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Tried to ROOT and now in Android Purgatory

coastal_Cruiser

coastal_Cruiser

Newbie
This is a Verizon supplied phone bought in mid 2016 that is now using a Tracfone SIM. Back of phone says "Galaxy J3(6)". About says: Model number: J320VPP.

I got tired of being unable to load all the apps I need so I tried to root the phone to delete the bloatware. Tried several apps from the play store and one or two methods requiring downloading several apps to your PC. In short, failure.

But along the way, in desperation I think I side-loaded an app. Now the phone has a strange horizontal bar across the top with a bunch of nonsensical (to me) statistics. Also, when you swipe your finger across the screen a line appears where you've swiped (kind of like Etchesketch). I forget the name of the app, and it doesn't show up in my app list.

Doe anyone recognize this app, and is there a way to delete it. Thank you so much.
 

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BTW - While here I might just ask a question about rooting while here. (Or perhaps the moderator will ask me to post a fresh thread). This looks like a pretty helpful forum. Thank you.

Now that the alligators are at bay I can get back to draining the swamp (old joke). I guess the first question to ask is, has anybody ever successfully rooted a phone like mine? Is my phone rootable?
 
coastal_Cruiser said:
BTW - While here I might just ask a question about rooting while here. (Or perhaps the moderator will ask me to post a fresh thread). This looks like a pretty helpful forum. Thank you.

Now that the alligators are at bay I can get back to draining the swamp (old joke). I guess the first question to ask is, has anybody ever successfully rooted a phone like mine? Is my phone rootable?
Click to expand...
Pretty sure with being a Verizon device, the bootloader is locked tight, as in, cannot root.
I'll poke around and see if I can find something but I'm pretty sure Verizon devices are not root friendly at all. :(
 
El Presidente said:
Yeah, Mike's right, Verizon generally lock their devices up pretty tightly.

What version of Android are you running?
Click to expand...
I'm running 6.0.1.

And just to reiterate, all I'm trying to do is kill off the bloatware. Not sure if there is a Plan B for that if you can't root.

Thanx for the reply.
 
El Presidente said:
Yeah, devices with 6.0 and above require an unlocked bootloader to root (in most cases).

Have a look at this, it will probably do what you want it to: http://www.packagedisabler.com/
Click to expand...

Thanx for the trouble. I bought it and tried it out. Powerful app, but it only disables... does not remove. I wasn't to clear in my goal. I have plenty of RAM memory, but the phone has only 8Gig of onboard storage. Bloatware takes up more than half that, so I am literally trying to free up space. I did try AppMgr III to move apps to the SD card but many of my apps cannot be moved.

I think it's time for a new phone. Actually working my way through that maze now ... ;>
 
Ah, apologies for misunderstanding. You are kinda screwed if you want to remove apps without root. :(

If you're looking for a new phone, what's your budget? Aside from additional space, what sort of specs are you looking for?
 
El Presidente said:
Ah, apologies for misunderstanding. You are kinda screwed if you want to remove apps without root. :(

If you're looking for a new phone, what's your budget? Aside from additional space, what sort of specs are you looking for?
Click to expand...

So glad you asked! I was wondering if I could get away with that question in this thread. I am actually compiling a list of needed features right now. I've learned you can't assume anything with a phone. For example last week my satellite internet vendor (we live in the sticks) had me download a Viasat/Exede app that shows all the vendors satellites in my view. Upon downloading the app it wouldn't, because the app needed 1) accelerometer, 2) compass, 3) GPS. My phone is missing a compass (not sure about accelerometer) so I had to borrow a phone to check. You never know.

I think the phone I REALLY want does not exist yet. I want one single phone that will take multiple SIM cards, so that I can tap into at least two different carriers. For my area that would be Verizon and AT&T. Very often I will travel where only one of the carriers will have coverage. If a phone could have dual sims then one could have two plans, and whichever tower the phone hit would tap into the corresponding plan. Seems like such a simple idea, but perhaps.. WAIT. STOP. I decided to Google such an animal just now, and the do exist! The downside seems to be that you must have two separate phone numbers, and that won't work for me.

Which brings me to my core need; I drive for Uber/Lyft on occasion. If it wasn't for that I could be getting by on the cheap $15 prepaid phones I used to buy. :> I think the ride-sharing services only allow the driver account to specify 1 phone number.

So for my driving area Verizon has the best coverage. I have also learned that my usage habits (again, occasional driver only, and very light calling/texting when not driving) Tracfone is the best service provider, and Tracfone hits Verizon towers.

Not many more features needed really. Unlocked, Tracfone, compass, accelerometer. A fast processor would help when driving for Uber/Lyft. Obviously I will be getting 32G or 64G of onboard storage. Rootable would be nice. Again, you never know.

I am looking at a Motorola phone at the moment.
Motorola - Moto G Plus (5th Gen) 4G LTE with 32GB Memory Cell Phone (Unlocked)

So far this phone seems to qualify. Not sure yet what sensors it has. No dual SIMs but will work with most carriers.
 
coastal_Cruiser said:
Thanx for the trouble. I bought it and tried it out. Powerful app, but it only disables... does not remove. I wasn't to clear in my goal. I have plenty of RAM memory, but the phone has only 8Gig of onboard storage. Bloatware takes up more than half that, so I am literally trying to free up space. I did try AppMgr III to move apps to the SD card but many of my apps cannot be moved.

I think it's time for a new phone. Actually working my way through that maze now ... ;>
Click to expand...
If you can disable the apps that will remove their data and any updates to them. That will save you all the space you would get back by removing them.

The reason is that system apps live in a separate partition. You do not have access to the space there, and it will not get smaller if you remove apps from it.
 
Hadron said:
If you can disable the apps that will remove their data and any updates to them. That will save you all the space you would get back by removing them.

The reason is that system apps live in a separate partition. You do not have access to the space there, and it will not get smaller if you remove apps from it.
Click to expand...

I see. Helpful to know. I did use the app to disable all "bloatware". As you know there is an option for that. Unfortunately it did not free up any space (I presume data for the bloatware is stored in the accessible partition), probably because I had never used the apps. ?? Still at 7.6x of 8gig. Oh well.
 
coastal_Cruiser said:
. I decided to Google such an animal just now, and the do exist! The downside seems to be that you must have two separate phone numbers, and that won't work for me.
Click to expand...
There really is no way round that. It's how telephony works, a number is assigned to one network, and that's how calls are routed to it.

It sounds like what you needed here was a national roaming deal, where your phone can use another network if its home one wasn't available. That type of thing can only be done via arrangements between the networks though, nothing the end user can set up.
 
coastal_Cruiser said:
I see. Helpful to know. I did use the app to disable all "bloatware". As you know there is an option for that. Unfortunately it did not free up any space (I presume data for the bloatware is stored in the accessible partition), probably because I had never used the apps. ?? Still at 7.6x of 8gig. Oh well.
Click to expand...
Data for the apps are stored in the user-accessible partition.

I was describing what disabling through the system menu does. I've never used that app because it is specific to Samsung, and my phones have always been other brands. But if you can find those apps in the app manager you can see whether they have any data you can clear, and probably clear them without re-enabling if so.

The truth is that 8GB is simply inadequate for any phone these days. After you take out space used by the system there will never be more than 4 left, probably less (especially if it's a Verizon Samsung, as both are known for adding bloat, which means more space allocated to the system partition).
 
Hadron said:
There really is no way round that. It's how telephony works, a number is assigned to one network, and that's how calls are routed to it.

It sounds like what you needed here was a national roaming deal, where your phone can use another network if its home one wasn't available. That type of thing can only be done via arrangements between the networks though, nothing the end user can set up.
Click to expand...

Good thought. In researching I am running across some 3rd party services that claim to use both Verizon and AT&T towers. Straight Talk makes this claim.
 
Hadron said:
Data for the apps are stored in the user-accessible partition.

I was describing what disabling through the system menu does. I've never used that app because it is specific to Samsung, and my phones have always been other brands. But if you can find those apps in the app manager you can see whether they have any data you can clear, and probably clear them without re-enabling if so.

The truth is that 8GB is simply inadequate for any phone these days. After you take out space used by the system there will never be more than 4 left, probably less (especially if it's a Verizon Samsung, as both are known for adding bloat, which means more space allocated to the system partition).
Click to expand...

I see. But yeah, I sure have come to the conclusion too that my 8G phone (which I bought less than two years ago at a Verizon store, where the rep assured me this was the best phone for me) is simply inadequate. I think one of the phones at the lower end of the price spectrum will do.
 
coastal_Cruiser said:
Good thought. In researching I am running across some 3rd party services that claim to use both Verizon and AT&T towers. Straight Talk makes this claim.
Click to expand...

FYI they're known as an MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operator). Which do have their own SIMs along with phone numbers allocated to them. Do you have phone number porting in the US?
 
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mikedt said:
FYI they're known as an MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operator). Which do have their own SIMs along with phone numbers allocated to them. Do you have phone number porting in the US?
Click to expand...

Yes, I've been reading up on MVNO. Essentially that is what I have with my current tracfone plan, just never knew of the umbrella term before. And yes, we do have number porting. I had to port my number from Verizon (the original carrier) to tracfone. It went pretty well. I was kind of surprised. ;>
 
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