Creating Space unistalling system updates.

[Bradden]

Someone posted this on the vodafone forum.

"this has all been interesting and i'm no expert and have modest technical ability but i have by myself found a really simple way to get by the poor memory problem
i now have a phone with 40 mb spare memory (still modest i know) instead of 2 mb memory and i solved it in a way that nobody else including the 'tech' team seems to know about ( i say that because no one mentioned it)
all i did was uninstall all the updates to the pre installed apps facebook,maps,youtube etc and then updated them ,face book went from 29 mb to 7 mb i can only assume there is a cummulitive effect each time you update ie 4 updates of 7mb for facebook = 28mb uninstall and then update = 7mb and the latest version of the app
why did nobody mention this did nobody know have i discovered it or am i wrong lol"

It's the first time I've heard of this.

 

[SUroot]

Because on an S-ON device, system updates do not go to /system/app (unwriteable) where the actual apps are installed, they go to /data/app where users install their apps.

 

[coos lick]

Used to do this before rooting - read about it here!
Yes, you can uninstall the updates for system apps, and get some space, but it felt mean, and that I was missing out on new features for these apps.
Rooting really is only the way to go to really free up the phone to do what you want.

 

[SUroot]

Agreed.

 

[Bradden]

Used to do this before rooting - read about it here!
Yes, you can uninstall the updates for system apps, and get some space, but it felt mean, and that I was missing out on new features for these apps.
Rooting really is only the way to go to really free up the phone to do what you want.

Thanks.. I think what the guy was saying was he rolled back the updates and then reupdates.. so he has the latest version of the apps. The thery is that the combination of updates takes up more space than removing the old ones and then updating.. the cumulative effect as he called it.

It was a new idea to me so I thought I'd ask. I'm fully rooted and s-off so space is no longer an issue for me but I wish I has known about this before I rooted.

 

[Hadron]

I read their description the same way. It would seem odd to me - I'd expect the next update to replace the previous one, same as any user app. But I can't argue with what they see, even if I'm unsure that their explanation is correct.

Unfortunately it's been a long time since I've had to worry about this, so can't easily check directly.

 

[Bradden]

Thanks.. I have suggested the root.. but they are happy now they've found some space.

I was jsut suprised.. if true it's not promoted.