I learned early on battery apps are hogs and counter productive. They take up space and tell you how quickly they're draining your battery. However over charging is bad for the battery, so a very cool app, very small and can be set to run only during charge and tell you when charge is complete is called Overcharged... only 64 kb and uses 4kb of data on my phone. I've set it to disable after unplugging but if you want the little number running up top you can set it that way.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.dymsoft.com.overcharged&hl=en

Spare Parts is another must have for this phone. We have no way of setting system font size, this app enable you to. Works well with the native messenger app (although I prefer to use an old version of "Go", no widget. When going through the menu, etc. You can see every thing on this screen and put down the reading glasses, sometimes. Only 320 kb, and 328 when running. Can load to SD but since it's working with the system and is so damn small I leave it on the phone. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.droidgram.spareparts&hl=en

OK, one more. Smart Keyboard Trial I can't believe what a great no bells and whistles app this is. It's smooth, aesthetically pleasing, my mike is right in there... just no emoji's and I could care less. I can make a smiley or a frowny face all by myself... see. That's enough for this baby boomer It's comparable to
Go's keyboard without the extra's and is only 2.30mb and uses 44.0 kb. For a great keyboard, that's cool. I tried Gingerbread keyboard, this is way smaller and better. The English dictionary is another 0.90 mb and can go on the SD Card.
These are all up to date versions, but there's some old good stuff out there. For instance my Go SMS Pro is version 4.52. Only 5.59 MB and 216kb of data. Works with mike and MMS. No widget but it notifies. Compare to the latest Go-Zilla Amazing it works, and really well. Even reads my texts aloud.
It's amazing what you can safely find via third party.

These two sites have never given me malware or any problems. I've used a few others but I'd only recommend these two.
http://www.androiddrawer.com/
http://www.apkmirror.com/

At these sites I've gotten older, very functional versions of:
Out of Milk 4.1.6 (SD)
G Tasks (SD)
Google Drive ver 1.1.1.6 10.57 MB and data varies. I'm at 468kb of data this app has to be on the phone.
Voice Search 2.1.4 4.57mb and 8.00 kb (the current version isn't even compatible)

I've even gotten smaller, older versions of play and play store although they'll just reinstall so I gave up on that one.
To this novice memory and RAM are what runs or kills this phone.
My stock Gz1 is currently has 129 MB of free RAM and 54 mb of IM.

Also, stay with Pico TTS. On the last update it stopped working. I had no voice on Navigation and the google upgrade wasn't compatible. I had to download Svoxx crap, then I figured out during the update, the language pack wasn't included, but the app still was functional. It was hell finding it but all is backed up now and it works just fine with Google Navigation

Yeah, my IM is getting low, but not to the point of a warning or a problem still...thanks Google Play for sucking I hope they slow down on expansion... or somebody out there can tell me how to partition my IM without root and move all the bloat and non-essentials to the card.

Lastly, since us non rooters don't have a "disable" option, I suggest after charging clear the memory on all the app-crap you don't want running. You'll save boo-koo MB's.

If ya' got something better or different puh-leese share!!!!!
Hope this is helpful and some of you vets contribute what you might be using/know.

 

I really,really need a super small light wieght email client to replace the "retired" stock version.
Can't root like you guys so space is valuable.
Found apk of original android 2.3.3 email but won't install. Guessing Google doesn't care for that.
Because I use both gmail and hotmail I have both their email apps (lots of storage)
Outlook is getting ready to retire my version to something incompatible.
If I could dump Outlook and rollback gmail and clear the data and just use a small 3rd party email client (loading on SD would be gravy) that is ad free and has the push option for both accounts) I'd have a ton more storage.
Thought I found what I needed after trying a ton of apps...Sol Mail,
but it doesn't "push" for outlook, only gmail
Should I disable "background data"?
It''s free since I'm on STalk but since I have auto sync enabled is it necessary?
Also, will gmail still push if I disable auto sync and is either of these changes going to save memory or storage.
I also have Google Location disabled, I only use it with Navigation.
Thanks!

 

Thanks Wilster,
Sorry since I posted this I've gotten a C811. Getting it on ST was a pain, but it's a huge step up for me. I can only imagine how cool the c811 would be without the bloat.
Keeping my c771 for wi-fi stuff, and since there's no sim card it's easy to activate, even for ST.

 

Thanks Wilster,
That was one of the perks I was looking forward to in moving up to Android 4.0
I've disabled everything that doesn't interfere with phone function and I don't use.
I've noticed if you upgrade an app the disable option disappears.

Say, I was at King Root's site. They include the c881 as a phone they can auto-root. I have my doubts, what say you?
Thanks

 

Is MO70 (that's the build description) the same as M70.
It'll really work???
If you wanted an idiot proof would you be comfortable with King Root?

 

You haven't rooted M70 even with your own process?
So could losing root on re-boot brick the phone or cause problems.
You mentioned "initial lack of root support", do you know if the support has gotten better.
Would you recommend another "dummy proof" system over King Root?
Thanks

 

Wislter,
I know you're busy, so if you don't post right away not a problem.

I thought/assumed you had done something similar like w/ the c771.
Looking at the screen shots I always thought your ROM looked great but that root and ROM process scared the heck out of me. Over my head.

With or without Root do you recommend/use a launcher?
I know there's a ton out there.
I looked at several reviews, Lightning Launcher get's high marks because it supposed utilize system resources really well. Not a lot of bells and whistles.
I know Google's is free, I see mixed reviews... I'm not always found of Big Brother, but if it's best for this phone...
Getting closer to a Nexus experience would be kinda' cool.
Also in non-root could a launcher cause problems, especially if you uninstall?
I briefly tried Zeam Launcher on my c771 but had to dump it for physical storage.
Surprisingly it worked well though.
Your thoughts?

Ok, so you've used Kingo on M50 and helped/seen it work on M70?
So it's a simple as the website leads us to believe?
I've backed up everything on SD using File Explorer, but I always read about Titanium Pro being a must for root both as a pre-root OS back-up and to utilize root function.
Am I correct?
Are there other apps I also should in conjunction with root as well?
Did you install a ROM and if so how did it go? Would you recommend one?

Still have my c771, with wi-fi it comes in handy.
Also a great emergency phone.
If my C881 or any future phone breaks, it's easy for Strait Talk to activate due to no SIM card.

Lastly for your consideration. Green Power Battery saver... I've used it for over a year. It doesn't kill anything, it just manages really well. You can kill gmail's push feature and schedule all syncing. It knows when wi-fi is a better option, and you can kill wi-fi out in public. When the screen is down services run periodically. Plus a whole lot more. It's a great app, especially for non-root.

Hey thanks for everything!