Some general questions about uninstalling Apps

pstein said:

Sorry for these newbie questions about Android apps but I have not found answers so far:

1.) Can I (without rooting) uninstall each App on my mobilephone?

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Only user apps (generally what you've installed). You have to be rooted to uninstall system apps.

3.) If I need for some apps Root access: How can I find out if an App is uninstallable without root access?

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If the Uninstall button can't be pressed you do.

4.) Assume I go to Settings->Apps->Google Play Books and tap on "Disable" am I asked "Do you want to replace this app with the factory version"?

I don't want to replace the app by another (older) app but want to completely disable it. full stop. The app icon should not appear again on the app icon board and should not consume any more power.

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No app consumes power unless you run it.

@lunatic, something ive been wondering mate.
If a system app is frozen by titanium and it causes a bootloop, will booting into Safe Mode un-freeze it? (Does titanium freeze the app with each boot?)

Yeah im the same mate. Its just something id always wondered and this thread made me think of it again lol

lunatic59 said:

A word of warning about uninstalling those "unused" apps. Android is a compact OS and as such shares many services between apps, especially the Google apps. If you remove one, you may find that you permanently disable something you didn't want disabled.

First, go to menu>settings>apps and swipe over to the "running" tab. Then at the top you can toggle the list between actually running and cached. If the apps aren't actually running and only cached, then ignore them. The less you use them, the lower they will be prioritized and eventually drop off the list.

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How do you toggle the list between actually running and cached? I am 4.4.2 Android and I do not see cached inside Applications Manager. I see Downloaded, SD Card, Running, All, Disabled.

Using Samsung S4

Hi spman, I don't know whether Samsung is the same, but on my HTC One tapping the 3 dot menu button at top right gives the toggle Running/Cached, (press and hold the home button does it too).

Hope this helps.

Am I right to say that in applications manager, running tab, "show cached processes" list, I can stop any of those services since they are not running?
I guess when the system needs them then it will automatically turn them on again?

You cannot approach memory management in Android with the same mindset as for Windows. In Windows, maximum free memory is good and the more the better. In Android, it is exactly the opposite. Android tries to keep the memory full and it uses the most frequently and most recently used apps to statistically determine what to keep in memory. Some items are running, but not being used and some items are cached and left in memory in case they are called on. As statistics about your specific use are cataloged, the running apps and the cached apps list will change to very specifically reflect how you choose to operate the phone. This is the reason app killers are really battery killers in Android. So, unlike with Windows, don't concern yourself with making sure you close things and clean up after yourself because Android's memory management module will take care of all that stuff for you.

On the topic of "Turning Off" apps, yes, the system will uninstall all updates that have been applied and return the app to the version built into the latest firmware that was installed. Once turned off, the app is no longer available to you from the app drawer and is no longer available to other apps to use. Most of the Android stuff that shares functionality, is not allowed to be turned off on an unrooted/unmodified unit. If you root, you can freeze apps with apps like Titanium or you can physically delete apps, but you still cannot uninstall them. Unless you know what you are doing, both the freezing and the deleting can be very dangerous because if you delete something that shares functionality with another app, you could cause issues with the other app and these types of issues can be very difficult to troubleshoot. Overall, if you don't use the app and you can't uninstall it, then just turn it off and the only thing that you lose is the small bit of storage that it occupies. If you can't turn it off, then it is probably best left alone.

In Application Manager, those apps that do not have the [Uninstall] button, they have [Stop] or [Force Stop] or [Disable] button. If I press [Stop] or [Force Stop] or [Disable], then I restart the phone will the app will become normal/alive again after restart?

spman said:

If I press [Stop] or [Force Stop] or [Disable], then I restart the phone will the app will become normal/alive again after restart?

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With the first two, yes. The Disable option persists.