• After 15+ years, we've made a big change: Android Forums is now Early Bird Club. Learn more here.

Root A thread dedicated to the safe removal of apps (What have you removed?)

H

Hand76

Guest
I want to see a thread for my own sake and others on what apps people have removed and what is safe.

In order to remove an app use these directions: (Taken from another thread)

Power off
Plug in usb cable
Hold volume down+power
Volume down once to select recovery and then hit power
Now you should be at the clockworkmod recovery menu
Select "partitions menu"
Select "mount /system"
On your computer, click start, run, and then type "cmd" and hit enter
to get a dos prompt
cd\
cd sdk
cd tools
adb shell
# /system/bin/rm /system/app/NAME.apk


So far I have safely removed the following apps with no ill effects on the system:

City ID
HTC Twitter & Widget
Verizon Visual Voice Mail
Stock & Widget
QuickOffice



Apps I removed that I had a problem with:

Footprints: (I had to do a Nandroid backup after removing this becauuse maps would not load in navigation) some online have reported the same problem while others here said it worked for them) JUST BE SURE TO MAKE A BACKUP FIRST!

Another app to watch for is Friendstream as people have reported problems with constant sync issues.



(Also just a question when removing apps do you need to run the same command line ending with .odex?)

(Example:/system/bin/rm /system/app/com.htc.StockWidget.odex)
 
# /system/bin/rm /system/app/NAME.apk

I'd like to make one suggestion (it's probably already been made elsewhere). I recommend making a new directory for disabled apps and then simply moving the apps to that directory to disable them, rather than deleting them completely.

If you're using Clockworkmod the commands are:
mkdir /system/app.disabled
to make the directory, and
mv /system/app/appname.apk /system/app.disabled/ to move.

I think you can do the same without clockworkmod by adding /system/bin/ to the front of the commands. (i.e. /system/bin/mkdir /system/app.disabled)

If you ever run into a problem after disabling an app you can simply move it back to the app folder. No need to hunt down apk files. :)
 
Upvote 0
I'd like to make one suggestion (it's probably already been made elsewhere). I recommend making a new directory for disabled apps and then simply moving the apps to that directory to disable them, rather than deleting them completely.

If you're using Clockworkmod the commands are:
mkdir /system/app.disabled to make the directory, and
mv /system/app/appname.apk /system/app.disabled/ to move.

I think you can do the same without clockworkmod by adding /system/bin/ to the front of the commands. (i.e. /system/bin/mkdir /system/app.disabled)

If you ever run into a problem after disabling an app you can simply move it back to the app folder. No need to hunt down apk files. :)

Hmmm. So all of the steps are the same as in the OP except after adb shell, just create the dir and use the move command?
 
Upvote 0
I'd like to make one suggestion (it's probably already been made elsewhere). I recommend making a new directory for disabled apps and then simply moving the apps to that directory to disable them, rather than deleting them completely.

If you're using Clockworkmod the commands are:
mkdir /system/app.disabled
to make the directory, and
mv /system/app/appname.apk /system/app.disabled/ to move.

I think you can do the same without clockworkmod by adding /system/bin/ to the front of the commands. (i.e. /system/bin/mkdir /system/app.disabled)

If you ever run into a problem after disabling an app you can simply move it back to the app folder. No need to hunt down apk files. :)


This is a great idea, and is what I do! Rather then waiting the 5 or 10 min for a Nandroid backup/restore you can quickly restore a file that has caused issues. This cannot replace a Nandroid though.

My complete suggestion is before you remove anything do a Stock+root nandroid. This is your failsafe backup. Then play around moving apps to the disabled directory. When everything looks good complete a second Nandroid of your lean incredible. Now you have your stable lean and stable root backups. After this go check out some ROMS Kernals and Themes.

I found this thread helpful over at XDA.
Safe Apps to Remove - Root Access + custom Recovery Required - xda-developers
 
Upvote 0
I hope some more people start posting what they have removed.

These are a few I was still thinking about removing:

PDFViewer (Does anything else use this?)
Car Panel (Have not seen anyone remove this, is it safe?)
Latitude
Exchange Activesync
And can you safely remove the HTC mail app if you use Gmail?

Anyone have expierience with those?
 
Upvote 0
They're in the list from the link posted above (this is not my list):

adb shell /system/bin/rm /system/app/com.htc.TwitterWidget.*
adb shell /system/bin/rm /system/app/HtcTwitter.*
adb shell /system/bin/rm /system/app/HtcFootprintsWidget.*
adb shell /system/bin/rm /system/app/HtcFootprints.*
adb shell /system/bin/rm /system/app/Stock.*
adb shell /system/bin/rm /system/app/com.htc.StockWidget.*
adb shell /system/bin/rm /system/app/VVM.*
adb shell /system/bin/rm /system/app/Quickoffice.*
adb shell /system/bin/rm /system/app/PDFViewer.*
adb shell /system/bin/rm /system/app/Calculator.*
adb shell /system/bin/rm /system/app/Mail.*
adb shell /system/bin/rm /system/app/htcmailwidgets.*
adb shell /system/bin/rm /system/app/htcmsgwidgets.*
adb shell /system/bin/rm /system/app/HtcRingtoneTrimmer.*
adb shell /system/bin/rm /system/app/Flickr.*
adb shell /system/bin/rm /system/app/CityID.*
adb shell /system/bin/rm /system/app/com.htc.FriendStreamWidget.*

I chose to move them for now like Jon recommended instead of a total removal. I did all the above except PDFViewer, Calculator, htcmail/widgets.

No problems here. I just did a Nand backup to save this configuration, aside from my original Nand backup on day 1 of root. Really like the trimming of the fat idea even if they're still actually in a different place. Out of sight out of mind is all I was looking for anyway. Got plenty of memory.
 
Upvote 0
two questions:

1) how do i do this (or is there even a way to do this) if i'm rooted but haven't yet installed the clockworkmod?

2) is there any reason i shouldn't install clockworkmod? i'm not interested in flashing roms, not yet anyway...just rooted for wireless tether and the other programs it allows me to use.
 
Upvote 0
I wouldn't personally but I'm not 100% sure it would hurt. Too risky imo. I don't use the stock app either, I use smooth calendar but it still uses my gmail account. My fear would be that the provider.apk and odex in particular, could be linked in some fashion to data required for function. Again, its only speculation on my part.
 
Upvote 0
Ok this is what I have removed so far without any issue:
(Listed with the commands to use)


City ID
/system/bin/rm /system/app/CityID.apk

HTC Twitter & Widget
/system/bin/rm /system/app/HtcTwitter.apk
/system/bin/rm /system/app/com.htc.TwitterWidget.apk

Verizon Visual Voice Mail
/system/bin/rm /system/app/VVM.apk

Stock
/system/bin/rm /system/app/com.htc.StockWidget.apk
/system/bin/rm /system/app/Stock.apk

QuickOffice
/system/bin/rm /system/app/Quickoffice.apk

PDFViewer
/system/bin/rm /system/app/PDFViewer.apk
/system/bin/rm /system/app/PDFViewer.odex

Mail
/system/bin/rm /system/app/Mail.apk
/system/bin/rm /system/app/Mail.odex

Mail & Widget
/system/bin/rm /system/app/htcmailwidgets.apk
/system/bin/rm /system/app/htcmailwidgets.odex

Flickr
/system/bin/rm /system/app/Flickr.apk
/system/bin/rm /system/app/Flickr.odex

Calculator
/system/bin/rm /system/app/Calculator.apk
/system/bin/rm /system/app/Calculator.odex

Calendar
/system/bin/rm /system/app/Calendar.apk
/system/bin/rm /system/app/Calendar.odex

CalendarProvider
/system/bin/rm /system/app/CalendarProvider.apk
/system/bin/rm /system/app/CalendarProvider.odex



Even removed the Calender app since I never used it and the rest of the google syncs (contacs/gmail) are unaffected and work fine, just the calendar has been removed.
 
Upvote 0
ok, i follow the instructions at the top of this thread but when i type adb shell, it says "daemon not running, starting it now" and then just hangs...i walked away for 5 minutes thinking it would just take a few minutes, still nothing.

what do i do now? how do i fix this?

edit: nevermind, a reboot of my pc fixed it...
 
Upvote 0
another quick question: i removed a bunch of stuff from the list using the move method (to /system/app.disabled), but the widgets are still in the list when i try to add a widget to my home screen...and things such as facebook for htc sense are still in the list when i try to share pictures or links...

how do i remove the apps/widgets from those places?
 
Upvote 0
We aren't going to update to receive said patch. That said I really wish there was a command to guarantee ota blockage. I asked about this awhile back but I've heard of nothing yet.

couldn't we just move the system updater app to the app.disabled folder we created? or would it make the entire phone crash?

another quick question: i removed a bunch of stuff from the list using the move method (to /system/app.disabled), but the widgets are still in the list when i try to add a widget to my home screen

here's a screenshot of what i was talking about, note the weird widgets...
 

Attachments

  • snap20100705_115944.png
    snap20100705_115944.png
    76.8 KB · Views: 84
Upvote 0

BEST TECH IN 2023

We've been tracking upcoming products and ranking the best tech since 2007. Thanks for trusting our opinion: we get rewarded through affiliate links that earn us a commission and we invite you to learn more about us.

Smartphones