Database Info

Speed improvements

Hey! tl;dr? Click here to go directly to the fast improvements post and disable some unwanted services.
Still want more fun disabling services? Read the second post.
Hi all,
I improved the speed of my G2 recently and felt that the community might appreciate this as well. It's probably not the "best guide" for everybody, but this is what I've done and it's worked nicely for me so far.
I recently got irritated at my phone being occasionally sluggish. So, when it was sluggish one time, I went to Manage applications->Running Applications, and saw that Facebook decided it wanted to start itself up in the background.
Now, I'm as big a fan as the next guy for having multi-tasking, but randomly starting an app in the background without my consent is not what I consider to be useful or resource-friendly. I decided to "freeze" the app using SD Maid (you can do this with Titanium Backup as well). Facebook is now in a frozen state so it will not launch itself at all. Ha!
What do I do about having no Facebook now? Well, there happens to be a great app on the Market called Fast for Facebook. This is quite an improvement over the sluggish and buggy Facebook app. I installed that and am having a blast with it so far.
I wanted to check for other apps that were dawdling in the background. So I looked again in Running Applications and found that Maps decided it wants to be running too. I went to the settings for the Maps application, and turned off Location reporting. Why would I want an app sucking my resources dry to alert the world where I am? I'm not that much of a socialite or stalker prey. I also turned off Automatic check-ins.
Previously, I'd gone through a few other apps and turned off automatic sync. Things like DropSync (to sync Dropbox), Tumblr, Google+, and Twitter are not necessary for me to have reviving themselves in the background. I should be the authoritarian ruler of all of the apps over my phone- no freedom here to run around as you please.
I set up a couple apps to run at odd hours of the night. I only need to have photos and documents synced probably once a day, so I set up Tasker to do it automatically while the phone is charging and connected to Wifi at around 4am. I've set up Titanium Backup to do backups something like every Tuesday night, Friday night, and Sunday night, each at like 4am as well; and upload those backups to Box. I want to use my phone fast when I use it during the day, and at night time it can take its time with these lesser-priority tasks while I'm asleep.
Email/Gmail and Messages still have notifications and syncing, as well as the occasional Pulse RSS feed notification. All else seems to be shutting up though, which is good. What I would really like to do is have Market update its apps automatically at like 4am, so it won't spend resources checking for updates in the background. I can't find how to do that though.
One app that really gets under my skin is Amazon Appstore. This guy runs in the background too- I've turned off its notifications but I'm pretty sure it'll still sit there sapping my resources. This one's a toughie because I want to uninstall or freeze it, but I want to still be able to get good free apps from it once a day. There have been some really good apps and some really bad ones, but the good ones are worth it to me.
I might add in more things to disable. It's been faster so far, so I'll see how it goes over a couple days. One last thing I did was install SetCPU. I use that now instead of CyanogenMod 7's built-in CPU stuff. I don't know if it's a placebo or not, but I seemed to notice a boost in performance from it (not instantly, but in general I see less lag).
Hope this helps someone, best of luck with all of your phones.
-Proxin

use watchdog to spy on what apps are actually running and using cpu in the background, lots of apps can be open in the background and not using anything cpuwise

demkantor said:
use watchdog to spy on what apps are actually running and using cpu in the background, lots of apps can be open in the background and not using anything cpuwise
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Watchdog is a great idea too, I forgot to mention that.
If anyone else has recommendations they are all welcome!

Proxin said:
Watchdog is a great idea too, I forgot to mention that.
If anyone else has recommendations they are all welcome!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For speed improvements, i usually use titanum backup to remove alot of useless apps i dont use (which frees up alot of ram). then i supercharge my phone and set it to agressive. And i also change up the build prop.

I need to post my additions.
I realized that by disabling Facebook, I lost my contacts that I had from there. That's no good. So I re-enabled it.
Now, Facebook has a few select services it likes to let run in the background. One specific one is MediaUploadService. This runs even when you are Not uploading anything, which is ridiculous because it hogs your resources.
However, if you disable this service completely, you won't be able to upload any photos to Facebook from your phone.
SO, I set up a script to disable all of Facebook's services like this at once, and I use the app called Llama to execute this script every time Facebook exits. I set it up to call my enable script once Facebook is started, then 5 minutes after Facebook closes it disables all of the Facebook services.
Here is what I used...
Enable Facebook services:
Code:
su -c 'pm enable com.facebook.katana/com.facebook.katana.service.MediaUploadService; pm enable com.facebook.katana/com.facebook.katana.service.FacebookService; pm enable com.facebook.katana/com.facebook.katana.service.BackgroundDetectionService; pm enable com.facebook.katana/com.facebook.orca.push.mqtt.MqttPushService; '
Disable Facebook services:
Code:
su -c 'pm disable com.facebook.katana/com.facebook.katana.service.MediaUploadService; pm disable com.facebook.katana/com.facebook.katana.service.FacebookService; pm disable com.facebook.katana/com.facebook.katana.service.BackgroundDetectionService; pm disable com.facebook.katana/com.facebook.orca.push.mqtt.MqttPushService; '
With this new ability to disable services, I took a look at Amazon AppStore's annoying service, and disabled it using this script with Llama like I did with Facebook:
Amazon Service Disable script
Code:
su -c 'pm disable com.amazon.venezia/com.amazon.venezia.service.UpdateService'
Proxin- note: old code said:
Next, I noticed SwypeConnect was keeping itself active, so I disabled it too (Swype never gets updates anyway, so I didn't see anything bad with doing this):
Code:
pm disable com.swype.android.inputmethod/com.swype.android.connect.ConnectClient
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There's an app on the Market called StartupManager, I used that to kill off extra startup services that were not necessary. Things like Youtube, MyTracks and Maps were starting up. My view is, why do these things start when I don't start them myself? I stopped the services and have seen some pretty good responsiveness so far.

Go to the market and search for an app called gemini manager. It needs root but you can disable autostart for all apps with it.
Also get LBE privacy guard- it will block apps from using gps/data which can also increase battery life

redspeed said:
Go to the market and search for an app called gemini manager. It needs root but you can disable autostart for all apps with it.
Also get LBE privacy guard- it will block apps from using gps/data which can also increase battery life
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Great, I'll look into those too- thanks

@proxin:
Amazing post! how do you find the path for each of those components inside a package?
I use the same method with Tasker (instead of llama). Perform a task (run shell command) on the exit of a App profile
Also, the .Mqtt. should be all lowercase (figured out after that service would not disable), like this:
com.facebook.katana/com.facebook.orca.push.mqtt.MqttPushService

file2mail said:
@proxin:
Amazing post! how do you find the path for each of those components inside a package?
I use the same method with Tasker (instead of llama). Perform a task (run shell command) on the exit of a App profile
Also, the .Mqtt. should be all lowercase (figured out after that service would not disable), like this:
com.facebook.katana/com.facebook.orca.push.mqtt.MqttPushService
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you, hope it has helped! I found them by looking up their Running service name on Google, and seeing people's logcat errors on there elaborated them for me. So I'd try a search for "com.facebook.katana*MqttPushService" and Google would direct me to the proper one.
You're spot-on with the Mqtt needing to be lowercase, I found the same issue on mine and got pissed off when I saw that the Mqtt service was still running forgot to change the post to reflect it though. Thanks for the notice
Seems like the best method for using your phone properly is to do like we're doing, otherwise applications with poor choice in how they handle resources, will clutter up the phone.
Btw, I tried Gemini App Manager and it works well for disabling autostart in apps. LBE Privacy Guard is intense in how much it locks down your phone, but that's locked down it's even a bit too much for me haha. It's a great app and will work for many people though.

I've noticed maps running in the background many times. I didnt know you're able to switch this off, thanks for the info!

Killer1desireZ said:
I've noticed maps running in the background many times. I didnt know you're able to switch this off, thanks for the info!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No problem, I don't recommend killing off the Maps service though as it's probably needed for some location service (in my case I need the cell tower location service for some Llama profiles)
That's just my case though. Before you disable the service, maybe see if you can turn off automatic location reporting in Latitude? Go into Latitude settings->Location Settings and change Location reporting and Automatic check-ins to be Off.
Hope this helps. It shouldn't disable the entire Maps service but maybe it will reduce the amount of check-ins that Maps does without your consent.

Perhaps one of the biggest performance hits in an Mid Spec Android phone is how many App's it's carrying.
It is generally a good idea to keep the App count low. A general rule of thumb is to have no more than 40~ user apps on your Device. Since you have less apps installed (some of which could be idling or actively operating in the backround), you'll have more free RAM/space in the internal storage which in turn will mean more speed/battery efficiency.
Hope this can be of help

crestofawave said:
Perhaps one of the biggest performance hits in an Mid Spec Android phone is how many App's it's carrying.
It is generally a good idea to keep the App count low. A general rule of thumb is to have no more than 40~ user apps on your Device. Since you have less apps installed (some of which could be idling or actively operating in the backround), you'll have more free RAM/space in the internal storage which in turn will mean more speed/battery efficiency.
Hope this can be of help
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've heard this said too, but I've never seen evidence that the more apps you have installed = the more apps are actively running. It's definitely a good idea to have less installed, but I don't think they'll run in the background unless they have autostarting capabilities like you can monitor with Gemini App Manager.
This is just me without even a Bachelor's degree speculating and relaying my experience though, so don't take my word for it

I notice a definite lag once I go above a certain amount of apps. I uninstall 10 or so and its a rocket! But then again I have waaaay more then 40 probably like 100 or something

Maps doesn't have that option for me. Anyways uninstalled 20 apps

New fun things to try...
I enjoy GO Launcher Ex just as much as the next guy who uses it as the default Home application, but I don't enjoy it making multiple services of itself that do, literally nothing. What I noticed specifically was a service called GOMusic, taking up about 4MB of RAM which could be used for other, more useful things.
What I did to fix it was:
Code:
pm disable com.gau.go.launcherex/com.jiubang.ggheart.apps.desks.appfunc.mediamanagement.musicplay.MusicPlaybackService
My Google Music widget still works fine, so apparently the GOMusic thing was just a waste of RAM (unless someone can explain a good reason to leave it be?)
One more addition I did was that, I keep seeing SwypeConnect as a service and I don't like it. It shouldn't need to constantly connect, for me to simply use Swype whenever I do.
I tried two things, pretty sure the second fixed this:
Code:
pm disable com.nuance.swype.input/com.nuance.swype.input.SwypeConnect
pm disable com.naunce.swype.input/com.nuance.swype.connect.ConnectClient
And next, I saw that Google Voice had a Widget service that liked to hang out and sap my resources. This would be useful but I don't have a widget set, so I disabled it:
Code:
pm disable com.google.android.apps.googlevoice/.widget.WidgetService
That worked for me. I can still send and receive messages with Google Voice, so I still have the same functionality I need without having an extra service in my list.
Note that, as usual, these are easily reversible by using using "enable" instead of disable in that code block.
Hopefully this will help someone else as well.

New experimental service disabled; I had noticed multiple Maps services running whenever they pleased. I can do with a NetworkLocation service from Maps, because I use Llama for location profiles and all, but not a Prefetcher service for it.
Here is what I used to disable the Prefetcher service...
Code:
pm disable com.google.android.apps.maps/com.google.googlenav.prefetch.android.PrefetcherService
I haven't seen any negative effects from this so far, but I will update this if I do.

@Proxin
Hi there,
I'm realy like your entries here, but i cant get through with the scripts killing facebook services. Can you be more specifc pls how to set those scripts you mentioned in Llama?

i've just tried to do things you say with facebook background services and for maps' prefetcher, but it says Segmentation Fault, as far as i know , segfaults are not normal linux program response, right? without super user privileges it just says 'Killed' [i tried both because 'pm set-install-location' worked for me only without super user]
EDIT:
ok, i'm noob, i just had to export LD_LIBRARY_PATH, now pm doesn't segfault for me as superuser

hi can any ody guide me how to use those su commands with llama?? thanks

[Guide][Debloat][No-Google] Apps/services safe to disable and their alternatives

*I'm no dev., and some of the statements here might be technically innaccurate. Please, forgive and correct me. I'm just sharing my experience.
*I'm creating this thread following @elvinguitar 's request to list the apps/services safe to disable and how to do it.
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Introduction
I've been google-free ever since I've rooted my Nexus 5 and flashed AOSP. Everything worked like a charm. I even experienced longer battery life and better performance. I've done the same to a Samsung Galaxy S, Motorola Moto G 2015 and a couple other Samsung, BQ and Xiaomi devices I don't remember the model now (family and friends). Really happy with the process. Of cause, you cannot use most Google apps if you don't have the google services (framework?) running in the background (consuming resources and collecting all sort of data).
Only downside when disabling Google core services is that most apps out there in the market use google services to show up a map. If you don't have google services, you won't see a map. However, it is possible to "trick" the apps into calling for openmaps instead. I haven't tried, though.
Android One lets you disable most apps/services via the default settings menu. But there are still some of Google's tentacles fused into the core of your phone you cannot get rid of. But heck, it's something. We'll have to wait until the custom ROMs start showing up.
The reason
There are endless reasons to use all Google products. But there are endless reasons to avoid them. It's up to you what you want to do with your privacy. Despite privacy laws and promises, it's well known that your data, once online it's not longer only yours. And smartphones sensors combined with big data management, they are capable of infinite ways of recording your lifestyle. Camera (obvious), microphone (obvious + knowing where you are and what are you doing by the background noise), location(obvious), GSM/wifi/bluetooth (knowing where you are, who you are with...), body sensors/movement sensors (activity you are doing all the time)... Without being paranoid, unless you are a VIP you are not being followed, and if someone really wants to follow you, they'll do so even if you get rid of all this apps. But ALL YOUR data is being stored and analyzed for their own profit and linked (securely) to your persona. Now, it's only for economical profit, but indirect censorship is already taking place. Try doing some research for something rather unpopular and then try looking up a mainstream celebrity. You'll see the difference. I'm sure you've all heard about the China "Social credit" they want to develop in China. It's what big internet companies have been doing for a while now. Orwell's big brother all over. It's kinda scary if you ask me.
Some reading:
https://www.socialcooling.com/
https://donttrack.us/
Some alternatives to Google products we all use
An example of rogue censorship (one of millions)
Interesting infographic about how google knows you
But well... let's go to the bone. These are the apps and services I've tried to disable and some alternatives I use/consider.
I strongly recommend using a powerful firewall that blocks all internet communications unless you say otherwise. I use AFwall+ (root). There are other alternatives like NetGuard (no-root) that use VPN. This way, even if you have an app you want to use, but you don't want it to be communicating with the outside, you can have it (nothing is bulletproof, though). - Let me know if you want a lit of internet enabled apps/services, too.
Disabled APPs / services
Note that I uninstalled the apps when possible. The unistalled apps won't be in that list. Also, I've stopped the device initial set up progress and, therefore, some apps had never been installed to my device. So, they are safe to disable.
Disabled via the settings menu:
Calendar
Carrier services @thorin0815 explained to me what they do. Thx.: "intended to allow you to take full advantage of RCS, which allows for extra features in the Android Messaging app)
Chrome
Contacts
Gboard
Gmail
Google
Google Backup Transport
Google Contacts Sync
Google One Time Init
Google Partner Set Up
Google Play Services
Google Services Framework
Market Feedback Agent
Messages
PAI
Photos
YouTube
Disabled via an app manager (root) or adb method without root
Device Setup
Feedback
Google Play Services
Spock
Google and tricky enabled apps I guess they can be disabled with no problem:
Android Setup
Android system webview (gotta look for an alternative)
Google text to speech engine
Maps
TalkBack
Google and tricky apps I do use and I won't disable because they are too critical for me (or I have no idea what they do and I'd rather not mess with them).
Android Services Library
Android Shared Library
Clock (there are alternatives, a lot. But it wakes me everyday, and it doesn't look to be to bad).
ConfigUpdater
PackageInstaller
Phone (I've tried a couple alternatives, but I didn't trust them (one crashed and the other one looked even worse (privacy-wise) than the original)
Print Service Recommendation Service
There are tons of other apps needed for the correct use of the device that shouldn't be disabled. Anything you can disable from the Settings/apps menu, you should be OK trying to disable it. Disable it, then try to use what you think the app might be used for, and if it works fine... there you go. Try and error!
Alternative APP to the disabled ones
When possible, I tried to use FOSS apps.
FOSS app catalog - F-Droid (most apps come from here)
Google Play - Yalp Store or Aurora store - Yalp works better, but Aurora is nicer. Both have Exodus Privacy check.
Maps - Here and OsmAnd (mountain) - there are a lot of good mapping apps out there.
Calendar - I use BusinesCalendar because I like the widget. But there are a lot of other apps. Eg.: SimpleCalendar. Personal preference.
Contacts - Again. Personal preference. I like the AOSP app.
Files - I have it. But I use Es File explorer. Not the best for privacy or anti-bloatware. But I like it.
Chrome - Firefox all the way! I use Firefox Beta. Previous versions of the non beta one used to be way slower compared to the beta one.
Gallery - Simple gallery
Mail - K-9 mail. It's ugly, but I love it. There is a material version. I also found another app worth trying, here in XDA, but cannot remember its name now. I'm switching to protonmail as my personal mail service (I still use Gmail, hotmail and others as I always have).
Phone - I use the stock app (google ) 'cause I didn't find a valid alternative.
Messaging - QKSMS. Signal is a neat app with more features and secure communication (thx @thorin0815)
Keyboard - I use SwiftKey (internet blocked)
Calculator - AOSP calculator.
YouTube - I use WebTube. NewPipe is a valid option, too.
Camera - Check the discussion threads about the camera
If you have any app not listed here, post a comment and I'll add it. Also, if there is any error or you know something I don't, let me know and I'll correct. Same with the apps/services I have no idea what they do.

IGNORE THIS POST
I have to talk to you about this, too. Among other things. (posting it here so I remember about them later)
AFirewall+
DAVdroid
Greenify
DuckDuckGo
Snowden
how to force disable

Just a suggestion for a Messenger alternative.
Signal, a nice and secure open source alternative for Whatsapp like and SMS apps.
Nice thread btw. I try to avoid Google and Microsoft stuff where I can aswell.
Too bad we don't have a nice mobile Linux for our phones.

Thanks for creating this thread. By the way, have you experienced some error when uninstalling some apps? I tried removing Gmail (via debloater) but after that, I keep getting crashes on some of my apps. Even magisk crashes.
Also, I tried uninstalling Chrome via debloater, but it seems like it's not working. What's your preferred way of uninstalling apps?

elvinguitar said:
Thanks for creating this thread. By the way, have you experienced some error when uninstalling some apps? I tried removing Gmail (via debloater) but after that, I keep getting crashes on some of my apps. Even magisk crashes.
Also, I tried uninstalling Chrome via debloater, but it seems like it's not working. What's your preferred way of uninstalling apps?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I haven't experienced any issue unisntalling/disabling any of the mentioned. Except for google services. They are required by some third party apps to display a map layout. I uninstalled Gmail and Chrome with no problem.
What is "debloater"?
I preffer unisntalling apps via the traditional method when possible (settings/apps/unisntall). Same with disabling them. With Android One you can uninstall/disable most apps this way. I've experienced no issues.
For the apps thet the disable option is not available, I use an app known for being warez (I like it and I use it only for the powerful tools it provide). But there are other apps that'll do the job even better. In another device, I used APP2SD with another purpose, but I loved it. Titanium Backup is a powerfull tool that should work, too. However, you'll need the PRO package if you want to disable system apps. AppMgrIII and App Manager promise to get the job done, too. You'll need root with all of them, though.

thorin0815 said:
Just a suggestion for a Messenger alternative.
Signal, a nice and secure open source alternative for Whatsapp like and SMS apps.
Nice thread btw. I try to avoid Google and Microsoft stuff where I can aswell.
Too bad we don't have a nice mobile Linux for our phones.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Added Signal to the list. I'm more than happy with the other app because I only want it to recive sms. It's been ages since the last time I sent one. My brother uses SMS and he's happy with what Signal provides.
If you have any other ideas on how to stay away from the big guys, let me know

On my Moto G4 I always used the following app for freezing/disabling system apps with root.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.iamaner.oneclickfreeze

adriakus said:
I haven't experienced any issue unisntalling/disabling any of the mentioned. Except for google services. They are required by some third party apps to display a map layout. I uninstalled Gmail and Chrome with no problem.
What is "debloater"?
I preffer unisntalling apps via the traditional method when possible (settings/apps/unisntall). Same with disabling them. With Android One you can uninstall/disable most apps this way. I've experienced no issues.
For the apps thet the disable option is not available, I use an app known for being warez (I like it and I use it only for the powerful tools it provide). But there are other apps that'll do the job even better. In another device, I used APP2SD with another purpose, but I loved it. Titanium Backup is a powerfull tool that should work, too. However, you'll need the PRO package if you want to disable system apps. AppMgrIII and App Manager promise to get the job done, too. You'll need root with all of them, though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is the tool that I'm using to debloat my device: https://forum.xda-developers.com/apps/magisk/module-terminal-debloater-debloat-t3584163

elvinguitar said:
This is the tool that I'm using to debloat my device: https://forum.xda-developers.com/apps/magisk/module-terminal-debloater-debloat-t3584163
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually, I didn't unisntall Gmail nor Chrome. I just disabled them with no problem.
I don't know how this debloat tool works. My suggestion (someone might advise otherwise) is to do as much as you can via the default settings menu. Is you device rooted? If so, I'd rather use one of the apps mentioned before (by me ir by @thorin0815 ) to disable the locked ones. Personal preference. Mostly because I'm quite new to all the "systemless" thing, but also because I don't really care about OTA updates, so I don't need the system partition intact. I'll update android once LineageOS is ready. But again, this is how I'd do it. You might preffer another way.
thorin0815 said:
Too bad we don't have a nice mobile Linux for our phones.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's a pitty the Firefox OS project was abandoned

Hi, do you know a way to quit the Google search bar from the Home Screen? O dont like it and rather a clean Home Screen

yaco96 said:
Hi, do you know a way to quit the Google search bar from the Home Screen? O dont like it and rather a clean Home Screen
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For now, only way is to install another launcher. Any will do. There is a thread about it, too. Look it up

I suggest Lawnchair Launcher to get rid of the searchbar after freezing/disabling the Google app.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ch.deletescape.lawnchair.plah&hl=en_US
Lawnchair should have all the features of the stock one and many more.

Have you ever heared the sentence "I don't care about privacy. I have nothing to hide". Well...
Here is an interesting website on how important is privacy https://www.socialcooling.com/
I know most of you already know all of this, but it's a nice website to show family and friends and help them open their minds.
Also, watch the documentary and/or the movie about Snowden to see what's going on in the USA (most data and most popular internet servers are located there). Snowden and Citizenfour (available on youtube)

Hello, I disabled some apps via the adb method, including the inbuilt file manager, which causes some problems now. Could someone be so kind and either tell me where to find an apk of the file manager or maybe upload it somewhere? Thanks in advance

mr-obot said:
Hello, I disabled some apps via the adb method, including the inbuilt file manager, which causes some problems now. Could someone be so kind and either tell me where to find an apk of the file manager or maybe upload it somewhere? Thanks in advance
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This one?
https://www.apkmirror.com/apk/google-inc/files-google/files-6-8-1-0-release/

Nice thread. Now we have microG to replace google services. It is compatible with deodexed roms.

MicroG is great.. But few challenges I came across:
1. No Validation of purchases - Apps & In-Apps
2. Few apps being used due to work, eg. Google Workspace Chat doesn't work.
3. AutoVoice integration - only works with Google Voice Engine
Has anyone figured out how to handle any of the above challenges

No way to see per app cpu usage anymore on #11

I get a daily "some processes are using cpu restart phone" prompt in my notification bar. I can't find what is causing the error. Dev options only shows ram usage. As the title says, what's up why did they remove this troubleshooting option for non root users? Any input on this error? Good to be back btw.

Meh, that's one reason I'm still running Pie on my 10+.
When it happens look to see what was cache last. I use Device Care for this but my version is the factory load one. The Developer options one may not be as useful as you can't clear them like you can in DC.
I've found the root cause for many nasties like this...
If you haven't done a factory reset after the 11 upgrade... it's time to.

Appreciate the advice. Will try what you recommend

demize! said:
Appreciate the advice. Will try what you recommend
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is one of the reasons I'll still running on Pie, I know 11 is a mess. Securing the phone from the user is bs... unless they're morons. No way to protect that sort of user anyway
Maybe you can use ABD to enable logging in Karma Firewall or other advanced features now blocked in other trusted apps.
You can use the trial and error approach, something which I use a lot in lieu of proper diagnostics. Be aware that dependencies can cause a ripple effect as well as false usage reporting. Especially with Google system apks
Disabling, firewall blocking, clearing their data, clearing system logs can be much more effective than rebooting the phone. I normally now keep Google Play Services package blocked except when needed; it's a known trouble maker to me.
All cloud apps, Google Transport/Framework*, all carrier/Samsung/Google feedback as well Google Firebase are package blocked or disable.
Use this Package Blocker:
Home - Package Disabler
The only NON-root solution that let’s you disable any unwanted packages that come pre-installed / installed with your phone / tablet.
www.packagedisabler.com
Block Android Systems UID 1000 with Karma Firewall as it's almost never needed. It's not neccessary to firewall block Google Play Services if it's packaged blocked otherwise try doing so. Both of the above apks needlessly ping the internet constantly sucking up resources.
Karma Firewall uses virtually no battery, it's a gem.
Karma Firewall - Apps on Google Play
Karma Firewall app lets you block internet traffic to and from specific apps.
play.google.com
*Framework's dependencies still run in the background or is falsely reported as Framework albiet at a greatly reduced usage level with Framework being blocked.

Awesome I'm dl'ing it now. It's just beyond me on an octacore cpu any process would cause this error unless it's erroneous. But than how can you tell when they remove such a basic ability like monitoring app cpu usage.

demize! said:
Awesome I'm dl'ing it now. It's just beyond me on an octacore cpu any process would cause this error unless it's erroneous. But than how can you tell when they remove such a basic ability like monitoring app cpu usage.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Google sucks elephant balls bad. It was hard with Pie but now it's even worse.
Google doesn't care because you aren't the customer, you're the product.
The lack of user monitoring makes Google's data mining easier than ever for them to do.
Makes MS look like saints... one look at the Google Firebase data on my Google account made me puke; all 6700 whatever of my songs -were- listed there. It just did it even though nothing on my device I use need it to function properly. Meanwhile it's sucking up cpu cycles to build and maintain it... or it was

Out of such frustrations comes WhatsRunning - my response to Android's denial of low-level access. See if it helps: https://mirfatif.github.io/WhatsRunning/help/cpu_usage_per_process_android

Question What are the non essential APKs to remove if i care about privacy or debloating?

After the fiasco of debloating so much my battery was permanently on energy saving mode and my GPS wasn't working correctly with some apps i decided to reset from factory and try again. Does anyone know more or less which apks are entirely non essential, spyware, bloat, or google stuff that can be removed?

FB, WhatsApp, Instagram, Twitter, etc are all trashware and major privacy threats.
If you insist on using them do so by browser login only.
Use Karma Firewall to lock apps down so they can't connect with the internet.
I prefer to use a package disabler as you can make changes on the fly, use it for troubleshooting and completely clear system app data with no nulls left behind.
Dependencies... many apks rely on other apks to be fully functional. Names can be misleading.
Many of the Samsung apks just sit there and do nothing unless called upon. Many smaller ones are used to modify the UI and will cripple it if removed.
I disable all cloud apks especially Google backup Transport (I don't use it for backup). I normally keep Google play Services disabled unless needed for Gmail or Playstore
Playstore disabled unless needed.
All OTA updates are always disabled to avoid rude surprises.
Bixby never runs. All MS junk never runs.
Google Firebase, all carrier, Samsung and app feedback disabled.
I have about 80 packages always disabled and about 7 that are sometimes used which include "problem" apps on my N10+'s. I have one running on Android 9, one on 10. Both are package disabled profiles are almost identical.
The Android 10 variant has over 100 more apks than the 9 variant, many of these are all essential system apks the modify the UI so it's compatible with Android 10. The result is both devices look and behave almost identically. Samsung went to a lot of trouble to make Android 10 functional, don't undermine this by blinding disabling apks as the results will be less than optimum
What's also interesting is the Android 10 variant gets near the same or better battery life as the 9 variant. Those additional Samsung system apps impact on battery life are not perceivable.
Play with it, each device, user needs and setup are unique. One size does not fit all. You need to learn what's best for you on that particular variant. Fun times...

blackhawk said:
FB, WhatsApp, Instagram, Twitter, etc are all trashware and major privacy threats.
If you insist on using them do so by browser login only.
Use Karma Firewall to lock apps down so they can't connect with the internet.
I prefer to use a package disabler as you can make changes on the fly, use it for troubleshooting and completely clear system app data with no nulls left behind.
Dependencies... many apks rely on other apks to be fully functional. Names can be misleading.
Many of the Samsung apks just sit there and do nothing unless called upon. Many smaller ones are used to modify the UI and will cripple it if removed.
I disable all cloud apks especially Google backup Transport (I don't use it for backup). I normally keep Google play Services disabled unless needed for Gmail or Playstore
Playstore disabled unless needed.
All OTA updates are always disabled to avoid rude surprises.
Bixby never runs. All MS junk never runs.
Google Firebase, all carrier, Samsung and app feedback disabled.
I have about 80 packages always disabled and about 7 that are sometimes used which include "problem" apps on my N10+'s. I have one running on Android 9, one on 10. Both are package disabled profiles are almost identical.
The Android 10 variant has over 100 more apks than the 9 variant, many of these are all essential system apks the modify the UI so it's compatible with Android 10. The result is both devices look and behave almost identically. Samsung went to a lot of trouble to make Android 10 functional, don't undermine this by blinding disabling apks as the results will be less than optimum
What's also interesting is the Android 10 variant gets near the same or better battery life as the 9 variant. Those additional Samsung system apps impact on battery life are not perceivable.
Play with it, each device, user needs and setup are unique. One size does not fit all. You need to learn what's best for you on that particular variant. Fun times...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The easy stuff to remove are those bloat crap, its the other background stuff that worries me, THAT is the stuff that you never know how important it is or it could be some background data collection i wanna get rid of. I removed all google services and some apps didn't want to update anymore (did some just use google services even without an account to update?)
From what i understand Bixby is security related, and a lot of it is required to keep the device functioning, however i never used its features and i believe them to be somewhat privacy intruding, same with find my devices and such. That's why any help on a list would be appreciated.
I dont suppose you would also happen to know what's a good browser for the phone? i was using Firefox then DuckDuckGo then Brave but from my understanding there's little difference between them.
At least now i learnt my lesson, next time im just buying a phone compatible with /e/OS or lineage.

hahaNSAgoBRRRR said:
The easy stuff to remove are those bloat crap, its the other background stuff that worries me, THAT is the stuff that you never know how important it is or it could be some background data collection i wanna get rid of. I removed all google services and some apps didn't want to update anymore (did some just use google services even without an account to update?)
From what i understand Bixby is security related, and a lot of it is required to keep the device functioning, however i never used its features and i believe them to be somewhat privacy intruding, same with find my devices and such. That's why any help on a list would be appreciated.
I dont suppose you would also happen to know what's a good browser for the phone? i was using Firefox then DuckDuckGo then Brave but from my understanding there's little difference between them.
At least now i learnt my lesson, next time im just buying a phone compatible with /e/OS or lineage.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What OS version are you using?
Bixby can be wiped, however Bixby Vision and Bixby Vision Framework are used with the cam to read QR codes though. You have to test to see if more of Bixby is needed for QR codes. I don't use this feature. The Bixby eula is a *****.
Knox are the Samsung security apps. They ones I can disable cause no harm, not sure if that holds true with all of them though. I do not disable knox attestation com.
Knox is a default system Administrator on stock Samsung's. No idea what disabling that will do... be careful. Samsung Pass is also a default system Administrator. I leave these alone.
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blackhawk said:
What OS version are you using?
Bixby can be wiped, however Bixby Vision and Bixby Vision Framework are used with the cam to read QR codes though. You have to test to see if more of Bixby is needed for QR codes. I don't use this feature. The Bixby eula is a *****.
Knox are the Samsung security apps. They ones I can disable cause no harm, not sure if that holds true with all of them though. I do not disable knox attestation com.
Knox is a default system Administrator on stock Samsung's. No idea what disabling that will do... be careful. Samsung Pass is also a default system Administrator. I leave these alone.
View attachment 5475479
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
SM-A325M. Dunno what the M stands for, its the southamerican market one. Sadly reading QR codes is something i will have to do. Although i dont know how intrusive or concerning Bixby might be regarding privacy. I know that Knox is all just security related but i always enjoyed to remove the features i wasn't gonna use. Sadly the harder parts to remove are the things that start with samsung and are necessary for some things to work.

OS version Android 9,10 or 11?
The goal is to remove only the trouble makers not damage the functionality or usability of your phone.
Even after 2 years I'm still exploring my N10+. If the feature has been arbitrary blocked you'll never know it was there and/or it may cause erratic behavior with other apps.

blackhawk said:
OS version Android 9,10 or 11?
The goal is to remove only the trouble makers not damage the functionality or usability of your phone.
Even after 2 years I'm still exploring my N10+. If the feature has been arbitrary blocked you'll never know it was there and/or it may cause erratic behavior with other apps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
11. Yeah, i dont remember what you did say, its just that im a guy that really likes the simple things on a phone. Yeah im THAT kind of guy that sometimes wonders if there's an use to a phone to begin with.
To make things a lot simpler is there any way to check which apps use data or send info back to google or samsung or log my activity for example?

Im also noticing after setting back to factory settings that the phone keeps showing me a notification to copy and paste data from the previous phone using smart switch, OR log in to google. I do not want to log in to google at all and while this notification does not prevent me from doing anything is there a way to stop the phone from constantly asking me this?

Hi guys,
Anyone know what's the best package disabler to use?
Thanks

Jaysmith696 said:
Hi guys,
Anyone know what's the best package disabler to use?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I personally use ADB.

It is much easier to block Internet access of apps you don't trust than removing them with the risk of breaking your system. Use NetGuard if your not rooted, or AFWall if you are or need to use VPN.

Jaysmith696 said:
Hi guys,
Anyone know what's the best package disabler to use?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
this.

appmanager.apk

How to stop Google from disabling already installed apps "for our protection"?

My Google Play Protect is turned OFF - yet Handcent Next SMS app was disabled from my phone as well as everyone else's recently. Why Google did it is a separate story [issue has apparently been resolved with a new version of app] - but let's talk about how Google does this?
I manually reinstall the old .apk which reactivates the app, but Google nukes it within 24 hours.
What can be done to stop Google from doing this?
If you feel that Google should do this 'for our protection,' I respect your opinion, but this thread isn't about that. What can be done in Settings to prevent / stop Google from disabling an already installed app on our phones? This is not about the Play Store. It's about already installed apps on our phones. Play Protect is OFF.
There are reasons people want older versions of apps - such as features no longer available on new versions of a given app.

Disable all Google apps that are set as System Administrator including Find my Device, etc.
Disable Google play Services when not needed.
If Google play Services in enabled on a reboot it will trigger that type of behavior.
This may or may not work on a non Samsung device. Google apks are drooling pigs... and only getting worse.

Thank your for your reply. Phone is unlocked Samsung Galaxy S10e.
It sounds like the suggestion is to disable a plethora of apps and services that would have the end result of transfroming the phone into more or less a device that doesn't use anythig Google, even services that we actually may need..
Is there an app that could accomplish this, I mean all that's needed is to block disabling one single app.
I don't need to password protect usage or anything else - just prevent anything from disabling the app / removing it. Thank you.
Can I do anything to lay a trap so that we could see the mechanism which Google uses to disable an already installed app on your phone - it's not Play protect, It's OFF on my phone.
I mean, I will eventually start looking for another app - it's not really about that - but I mean think about it, do you really want them to disable your apps, with *no warning*, no *hey we've discovered a security issue, you might want to be aware of* - instead they just nuke an app we've used for like a decade, no explanation, just because they feel it's good for us, I mean are we in China? Or worse yet, Russia?
Anyone else bothered by this? I'd just like to see if anyone knows a way for us to have a choice, that's all.

8
c627627 said:
Thank your for your reply. Phone is unlocked Samsung Galaxy S10e.
It sounds like the suggestion is to disable a plethora of apps and services that would have the end result of transfroming the phone into more or less a device that doesn't use anythig Google, even services that we actually may need..
Is there an app that could accomplish this, I mean all that's needed is to block disabling one single app.
I don't need to password protect usage or anything else - just prevent anything from disabling the app / removing it. Thank you.
Can I do anything to lay a trap so that we could see the mechanism which Google uses to disable an already installed app on your phone - it's not Play protect, It's OFF on my phone.
I mean, I will eventually start looking for another app - it's not really about that - but I mean think about it, do you really want them to disable your apps, with *no warning*, no *hey we've discovered a security issue, you might want to be aware of* - instead they just nuke an app we've used for like a decade, no explanation, just because they feel it's good for us, I mean are we in China? Or worse yet, Russia?
Anyone else bothered by this? I'd just like to see if anyone knows a way for us to have a choice, that's all.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm also very much bothered by it. Like, on my older phone google just outright disabled the font manager app, that was a system/vendor app. What risk would that app would pose, if it was risky it surely wouldn't be pre-installed! Moreover it was just a font manager!!!

Gmh rafi said:
8
I'm also very much bothered by it. Like, on my older phone google just outright disabled the font manager app, that was a system/vendor app. What risk would that app would pose, if it was risky it surely wouldn't be pre-installed! Moreover it was just a font manager!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The app may have been compromised. Scan the apk with online Virustotal.
Google on the other hand has long been compromised
Blocking Playstore with Karma Firewall will stop this behavior.

blackhawk said:
The app may have been compromised. Scan the apk with online Virustotal.
Google on the other hand has long been compromised
Blocking Playstore with Karma Firewall will stop this behavior.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It isn't about if the app was compromised or not, it's just that google doesn't give us the choice. That's what iritates me. Just as @c627627 said, isn't it more like china or Russia? Dictating without our consent.

blackhawk said:
The app may have been compromised. Scan the apk with online Virustotal.
Google on the other hand has long been compromised
Blocking Playstore with Karma Firewall will stop this behavior.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Anyway, karma is the best firewall after all

Gmh rafi said:
Anyway, karma is the best firewall after all
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's great. My one Note 10+ is still running on Pie. Karma's logging feature is fully active in that version. Even tags/time stamps each app that connects. That functionality was lost with Android 10☹ It still will block but it greatly reduces its use for fast troubleshooting.
One reason I still run Pie.
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I would still scan that app to be on the safe side. I use ApkExport to make installable copies of all my apps and updates and take Playstore out of the loop. This protects those apps is case of bad upgrades or deletion from Playstore. Makes reloading much faster and no guessing/searching.

I have discovered [the hard way] how to successfully deal with this.
Fact: Turning OFF Google Play Protect does not turn OFF Google Play Protect. Google *will* scan and disable anything it wants using Play Protect, *regardless* of whether your Play Protect is ON or OFF.
Play Protect OFF button is there as an illusion that you have a choice, you do not. Your phone may have any app disabled any time by Google... for your protection of course. For our protection.
Now here's the correct way to do this:
Google Play Store > [upper right corner] Tap your name icon > Play Protect >
You will see your disabled app listed, with two options:
Uninstall
and
Enable app
The *only* correct way to re-enable it, is to TAP on Enable App here > Enable [to confirm.]
Doing anything else, such as uninstalling/reinstalling/manually installing an .apk file will only _temporarily_ work.
Google will disable it again, 24 hours or so later...
So you must follow exact procedure above to Enable App if you wish to continue to use it, after it has been flagged by Google Play Protect.
Being able to re-enable it is a big deal. You don't get to do that in China or Russia so tank you Google for giving us this choice.

c627627 said:
I have discovered [the hard way] how to successfully deal with this.
Fact: Turning OFF Google Play Protect does not turn OFF Google Play Protect. Google *will* scan and disable anything it wants using Play Protect, *regardless* of whether your Play Protect is ON or OFF.
Play Protect OFF button is there as an illusion that you have a choice, you do not. Your phone may have any app disabled any time by Google... for your protection of course. For our protection.
Now here's the correct way to do this:
Google Play Store > [upper right corner] Tap your name icon > Play Protect >
You will see your disabled app listed, with two options:
Uninstall
and
Enable app
The *only* correct way to re-enable it, is to TAP on Enable App here > Enable [to confirm.]
Doing anything else, such as uninstalling/reinstalling/manually installing an .apk file will only _temporarily_ work.
Google will disable it again, 24 hours or so later...
So you must follow exact procedure above to Enable App if you wish to continue to use it, after it has been flagged by Google Play Protect.
Being able to re-enable it is a big deal. You don't get to do that in China or Russia so tank you Google for giving us this choice.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Blocking Google Playstore with Karma Firewall will probably stop it.
I have some apps long gone from Playstore, it ignores them if it runs. I don't know... maybe time to scan those apps you have getting wacked off with Virustotal, again.
They may have been compromised.
I always keep backup installable copies of all my apps for reloads or in case something else goes south.

Thanks for this but, in my case, a certain app has parts of its features stop working and THEN play protect disables it all. If I enable it in play protect section then some features are missing, until I uninstall the app and reinstall. But then I face the same issue with play protect slowly dismantling my app and the finally disabling it.
I wondered, what if I enable it once I get the prompt in play protect section then just install the app again without uninstalling it. Would that work without play protect disabling it again?