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Disable download manager
nickdalzell
Extreme Android User
Download Manager is only used by Play Store, Play Services for installs/updates, and by Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge for Android web browsers. Apps such as Amazon Kindle, Amazon Music, Spotify, Samsung Galaxy Store use their own, in-built download manager inside their respective apps. the system app that Google relies on is an old holdover from when every app depended on it instead of packaging and sandboxing their own. Download Manager is a system app. But today, many apps have their own download feature that renders it mostly obsolete. Even my current browser, Dolphin Browser Mini from 2009 has its own download manager.
with the system app 'download manager' disabled, it will break Google Play Store from opening until it's re-enabled, Google Play Services will not be able to update itself, and Chrome/Edge will fail to download anything, erroring out. Many non-Google apps will work fine and download no problem, some mentioned above, but there are a few third party apps still depending on the system app download manager, so your experience might vary
with the system app 'download manager' disabled, it will break Google Play Store from opening until it's re-enabled, Google Play Services will not be able to update itself, and Chrome/Edge will fail to download anything, erroring out. Many non-Google apps will work fine and download no problem, some mentioned above, but there are a few third party apps still depending on the system app download manager, so your experience might vary
you can always re-enable it, if something gets broken. no harm no foul.
Well, I took the plunge and disabled it, along with googoo framework "services". While I was poking around I noticed media storage, mobile services, and software update, actually 2 of them, 1 with an alarming 1.10 gb of user data which apparently cannot be removed. How many of these should I clear, disable, or both? I did not see any rollback choice.
nickdalzell
Extreme Android User
Software update might have that 1.10 gb of data because it likely downloaded an update before you kill't it. If I use No Root Firewall to disable OTA updates, and I reboot my phone, sometimes it is able to latch onto an update before Firewall restarts, and I dealt with that annoyance last week, it constantly nagging me one was available, and showing it constantly trying and failing to download said update. thankfully it was only a OneUI decimal update, no more or less important to me than a security patch, so I installed it, re-enabled my update block, and now just remember to put phone into Airplane Mode before a restart.
Otherwise it's just app data, as many modern apps built in today are quite large. I think Pale Moon on my Linux machine is over 2GBs in size, a huge difference from the 35MB of Netscape Navigator. It can seem daunting but it's harmless. But for safe measure, you can install the same app, NetGuard No Root Firewall from F-Droid or direct APK download, and disable the internet to any app or service you hate, and it's more effective than disabling system services, many of which don't even let you disable them anymore.
I was able to have one tablet literally frozen in time that way, with all my Google Play Music, Books, downloaded movies and TV, and even offline Calm app data via NetGuard. Tablet was always offline, but you'd be able to enjoy all that was on it, like the year were still 2017.
I was able to make my Z Flip 4 an Android 2.3 device, well, you'd have to look close to know any better by just replacing all the built ins with Android 2.3 apps. Obviously can't do all of them, but with a theme and icon pack you'd be unable to know it's not running Android 2.3 + TouchWiz like the Galaxy SII.
Otherwise it's just app data, as many modern apps built in today are quite large. I think Pale Moon on my Linux machine is over 2GBs in size, a huge difference from the 35MB of Netscape Navigator. It can seem daunting but it's harmless. But for safe measure, you can install the same app, NetGuard No Root Firewall from F-Droid or direct APK download, and disable the internet to any app or service you hate, and it's more effective than disabling system services, many of which don't even let you disable them anymore.
I was able to have one tablet literally frozen in time that way, with all my Google Play Music, Books, downloaded movies and TV, and even offline Calm app data via NetGuard. Tablet was always offline, but you'd be able to enjoy all that was on it, like the year were still 2017.
I was able to make my Z Flip 4 an Android 2.3 device, well, you'd have to look close to know any better by just replacing all the built ins with Android 2.3 apps. Obviously can't do all of them, but with a theme and icon pack you'd be unable to know it's not running Android 2.3 + TouchWiz like the Galaxy SII.