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Root Removing stock apps

DesireMe

Android Expert
May 20, 2010
775
78
Strathaven
I'm root, s-off and have root explorer installed (on this and the XE). I just wanted to know how to remove pre-installed apps (like Stocks) etc.

- Is it just a matter or deleting and rebooting?
- Is there a list of apk's that are safe to remove and what they are?

I've read a few threads here and on XDA, but not really found a modern answer.
 
The third sentence of that guide answers the first question for you. You might want to explicitly clean up the dalvik cache when you are done - erasing it (in the advanced menu of clockworkmod recovery) and rebooting will do this (it will be rebuilt when you boot). Just seems tidier to me to make sure that there's no part of the app left cluttering the phone.

There are some lists around on the web of what can/cannot be removed. Stocks is of course fine - it's the first thing most people delete ;) - and stuff like live wallpapers likewise. For other stuff it is a matter of being sure there is nothing else depends on it (e.g. when I did this with the stock Sense ROM I found that removing some social networking thing I wasn't using - Flickr I think - would cause the People app to crash when I tried to scroll past one of the tabs). If unsure, try "freezing" the app with Ti Backup for a while and seeing whether there are any problems - if so, unfreeze and don't delete that one.

To be safe it's probably best to take a nandroid before you start removing stuff anyway, just in case you get it badly wrong.
 
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