatware this morning and while it looked fine, after restarting I'm getting a "still loading android" message on home screen. I can still access settings, and get to the play store and open apps that way, so it's no more than an inconvenience but...I'd like to have my full functionality back since clearly there's one thing I nuked that was a system needed file but didn't look like one.
I'm not comfortable rooting and maybe getting stuck with an $800 brick, so please keep suggestions limited to ADB modifications, yes I know they will still be in system partition but they will save on ram and battery usage at least. I'm planning to factory wipe to get my necessary files back, then would like a step by step what to kill from there.
I'm somewhat knowledgeable, know of Fdroid and sideloading APKs, and I know you don't need Google Play Services with that kind of knowledge.
Thanks in advance for your help!!
Instead of adb uninstalling you should have tried a package disabler... so if u disable something wrong you can still enable it. I m using package disabler pro and i have to say that my s8+ has reached somehow the perfection i needed. Very good battery life, very good performance.
Gogolakis said:
Instead of adb uninstalling you should have tried a package disabler... so if u disable something wrong you can still enable it. I m using package disabler pro and i have to say that my s8+ has reached somehow the perfection i needed. Very good battery life, very good performance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Isn't this a paid service? And requires root? I can keep this in mind if I need to wipe anyway at least, if it doesn't require root.
There's no way to find out which one caused the issue then, is there?
Don't know if this thread may be of some use to you.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s8/how-to/s8-debloat-bloatware-thread-t3669009/page4
spawnlives said:
Don't know if this thread may be of some use to you.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s8/how-to/s8-debloat-bloatware-thread-t3669009/page4
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, thank you, that is the one I saw that encouraged me to undertake this process.
3drinks said:
Yes, thank you, that is the one I saw that encouraged me to undertake this process.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't think there is a definitive debloat list as everyone uses there phone for different reasons.
Might be a case of trial and error. As for debloat apps there are a few on playstore and could be useful as a reference on what they might recommend to remove.
spawnlives said:
I don't think there is a definitive debloat list as everyone uses there phone for different reasons.
Might be a case of trial and error. As for debloat apps there are a few on playstore and could be useful as a reference on what they might recommend to remove.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My definition being "anything that is not a requirement to keep the system running normally and optimally." Ideally any extraneous apps would be FOSS if possible.
While browsing another thread here, I fixed my current issue. Apparently I deleted my launcher by mistake and when I installed an Oreo launcher from play store, the error on my home screen went away. Hooray for unexpected fixes.
And lol at me almost factory wiping because of this now (I'll laugh at this in a year I'm sure.)
3drinks said:
Isn't this a paid service? And requires root? I can keep this in mind if I need to wipe anyway at least, if it doesn't require root.
There's no way to find out which one caused the issue then, is there?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Its like 3 dolars or something in google play. It doesn.t require root acces
All in all without root I freed up to 2k MB of ram and got the HD to 18/64 GB. I'm pretty proud of myself.

Question Any real reason to use roms over stock?

Most people seem fairly happy with the stock pixel user experience, after all a main reason we purchase pixels is because of it's software.
in your experience, is there any benefit to any of the currently available custom roms that would increase performance and battery? I mean something bigger than just customisability and tinkering
I've been debating this too. I haven't rooted a device in 4 years. No real reason to anymore. I'm on the fence because I'm hoping for a true blackout theme and better animation transitions on a custom rom. Haven't pulled the trigger yet.
Performance, efficiency, and control over fast more than what Google chooses to provide.
ctfrommn said:
Performance, efficiency, and control over fast more than what Google chooses to provide.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What roms are you referring to?
It has been scientifically proven that running custom kernels and/or roms helps to minimize E.D.
Mainly battery life. I have to charge my phone once every 1-1.5 weeks or so, vs every or every other day like most people.
*Keeping the screen brightness only as bright as you need it (i.e. not ecessively set or maxxed out--I keep mine around 1/4 maybe touch more, on the brightness slider.
smokejumper76 said:
I have to charge my phone once every 1-1.5 weeks or so
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Bruh, do you even use your phone at all? What ROM makes such a huge difference for your use to extend your battery life from 1 day to over 7 days?
fix-this! said:
What roms are you referring to?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Literally any?
GrapheneOS gets rid of all Google Services, thus (and overall) it's a lot more privacy-focused.
Performance isn't a huge issue on Pixel devices (imo), because the ROM they come with isn't super bloated, but you can always just use LineageOS, or any other barebones ROM if you don't need any fancy features, only sleek (slick?) performance.
I have always been a fan of ResurrectionRemix/crDroid, which are filled with TONS of features. Sure, depending on who you are, you might not care for most/some of them (double tapping on statusbar to lock the screen, changing the animation of quick settings tiles when you tap on them, blinking the flashlight when you receive a call, and many, many other small things).
Nowadays, even ROMs like this aren't hogging up your performance or ruin your battery life.
Besides flashing custom ROMs, rooting is still useful for me.
Yeah, getting SafetyNet to pass can be a bit of a hassle, but in exchange I get to use ACC to prolong my battery's health, I can get rid of the navbar pill, and I can use an lsposed module to disable secure flag in my transportation app, so I can take a screenshot of my ticket (should the inspector come when there's no cellular connection (and the app doesn't properly cache the ticket, because of great programming )).
None of these are deal-breakers, but as long as there's still an option for doing these, I wouldn't want to miss out.
Radjah2001 said:
in your experience, is there any benefit to any of the currently available custom roms that would increase performance and battery? I mean something bigger than just customisability and tinkering
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Battery life and performance is pretty good as is. The stock rom on Pixels isn't super bloated, so it's not like it has much of an effect on battery or the performance of your phone. With the stock kernel I lost about 0.6% of battery every hour overnight, with MVK kernel that number got reduced to about 0.4%. Does it make a difference? Not at all.
I guess you could root and use a kernel manager to downclock the CPU to gain some extra SoT, but that's about it. If you're not much of a tinkerer, and content with your current setup, there's no real reason to switch to something else.
Lada333 said:
Bruh, do you even use your phone at all? What ROM makes such a huge difference for your use to extend your battery life from 1 day to over 7 days?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not really. I have no friends. <s>
I'll use it outside/on road but even then, phone conversations and internet browsing is not very much. Here and there, etc. Mostly texts or instant msgs.But calls here and there. I have it set to charge max 75% and will recharge when it gets to around 20%. Running LineageOS w/ the kernel it comes with it. Nothing fancy. I don't use any social media app (or social media or that matter), so I don't have to worry about that stuff draining the battery. WiFI and/or VPN will so I tend to keep them turned off until I need them. If I used phone more regularly, I could see myself having to recharge it maybe every 3-4 days maybe, I dunno.
Battery life can actually be worse on custom ROMs that do not have Google Play Services. When an app uses Play Svcs to handle push notifications, things like notification pushes get are managed and batched together by Play Services. If a phone does not have Play Svcs, apps that use cloud notifications may have to register their own persistent polling services which can chew up battery. And then you have to disable battery optimization for that app so it doesn't get dozed.
I've at least heard anecdotal evidence that battery life suffers on GrapheneOS because of this. Say, if you have an email client and messaging apps that require a persistent polling service to look for new messages.
Nowadays when I look up reasons to use ROMs or root, I get annoyed when articles list modules or features that serve to fix the issues that the act of making these changes cause (eg- hide root from other apps, force apps to doze, magisk bootloop saver, etc). I mean now you're spending the time managing the problem you've created for yourself. It's silly. Unless there are practical reasons to customize, I see no compelling reason to do so.
jawz101 said:
Battery life can actually be worse on custom ROMs that do not have Google Play Services. When an app uses Play Svcs to handle push notifications, things like notification pushes get are managed and batched together by Play Services. If a phone does not have Play Svcs, apps that use cloud notifications may have to register their own persistent polling services which can chew up battery. And then you have to disable battery optimization for that app so it doesn't get dozed.
I've at least heard anecdotal evidence that battery life suffers on GrapheneOS because of this. Say, if you have an email client and messaging apps that require a persistent polling service to look for new messages.
Nowadays when I look up reasons to use ROMs or root, I get annoyed when articles list modules or features that serve to fix the issues that the act of making these changes cause (eg- hide root from other apps, force apps to doze, magisk bootloop saver, etc). I mean now you're spending the time managing the problem you've created for yourself. It's silly. Unless there are practical reasons to customize, I see no compelling reason to do so.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Very well said. I've been thinking the same. Google does there optimizations pretty well and they have given even more options to even tinker with a lil more effecient as per your need. There's no need to go out of the way replace the whole rom. even if you do you should have a very good reason and it should have some very noticable difference that can be seen to any one... Though i always have a soft corner for the modding community. Because of their push oems are stepping up their game.
Interesting. I do have Gapps installed and regarding polling the servers, while I myself haven't had battery drain, I can definitely attest to custom roms possibly messing with polling. On my old M8 (which also had Lineage), if the phone was on standby for a long time, I would not get ANY text or IMs unless I turned on the screen, THEN I'd get a bunch of messages. Or even if the phone was on, I would have to send a text message to myself and then I'd get a bunch back from people. So, yes at least on that phone there was serious polling issues I opened myself up with.
Currently I am on the newer phone(s), which I don't experience those issues, but you are absolutely right about them.
smokejumper76 said:
if the phone was on standby for a long time, I would not get ANY text or IMs unless I turned on the screen, THEN I'd get a bunch of messages.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've also experienced that issue on my 3T running.. any custom ROM, basically. I think it's mostly fixed on newer ROMs though. YMMV.
Radjah2001 said:
Most people seem fairly happy with the stock pixel user experience, after all a main reason we purchase pixels is because of it's software.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Speak for yourself. I bought pixel for the HARDWARE, and specifically the fact that it isn't crippled (locked) and is properly supported in AOSP. The factory prebuilt software is utter trash with one purpose and one purpose ONLY: To track everything you do.
In order to safely use the hardware, it is NECESSARY to wipe the spyware from it. Either build AOSP from source yourself, or use a security focused distribution like GrapheneOS.
Lada333 said:
Besides flashing custom ROMs, rooting is still useful for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Add possibly Viper4Android on A13 some day and its perfect.
Safetynet / play integrity & hide root is pretty easy on stock, but did you have success on custom Roms?
My banking app doesnt even rely on Safetynet / play integrity and checks for root itself, but shamiko takes care of that, but I suspect it would detect a custom Rom and refuse to work.
An entire Rom would probably much harder to hide than just root.
G5-User7080 said:
Add possibly Viper4Android
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Never really saw the need/use for v4a.
G5-User7080 said:
Safetynet / play integrity & hide root is pretty easy on stock, but did you have success on custom Roms?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sure. Never had issues. Besides adding my banking apps to the DenyList, I also had to hide the Magisk app. What I've found is that some apps may look for the Magisk app being installed on your device (you don't even necessarily need to be rooted, just have Magisk installed).
Love the warped perspective a few posts up. Reminder to all on the risks of oxygen deprivation at birth
Lada333 said:
Never really saw the need/use for v4a.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I really hope someone finds out how to make it work on A13 soon, luckily my music app has an eq so its not like it sounds bad, but what I mostly miss is replay gain ig, when I'm outside music with a wider dynamic range is a bit of a problem, the quieter parts just drown in the outside noise.
Sure. Never had issues. Besides adding my banking apps to the DenyList, I also had to hide the Magisk app. What I've found is that some apps may look for the Magisk app being installed on your device (you don't even necessarily need to be rooted, just have Magisk installed).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes, mine do, hideMyApplist takes care of that, for some reason when I hide magisk App, it gets picket up by AppListDetector (well not by my banking app at least).
I kinda wanna try a custom ROM but flashing an entire new ROM is a lot scarier than just rooting stock, like some apps might not be working cause they rely on google services etc, maybe when I buy a new phone in a few years and this one doesnt get updates anymore I could try that.
DB126 said:
Love the warped perspective a few posts up. Reminder to all on the risks of oxygen deprivation at birth
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
With all the scandals involving big tech all the time, do you really wonder why people distrust google & co?
In the end it's probably never as bad as you fear and never as good as you hope.
A13 has some nice privacy protecting features built in, like Android System Intelligence all happens on device, then again, gboard, google app, etc don't, ig u get a little bit of everything.
You can never be completely private, and for that reason some of my friends say "Well then it doesn't matter anyway, just know everything about me idc" and some others be like "ill just stop using all their services alltogether"
In the end everyone can do what they want cant they?
G5-User7080 said:
like some apps might not be working cause they rely on google services etc
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
um, so?
Even if the ROM of your choice doesn't come with GApps preinstalled, you can always just sideload MindTheGapps.

Why can't the phone run a game that less powerful phones can run smoothly?

I play this game called Dragon Ball Z: Dokkan Battle, but it runs awfully on my X3 nfc even in 120hz, while I tried playing it on a lower spec phone (the galaxy A22) and it ran smoothly without any lag or frame drops. Recently I tried playing it on a different Poco X3 nfc and it was smooth, too. What could be the problem with my device? My phone is debloated, and is on MIUI 12.5.8 (Global)
Maybe you disabled a needed dependency or parent app/service... be careful what you disable.
blackhawk said:
Maybe you disabled a needed dependency or parent app/service... be careful what you disable.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So should I just reinstall all the apps I deleted/disabled?
Hera663 said:
So should I just reinstall all the apps I deleted/disabled?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Factory reset if you get desperate.
Otherwise look over what you disabled. Best to leave system apps alone. Best to understand exactly what an app does and its dependencies before you disable it. If you disable dozens at a time it makes troubleshooting much harder.
Target battery hogs, security threats and completely unwanted apps like Device Wellness.
blackhawk said:
Factory reset if you get desperate.
Otherwise look over what you disabled. Best to leave system apps alone. Best to understand exactly what an app does and its dependencies before you disable it. If you disable dozens at a time it makes troubleshooting much harder.
Target battery hogs, security threats and completely unwanted apps like Device Wellness
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I only uninstalled/disabled the apps found on the debloating safe list as I'm no tech expert. Thay was mainly because the battery life wss short and also because of ads.
Is there any other list that specifies the apps that heavily drain the battery and the security threats?
blackhawk said:
Factory reset if you get desperate.
Otherwise look over what you disabled. Best to leave system apps alone. Best to understand exactly what an app does and its dependencies before you disable it. If you disable dozens at a time it makes troubleshooting much harder.
Target battery hogs, security threats and completely unwanted apps like Device Wellness.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This app is the only one that I can't enable, whenever I try to enable it, it says "Failure [ADB error]", any idea on how I can solve this problem?
I don't know... what does it do?
A factory reset will work.
Idk lol
You've done enough tbh, thanks for your advice before, cheers.
Hera663 said:
Idk lol
You've done enough tbh, thanks for your advice before, cheers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's a learning curve. What works for others may not work well for you depending on your needs and configuration. Best to hand optimize... it take time.

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