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Help Ability to "Turn off" Some Bloat ware grayed out - SOLVED!

C

Chronia

Lurker
Hi There,
I have recently acquired a Samsung Galaxy S3 here are my specs:

Manufacturer: Samsung
Model: SCH-1535
Android Version: 4.4.2 (It tells me when I check for updates that this is the most recent version and no updates are available)
Carrier: Verizon
Rooted: No

Here is my issue. I keep getting asked to update an app I do not use from via Google Play Notifications. The app in question is AllShareCast Dongle S/W Update. I have looked under Settings>Applications>All and there there is no such app listed. there are other AllShare apps listed which I can force stop, but not turn off as the turn off option is grayed out. On other sites about disabling apps they list a "disable" button. I don't have that on my S3 I have a "Turn Off" button, which, as previously mentioned, is grayed out for the app in question. I would like to know how I can disable (not remove) this app so I don't keep getting asked to update it when it is something I will never use.

Also I would like to disable the live wallpapers News Wall and Stock Wall as they are also something I will never use, but again the do not seem to be listed (by those names at least) under the all applications list. Are they listed as something else?

I know I can't remove these bloatware programs without rooting my phone which I do not want to do, so I am quite content to just disable them and no see them and pretend they aren't even there to begin with.

Any help on this is appreciated.

P.S. I'm sorry if this is a duplicated topic. I am new to these forums and did not see a way to search the boards for a particular posting other than to manually go through every thread, so my apologies if this has already been addressed elsewhere.
 
I guess that "turn off" and "disable" mean the same thing. If the button itself is disabled then you can't disable the apps.
 
Chronia said:
I know I can't remove these bloatware programs without rooting my phone which I do not want to do, so I am quite content to just disable them and no see them and pretend they aren't even there to begin with.
Click to expand...

Reading through your message you obviously know some of issues involved here so I'm probably just confirming what you already know more or less. Samsung likes to add a lot of apps, the AllShareCast Dongle being a typical example, on their phones, along with layering their own user interface, Touchwiz, on top of the Android interface. Things like the 'live wallpaper' (innocuously buried in your 'Application manager/All' and accessible by just an extended finger press on any screen to get to the contextual 'Set wallpaper' menu) allow you to easily add your own photos to the mix, but editing the wallpaper content individually is a 'root' kind of thing. So I think you pretty much answered your own question, since you're opting to not root your phone there's just a not lot of that Samsung cruft that you can't eliminate or manipulate.

You can however customize your phone's appearance to suit your needs and at least if things look they way you want there's the 'out of sight, out of mind' benefit. You can add or switch app icons in your launcher, or install one of the more functional third-party launchers from Google Play. You can add, remove, and change the order of your screen pages by just taking two fingers and diagonally sweeping them inwards to see a live, scaled down representation of all your screens. So at least there are some things you can do to personalize your phone, despite the fact that Samsung knows more about what we want and need on our phones (cough, cough).
 
My link posting skills kinda weak but this is the app
 

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  • Screenshot_2015-12-01-14-48-41.png
    Screenshot_2015-12-01-14-48-41.png
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svim said:
Reading through your message you obviously know some of issues involved here so I'm probably just confirming what you already know more or less. Samsung likes to add a lot of apps, the AllShareCast Dongle being a typical example, on their phones, along with layering their own user interface, Touchwiz, on top of the Android interface. Things like the 'live wallpaper' (innocuously buried in your 'Application manager/All' and accessible by just an extended finger press on any screen to get to the contextual 'Set wallpaper' menu) allow you to easily add your own photos to the mix, but editing the wallpaper content individually is a 'root' kind of thing. So I think you pretty much answered your own question, since you're opting to not root your phone there's just a not lot of that Samsung cruft that you can't eliminate or manipulate.

You can however customize your phone's appearance to suit your needs and at least if things look they way you want there's the 'out of sight, out of mind' benefit. You can add or switch app icons in your launcher, or install one of the more functional third-party launchers from Google Play. You can add, remove, and change the order of your screen pages by just taking two fingers and diagonally sweeping them inwards to see a live, scaled down representation of all your screens. So at least there are some things you can do to personalize your phone, despite the fact that Samsung knows more about what we want and need on our phones (cough, cough).
Click to expand...

Thanks for the considerate reply, I really appreciate your consideration of my technical knowledge :) And I agree, Samsung really should listen to what we want or at the least not load up our phone with junk but make it available for download for free through the android downloader.

Jfalls63 said:
My link posting skills kinda weak but this is the app
Click to expand...

Thanks for the picture, although you initial link didn't work the picture with the app name allowed me to find it on google play. I will take a look at the reviews and what not and decide if I want to buy it our not. I appreciate the help.
 
scary alien said:
Ah, this is very interesting...I'm guessing / seeing that the app becomes a device admin in order to allow you to do what normally takes root to do--very nice and clever! :)

btw: I fixed @Jfalls63's link above :).
Click to expand...

Thank you @scary alien and @Jfalls63 for the program idea and link. Ultimately after reviewing it with hubby we decided to purchase it did the trick. It was worth th $2. thanks again!
 
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