Unable to disable apps on Pixel in Nougat?

Deleted User · Mar 21, 2017

When I go to Settings > Apps, any app I go into doesn't have the Disable button, just Uninstall and Force Stop. I can't find any info on how to disable an app or why it's not there anymore.

I use this feature for certain apps I may not want active at the time or just to try to diagnose problem apps. It's kind of a pain to have to uninstall/reinstall.

Arqum Younus · Mar 21, 2017

Hope given below link will solve your query.
https://support.google.com/pixelphone/answer/2521768?hl=en

kratos · Mar 21, 2017

I don't ever remember having the option to disable user installed apps. AFAIK you can only disable system apps (ie chrome, camera, gmail, etc). User installed apps (ie installed from the play store or a 3rd party source) have always been uninstall without a disable option.

Check your camera and Chrome apps and let us know if you see the disable option or not.

Kratos

Hadron · Mar 22, 2017

I can disable user installed apps on my phone, but it's not a pixel. You mileage may vary.

Deleted User · Mar 24, 2017

Arqum Younus said:
Hope given below link will solve your query.
https://support.google.com/pixelphone/answer/2521768?hl=en

Arqum, that link says to use the Disable button on the app; there's no Disable button in the app info view. However, going through more apps, I see the option on pre-installed Google apps, but then there is not Uninstall button. I'm not sure your link solves the problem or explains why there's no Disable button. I do have Instant Apps enabled, but I'm not seeing that any of the apps I looked at are Instant Apps.

kratos said:
I don't ever remember having the option to disable user installed apps. AFAIK you can only disable system apps (ie chrome, camera, gmail, etc). User installed apps (ie installed from the play store or a 3rd party source) have always been uninstall without a disable option.

Check your camera and Chrome apps and let us know if you see the disable option or not.

Kratos

Every Android phone and tablet I've ever used for the last several years have had the Disable option, except for the Pixel.

The Camera app and Chrome app are pre-installed Google apps, and have the Disable button but not the Uninstall button. My previous phones and tablets had both. I'm seeing no explanation for this.

Hadron said:
I can disable user installed apps on my phone, but it's not a pixel. You mileage may vary.

This is like every other phone and tablet I've owned in the last several years.

kratos · Mar 24, 2017

Okay, so I checked my last phone an HTC M8 on Verizon, my tablet a Samsung Galaxy Tab S2, and my new phone Pixel XL. Below are the results.

HTC One M8 running Android 6.0 - Has option for some, but not all user installed apps to disable, force stop, and uninstall. Other user installed apps do not have the disable option. System apps have the option to disable, uninstall updates, and force stop. Many system apps have the option to disable grayed out.

Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 running Android 6.0.1 - Does not have the option to disable ANY user installed app. Only system apps have the option to disable and even then many of these apps the option is grayed out.

Pixel XL running Android 7.1.1 - Does not have the option to disable ANY user installed app. Only system apps have the option to disable and even then many of these apps the option is grayed out.

Based on this info, I would say that either Google removed the option to disable user installed apps with the 6.0.1 update OR it is not natively supported by Android, but manufacturers included the option in their specific skins (ie Sense for HTC).

With Google backing up app settings and data, Games that offer Google Games sign in auto backing up data, and many apps also offering the ability to create your own backups to the SD card, I wouldn't think it would be that hard to uninstall an app check if the issues still exists and then reinstall it and restore your backup. Is this ideal, probably not. Is this guaranteed to work for every app out there, probably not. But every app I have either restores from Google or my own backup and I, personally, have not had an issue with it.

One other option you have is to root your Pixel and you can use Titanium Backup to truly ensure you get the app fully backed up. Titanium also offers the ability to freeze any app, which is essentially the same as disabling. This is not a suggested route for ANYONE who is not comfortable with having full system access and potentially the ability to completely soft brick your device or possibly void any warranties on the device. However, it is still an option.

Not sure if any of this actually helps you or not, but it is what I can find.

Kratos

Deleted User · Mar 26, 2017

kratos said:
Okay, so I checked my last phone an HTC M8 on Verizon, my tablet a Samsung Galaxy Tab S2, and my new phone Pixel XL. Below are the results.

HTC One M8 running Android 6.0 - Has option for some, but not all user installed apps to disable, force stop, and uninstall. Other user installed apps do not have the disable option. System apps have the option to disable, uninstall updates, and force stop. Many system apps have the option to disable grayed out.

Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 running Android 6.0.1 - Does not have the option to disable ANY user installed app. Only system apps have the option to disable and even then many of these apps the option is grayed out.

Pixel XL running Android 7.1.1 - Does not have the option to disable ANY user installed app. Only system apps have the option to disable and even then many of these apps the option is grayed out.

Based on this info, I would say that either Google removed the option to disable user installed apps with the 6.0.1 update OR it is not natively supported by Android, but manufacturers included the option in their specific skins (ie Sense for HTC).

I have the M8 and I can disable any user-installed apps and many pre-installed apps (many of which also have the uninstall option); very few have neither option. It's using 6.0.1. This indicates the default is to allow Disable/Uninstall and the exceptions are for certain apps determined by the manufacturer or carrier or Google.

The Pixel version 7x indicates Google has removed the Disable option except for apps that are not allowed to be installed but Google is still OK with allowing disable as a way to just stop the app for a user-determined amount of time, however with Disable being removed from user-installed apps, the Uninstall function now must be done just to "disable" an app for a user-determined amount of time. This has caused me issues where I've needed to disable an app for a while (for testing or just not wanting to use it or have it running for a while), but been forced to uninstall then reinstall, which sometimes takes a long time from the Play store for some reason even when internet is fast from any other site, and typically the re-install is extremely slow, making me think Google is punishing a user for uninstalling temporarily, leaving me feeling they are not treating the user with proper responsibility.

I am just hoping this is a temporary "feature" or bug, and we will get the Disable option back in Nougat or O, as I see no reason to ban it, especially for conscientious users, and having it there reduces strain on their servers and users with less downloading and reinstalling.

kratos said:
With Google backing up app settings and data, Games that offer Google Games sign in auto backing up data, and many apps also offering the ability to create your own backups to the SD card, I wouldn't think it would be that hard to uninstall an app check if the issues still exists and then reinstall it and restore your backup. Is this ideal, probably not. Is this guaranteed to work for every app out there, probably not. But every app I have either restores from Google or my own backup and I, personally, have not had an issue with it.

One other option you have is to root your Pixel and you can use Titanium Backup to truly ensure you get the app fully backed up. Titanium also offers the ability to freeze any app, which is essentially the same as disabling. This is not a suggested route for ANYONE who is not comfortable with having full system access and potentially the ability to completely soft brick your device or possibly void any warranties on the device. However, it is still an option.

Not sure if any of this actually helps you or not, but it is what I can find.

Kratos

Backing up apps means turning on side-loading, which of course is its own security risk, more trouble than I think is necessary, and was unnecessary due to the Disable feature before. This option is one of the reasons why I prefer Android to iPhone, but I fear Google is trying again too hard to be like Apple and resisting user choice and treating them like they're incapable of making good choices yet choosing for us what only they think are good choices.

Rooting is far more of a security issue than side-loading.

manderdog · Mar 27, 2017

What is the difference between "REMOVE or DISABLE"?

Deleted User · Mar 28, 2017

manderdog said:
What is the difference between "REMOVE or DISABLE"?

Remove means to uninstall. Disable doesn't uninstall.

codesplice · Mar 31, 2017

Stock AOSP Android (as present on Nexus/Pixel devices) has never natively supported disabling user-installed applications. As @kratos suggested, that is a capability that was added by some manufacturers.

When Android 4.0 introduced the ability to disable apps, it was specifically designed for pre-installed system applications that could not otherwise be removed. This allowed users to prevent carrier-loaded bloatware or other unwanted apps from running without requiring root-level permissions to physically remove the apps from the write-protected /system partition.

From Google's perspective, being able to disable user-installed apps would be redundant - why leave them on the phone, taking up space, when you could just as easily remove them completely?

If you're just looking to keep certain apps from running in the background, you might try out the free Greenify app. It doesn't require root, and is able to "hibernate" certain apps to prevent them from running unless you manually launch them.

Deleted User · Apr 1, 2017

codesplice said:
From Google's perspective, being able to disable user-installed apps would be redundant - why leave them on the phone, taking up space, when you could just as easily remove them completely?

I already explained why Disable is better than Uninstall/reinstall; sometimes I just need to disable an app for a while (even if it's just for a minute to keep it from re-starting its service or whatever) for testing, to see if it fixes a performance issue, or if I just don't want it doing whatever it does (scanning, tracking, broadcasting, whatever) for a while, and uninstalling is overkill and reinstalling can take a while to do and be problematic especially if I'm on cell data (or if the connection isn't good) and for whatever reason the Play store is super-slow even when everything else I'm using on the internet connection is fast... I don't know why I have to keep re-explaining why Disable is a useful feature and Uninstall alone is obnoxious, unnecessary, and potentially problematic.

codesplice said:
If you're just looking to keep certain apps from running in the background, you might try out the free Greenify app. It doesn't require root, and is able to "hibernate" certain apps to prevent them from running unless you manually launch them.

That's great that I have to install another app to take care of Google's insistence that I not be able to disable user-installed apps on the Pixel, but I have no idea if Greenify is good enough or will have its own bugs or incompatibility issues with future updates (I leave auto-updating on over WiFi if my phone's Android version is on the latest major number). I see no reason why Google should keep hiding the Disable button for user-installed apps; that feature should be at the system level for all apps that aren't required to keep the phone running properly.

codesplice · Apr 2, 2017

I'm just the messenger, doing what I can to answer your questions and concerns. I can't change what Google has done, but I've tried to provide a workaround which will facilitate the desired behavior so that you can effectively disable apps you don't need but don't want to uninstall.

If you don't like the way Google has chosen to implement the feature, the best way to let them know is via the Help > Send Feedback option from the Settings app. :thumbsupdroid:

Deleted User · Apr 25, 2017

codesplice said:
I'm just the messenger, doing what I can to answer your questions and concerns. I can't change what Google has done, but I've tried to provide a workaround which will facilitate the desired behavior so that you can effectively disable apps you don't need but don't want to uninstall.

Please re-read my replies in context with your replies, as my last reply was partially re-explaining what I'd said as it appeared you'd misunderstood. I'm not trying to shoot the messenger.

codesplice said:
If you don't like the way Google has chosen to implement the feature, the best way to let them know is via the Help > Send Feedback option from the Settings app.

I already did.

Unable to disable apps on Pixel in Nougat?

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