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Root manually removing bloat??? step inside please

trophynuts

Extreme Android User
Jul 6, 2010
5,629
1,792
SouthEastern US
Now that the Rezound has root. A lot of users will want to get rid of bloat. There are a few scripts out that will do this for you but some people (me included) like to be more involved in the process. So please read this before diving in.


1. What you think may be "bloat" may actually need to be on the phone for other dependent services to function correctly. There is no way around it some stuff you can not get rid of.

2. On apps that you know 100% is safe to do away with by all means go for it. However when you get into apps that your not sure about. DO THEM ONE AT A TIME. AFTER EACH ONE TEST THE NORMAL FUNCTIONS OF YOUR PHONE. Example things like the dialer, camera, stock texting app. General use of the phone. Because deleting something you think is useless bloat could cause a Force Close on your Dialer. I've seen it happen.


3. HOW TO MANUALLY DO AWAY WITH "BLOAT"

You have several choices:

A. My preferred method is use TiBu (titanium backup pro) to freeze unwanted bloat.

B. You can also rename bloat simply by putting a _ somewhere in the name of it using root explorer.

D. As suggested by MrSmith you can also move the bloat to a separate directory rather than deleting it and keep a copy.

C. FINALLY....IF YOU STRAIGHT UP DELETE BLOAT DO YOURSELF A FAVOR AND KEEP A COPY OF IT FOR SAFE KEEPS IN A FOLDER ON YOUR PC. In case you run into problems and need to put a specific apk back on the phone this will save lots of time.


enjoy
 
Now that the Rezound has root. A lot of users will want to get rid of bloat. There are a few scripts out that will do this for you but some people (me included) like to be more involved in the process. So please read this before diving in.


1. What you think may be "bloat" may actually need to be on the phone for other dependent services to function correctly. There is no way around it some stuff you can not get rid of.

2. On apps that you know 100% is safe to do away with by all means go for it. However when you get into apps that your not sure about. DO THEM ONE AT A TIME. AFTER EACH ONE TEST THE NORMAL FUNCTIONS OF YOUR PHONE. Example things like the dialer, camera, stock texting app. General use of the phone. Because deleting something you think is useless bloat could cause a Force Close on your Dialer. I've seen it happen.


3. HOW TO MANUALLY DO AWAY WITH "BLOAT"

You have several choices:

My preferred method is use TiBu (titanium backup pro) to freeze unwanted bloat.

You can also rename bloat simply by putting a _ somewhere in the name of it using root explorer.

FINALLY....IF YOU STRAIGHT UP DELETE BLOAT DO YOURSELF A FAVOR AND KEEP A COPY OF IT FOR SAFE KEEPS IN A FOLDER ON YOUR PC. In case you run into problems and need to put a specific apk back on the phone this will save lots of time.


enjoy

is deleting an app with Root Explorer the same as using TB to freeze and app?
 
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is deleting an app with Root Explorer the same as using TB to freeze and app?

No. Titanium disables it so that it can be "unfrozen". Deleting the app just makes it go away.

Trophynuts...maybe suggest moving the bloat to a separate directory rather than deleting and keeping a copy.. I know, same difference but might save a few people.
 
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I like to use EStrongs File Explorer - it has root explorer ability and /system read/write that you can turn on/off.

If you're new to all this, and you like EStrongs, then you'll find your apps in /system/app.

Personally, I like to add .sav at the end of frozen files, so they go from XXX.apk to XXX.apk.sav because I find it's easier to search for them later. Like trophynuts says, just so long as you mangle the end of the name.

Some apps have a matching XXX.odex file - leave those alone, but do preserve them in your backups of apps you decide to offload from the phone.

And before trying any manual bloat removal on your own - make a nandroid backup first.
 
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I've been using Titanium for a couple of years but the one thing I've never really messed with is Freezing apps. I've frozen a few now on my Rezound but I have a (hopefully simple) question.

Lets say I have some bloat apps frozen / then for some unseen reason something goes awry and I cannot boot and have to do a full factory unrooted hard reset. Since the apps were not moved or deleted but frozen instead will they just reappear?

Just curious... Thanks in advance.
 
Upvote 0
I've been using Titanium for a couple of years but the one thing I've never really messed with is Freezing apps. I've frozen a few now on my Rezound but I have a (hopefully simple) question.

Lets say I have some bloat apps frozen / then for some unseen reason something goes awry and I cannot boot and have to do a full factory unrooted hard reset. Since the apps were not moved or deleted but frozen instead will they just reappear?

Just curious... Thanks in advance.

well if you were to get to that point then those apps should be the least of your worries. Remember

THIS IS WHEN YOU WOULD RELY ON YOUR NANDROID BACK UP :)

that is a perfect example that you described. If i were to get in that situation i would flash my Stock Backup that i made as soon as i rooted.
 
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well if you were to get to that point then those apps should be the least of your worries. Remember

THIS IS WHEN YOU WOULD RELY ON YOUR NANDROID BACK UP :)

that is a perfect example that you described. If i were to get in that situation i would flash my Stock Backup that i made as soon as i rooted.

Yeah, first thing I did do was a Nandroid backup after I rooted ;) My fear was is I had to factory restore and lost root the frozen apps would screw something up. Thanks for the info.
 
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kudos to you for doing the backup.

personally if i get to that point i like to start fresh so i would just repeat the root process and flash my backup.

In my DroidX days i would do a complete system restore (sbf) all of the time. It was a little bit of a pain but i don't like to spend a lot of time troubleshooting when i could spend half the time getting back to a good starting point.
 
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kudos to you for doing the backup.

personally if i get to that point i like to start fresh so i would just repeat the root process and flash my backup.

In my DroidX days i would do a complete system restore (sbf) all of the time. It was a little bit of a pain but i don't like to spend a lot of time troubleshooting when i could spend half the time getting back to a good starting point.

I don't even think I SBF'd when I returned my phones(went through 3 X's) to Verizon. But then again, I do like troubleshooting.
 
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i got an htc inspire 4g with virtuous unity, sense 3.0.. which apks are safe to remove?

Unfortunately unless someone on this side has an Inspire, nobody here could tell you. The best advice I could give you is create a Backup directory and don't delete anything. Move whatever you'd like to delete into that directory. If something breaks move it back.
 
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