What default apps could be removed from Samsung Ace Plus ?

[rohit_4739]

Hi,

I recently bought the Samsung Ace Plus, i am prety much new to Android. So i have a couple of questions for you guys here.

Based on my usage of the device till now what i have noticed is that there are lot of apps that are installed by default but are hardly used. So could you please guys please let me know list of apps that can be unistalled or removed from my phone i.e. Samsung Ace Plus GT-S7500 without affecting the phone in any bad way.

Second question which i have is regarding "Rooting the Android device", i have heard a lot about this and got to know that it unleashes lot of features and probably true potential of the android device at the same time possesses the risk of damaging the phone too.

So firstly i want to know does the "Factory Reset" option remains after rooting the device(i assume it won't still want to confirm from android gurus here ). If it does not then how can we install the android back on the device. Since Android is OpenSource just like Linux so i assume it would available on the internet. But then can we install it manually on any android compatible phone, if yes can somebody please let me know the procedure.

Thanks,
RB

 

[Hadron]

Hi Rohit, and welcome to AF

The answers to your questions are related, since you won't be able to remove pre-installed apps without rooting. Since rooting is device specific, you should visit the Ace Plus All Things Root forum to learn more about that for your device (though that forum is rather quiet, I can see a thread linking rooting instructions). People in the Ace Plus forum might even be the best to advise on what apps can be removed, since for example I don't know what apps it comes with. You should say who your carrier is too, since some of the apps might come from them.

Rooting doesn't actually change the android system on your phone. What it does is give you administrator access (to use Windows terminology), allowing you to make further changes. In most cases people also install a custom version of the recovery program at the same time, which allows them to completely replace the software the phone came with with a customised build (a "custom ROM") and to make full system backups (NAND backups, or "nandroids"). You should probably read this post to get a better explanation of what it's about.

"Factory reset" remains after rooting, but many people misunderstand the name. This does not return your phone to exactly the state it was in when bought, undoing any system modifications you may have made. It simply erases user-installed apps and user data and sets system settings back to defaults. To restore the phone to its original unrooted state you'd need to load an official set of software. This is also phone-specific. I know that Samsung owners talk about software called "Kies" and "Odin", but I'm afraid that's the limit of my knowledge, so somebody else would have to advise on how this is actually done for your device!

 

[rohit_4739]

Thanks Hardon,,, that was really infromative and very well framed informtaion.. Thanks a mill...

 

[AlvarezLuis]

Hi,

I recently bought the Samsung Ace Plus, i am prety much new to Android. So i have a couple of questions for you guys here.

Based on my usage of the device till now what i have noticed is that there are lot of apps that are installed by default but are hardly used. So could you please guys please let me know list of apps that can be unistalled or removed from my phone i.e. Samsung Ace Plus GT-S7500 without affecting the phone in any bad way.

Second question which i have is regarding "Rooting the Android device", i have heard a lot about this and got to know that it unleashes lot of features and probably true potential of the android device at the same time possesses the risk of damaging the phone too.

So firstly i want to know does the "Factory Reset" option remains after rooting the device(i assume it won't still want to confirm from android gurus here ). If it does not then how can we install the android back on the device. Since Android is OpenSource just like Linux so i assume it would available on the internet. But then can we install it manually on any android compatible phone, if yes can somebody please let me know the procedure.

Thanks,
RB

Hi Rohit, and welcome to AF

The answers to your questions are related, since you won't be able to remove pre-installed apps without rooting. Since rooting is device specific, you should visit the Ace Plus All Things Root forum to learn more about that for your device (though that forum is rather quiet, I can see a thread linking rooting instructions). People in the Ace Plus forum might even be the best to advise on what apps can be removed, since for example I don't know what apps it comes with. You should say who your carrier is too, since some of the apps might come from them.

Rooting doesn't actually change the android system on your phone. What it does is give you administrator access (to use Windows terminology), allowing you to make further changes. In most cases people also install a custom version of the recovery program at the same time, which allows them to completely replace the software the phone came with with a customised build (a "custom ROM") and to make full system backups (NAND backups, or "nandroids"). You should probably read this post to get a better explanation of what it's about.

"Factory reset" remains after rooting, but many people misunderstand the name. This does not return your phone to exactly the state it was in when bought, undoing any system modifications you may have made. It simply erases user-installed apps and user data and sets system settings back to defaults. To restore the phone to its original unrooted state you'd need to load an official set of software. This is also phone-specific. I know that Samsung owners talk about software called "Kies" and "Odin", but I'm afraid that's the limit of my knowledge, so somebody else would have to advise on how this is actually done for your device!

OTOH, isn't the O.P.'s prob simply solved by actually trying – on his unrooted phone! – to uninstall those apps? Because if they were preloaded and hooked deeply into Android or to (an)other app(s) (like Google Nav won't function without Google Maps) they won't be uninstalled anyway?

Because I think you omitted an important piece of information about rooting: it voids your device's warranty! So in his place, with a brandnew phone, I wouldn't root!

 

[Hadron]

The post I linked includes the warning, as do all All Things Root Guide stickys. But yes, my bad for not being explicit about that.

Google Navigation isn't just deeply connected to Maps, it's the same app. All it is is a shortcut to start Maps up in Navigation mode (same as Contacts just opens the dialler on the contacts tab).

Otherwise it's just a matter of install location, nothing to do with how deeply connected to anything an app is - if it's in /system, you won't be able to uninstall it without root, and if it's installed as a user app you will be.

 

[AlvarezLuis]

Google Navigation isn't just deeply connected to Maps, it's the same app. All it is is a shortcut to start Maps up in Navigation mode (same as Contacts just opens the dialler on the contacts tab).

If it is the same app how come I had both, fully functional (so at least 'Golden Master'), on a Google Nexus One on Android 2.2.1, almost 3 years ago already, while the navigation functionality that is integrated in GMaps now (on my GNote/Android 4.0.3), which it wasn't before, was, until very recently, clearly labeled 'beta'...?

IYAM they were separate apps, with GNav dependent on GMaps, while now GNav is (also) integrated into GMaps, which it wasn't before.

 

[Hadron]

They may have been separate once, but it's been a single apk for a fairly long time now.

Anyway, it's hardly important (unless someone wants to remove navigation but not maps, in which case they can't ).

 

[AlvarezLuis]

They may have been separate once, but it's been a single apk for a fairly long time now.

I probably didn't notice they had integrated until recently because I have been using Waze since about a year.

 

[rohit_4739]

Hi All,

I have reading alot from a while about rooting but here is one thing that is confusing me. I have read that before actually rooting your device you MUST take a NANDROID backup of your device; but for NANDROID backup the device already has to be ROOTED.

So i am bit confused, since being a noobie if someone makes some serious mistake then its going to be a serious trouble but a NANDROID backup can help you recover your phone but for that too you need a rooted device.

So please suggest guys

 

[chanchan05]

You need to make a NANDROID backup before installing custom ROMs or doing stuff to your rooted phone. Not before rooting,.

 

[rohit_4739]

You need to make a NANDROID backup before installing custom ROMs or doing stuff to your rooted phone. Not before rooting,.

So then lets say if someone makes some mess while rooting your phone then what is the way to get back. Like if say phone gets bricked then what to do, is there a way to get back from that miserable state

 

[chanchan05]

You won't get bricked while rooting. Chances are very slim. Most of the rooting methods given us are already pre-made and basically one click.

You get bricked doing all sorts of stuff after rooting.

 

[rohit_4739]

You won't get bricked while rooting. Chances are very slim. Most of the rooting methods given us are already pre-made and basically one click.

You get bricked doing all sorts of stuff after rooting.

Thank you so much, but then lets say even after rooting if one gets his device bricked, would NANDROID backup will get the device back to its initial rooted state ?

 

[chanchan05]

If its REALLY bricked, not so sure. A bricked device means that it won't even respond to a power up. At that point you take it to a repair center maybe they can fire it up. Normally when something wrong happens you can still get into download mode, so yes a NANDROID backup can still help.