TitaniumBackup: Can I uninstall bloatware but save on extSD?

[movrshakr]

I know how to freeze or uninstall bloatware using TitaniumBackup, but is there a way to copy it to the external SD before uninstalling so it is available to reinstall? Steps would be appreciated.

 

[nicka3200]

There is an app called App Back Up & Restore which will make a copy of the .apk file which can then be reinstalled later if you wish.

 

[Brian706]

Just make a backup of the app in TiBu like you would any other app. Hit the backup/restore tab, tap the app you want to backup and select "Backup!". By default, your backups are saved on the external storage.

After the app is backed up and uninstalled, it should show your backup at the bottom of the list with a strikeout like this: AppNameHere.

Tap on that backup at any time and hit Restore.

 

[Brian706]

There is an app called App Back Up & Restore which will make a copy of the .apk file which can then be reinstalled later if you wish.

Titanium Backup's primary use is for backing up apps and app data. It will backup the .apk. Shouldn't need a second backup app in this situation.

 

[Brian706]

Also, for a more detailed tutorial on Titanium Backup, we have a FAQ thread specifically for that app here: http://androidforums.com/faqs/607141-guide-titaniumbackup-tutorial.html if you're interested in learning more about what you can do with it.

 

[Fox Mulder]

Make a backup of that app, then under the "special features" menu for that app select "send latest backup", "app + data", then "save file locally". You can then change the storage location, which defaults to internal storage (sdcard0), to go to a location on your external SD. You can then uninstall the app (assuming it's safe to do so without bricking your phone). To get it back at a later time, go to the TB menu and select "import backup", then navigate to the location where you put it.
You can also change the backup storage location in TB under preferences so all your backups go to the external SD, this helps save on internal storage space if that's an issue for you. Note however that this is best done when you first install TB, since any existing backups will not be moved to the new location automatically. It will only apply to backups made from that time forward.
When an app has been backed up in TB and then uninstalled, it will appear at the bottom of the app list in TB with the title in slash text (crossed out). You can reinstall it from there.

 

[Fox Mulder]

By default, your backups are saved on the external storage.

TB default backup location is sd0 which is internal storage. If you want it on the external SD you have to specify a new location.

 

[Brian706]

TB default backup location is sd0 which is internal storage. If you want it on the external SD you have to specify a new location.

Interesting. That's not been the case for me. On me Evo 3d, it defaulted my backups to the sd card. On my Nexus 5, it defaulted my backups to the emulated external storage...


Edit:

Doesn't it seem pretty useless to backup to the internal storage? If this were the case, you'd lose your backups every time you wipe and flash a new rom.

 

[movrshakr]

Great info everybody...and some of the points are so obvious I should have figured them out on my own.

I do want the apps gone from internal memory...am down to less than 1GB free (Galaxy S3).

It won't be too hard, but I actually wish (koush is it?) had included a one step process to uninstall and save to specified location... Maybe as a question when you command an uninstall..."Save the apk?" If yes, then 'where?'

Thx for the tutorial link.

I have been freezing the bloatware apps before uninstalling (just a couple so far), but now it occurs to me that freezing them might brick the phone too! The lists I have found in searching are WAY too long (have way too much stuff in them). I just want to eliminate the largest of the "useless" Samsung, ATT, and Google bloatware--not necessarily a full clean out.

 

[Brian706]

I have been freezing the bloatware apps before uninstalling (just a couple so far), but now it occurs to me that freezing them might brick the phone too! The lists I have found in searching are WAY too long (have way too much stuff in them). I just want to eliminate the largest of the "useless" Samsung, ATT, and Google bloatware--not necessarily a full clean out.

I think that freezing is more meant to be used instead of uninstalling. It basically just disables and hides the app so to speak so that you can easily undo that if you want to. IE: I don't think it's necessary to freeze before uninstalling unless you are just wanting to test and see what happens when the app is gone.

I would highly suggest making a backup of your current setup via whatever recovery you are using before you freeze or delete apps. (In fact, I would suggest this before making any changes to system files.) This way if you delete a system app that you shouldn't have, you can easily restore everything to the way it was before you started messing with things.

 

[Fox Mulder]

Interesting. That's not been the case for me. On me Evo 3d, it defaulted my backups to the sd card. On my Nexus 5, it defaulted my backups to the emulated external storage...

You sure about that? Did you check the location and see that it said "externalsd" and not sdcard or sd0? I don't think TB knows what device it's being installed on so I doubt the default would change. I definitely had to change mine to be on the external SD.

Edit:

Doesn't it seem pretty useless to backup to the internal storage? If this were the case, you'd lose your backups every time you wipe and flash a new rom.

Not really, the ROM is held in a different part of internal storage. Flashing doesn't wipe your data unless you do a factory reset. That said though, the most secure way to preserve your data and backups when flashing or updating is to keep it all on the external SD and remove the card before flashing.

 

[Brian706]

You sure about that? Did you check the location and see that it said "externalsd" and not sdcard or sd0? I don't think TB knows what device it's being installed on so I doubt the default would change. I definitely had to change mine to be on the external SD.



Not really, the ROM is held in a different part of internal storage. Flashing doesn't wipe your data unless you do a factory reset. That said though, the most secure way to preserve your data and backups when flashing or updating is to keep it all on the external SD and remove the card before flashing.

I think maybe we are just confusing what the other person means.

On my Evo 3d (Which actually has physical external/removable storage) that's where it saved. Right to my sd card. I didn't have to change anything.


The nexus doesn't have "external storage". It's all internal. The external portion is emulated or however you'd like to say it. By default, TiBu backs it up to that portion of my storage. (The part that doesn't get wiped when performing a factory reset)

Yes, TWRP for example, calls that portion "internal storage". To me, I consider it to be the equivalent to my removable sd card. The part that doesn't get wiped unless you manually choose to wipe it. That is what I referred to as the "emulated external storage".

It gets treated the same way that my sd card was treated.


But on my 3vo, it did not backup to the internal storage (which is only 1gb btw...) where apps were installed by default.


Call it what you will, but I'm pretty sure we are in agreement with the default save location, we are just thinking of it in different ways.

 

[icicle]

AppWererabbit is worth a look, if you just needs APK backup.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.aw.AppWererabbit

 

[Rukbat]

Interesting. That's not been the case for me. On me Evo 3d, it defaulted my backups to the sd card. On my Nexus 5, it defaulted my backups to the emulated external storage...


Edit:

Doesn't it seem pretty useless to backup to the internal storage? If this were the case, you'd lose your backups every time you wipe and flash a new rom.

That's Google's fault, not Titanium's. The external (real external, removable) storage, the little microSD card that you bought, was called sd0. Along comes an internal emulation of an SD card, for those phones that don't want to give you a 10 cent slot, and Google calls THAT sd0. So poor Titanium, rather than branch into 5 different versions, has to stick with saving to sd0 - which can be internal or external, depending on how paranoid the manufacturer is.

Calling internal emulated storage sd1 wouldn't work either, because a lot of apps are written to expect only 1 SD card, so they couldn't address internal storage.

I think the way TiB did it - default to sd0, but let you change it - is about the best that can be done.

(And people wonder why programmers start to go bald by the age of 22 and insane by the age of 25.)