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How do I force android to uninstall unnecessary system apps

elzbone

elzbone

Lurker
I have a Galaxy J7 Crown with internal storage of 16GB. 10GB of this is being used by system apps that I can not uninstall. Not with apps necessary for the running of android and the UI; but things like three different weather apps, the Galaxy store, hancom office suite, and Bixby.

What I have done so far:
-Manually gone through and cleared the cache and data, forced stop, and then disable offending apps. At the same time I remove all permissions and default info. This does nothing, when I back out the data reverts back to what it was before I cleared it.
-Installed an Unistaller app. It says it removes the files but doesn't.
-I install any new apps onto an sd card to try to save space; but the apps crash when opening. It is also super annoying to have to keep track of what apps are updating and which ones are allowed to be moved onto the sd card so updates take three times longer then they should.
-Finally when my internal storage was maxed out and I couldn't free up any space I did a factory restore.

Please, does anyone know a way to remove this garbage from my phone?
 
you can't uninstall system apps unless you root your phone. once you have gained root access then you can can delete whatever you want. just be careful as many system apps are tied to one another. if you delete one, you can make your phone not work properly.

which j7 crown do you have? what's the model number? this will depend on how you root it. here is the forum you want. look for root guides with your model number. if you can't find the right guide, let us know....but we will need to know the model number.
 
One thing you need to understand: the 16GB storage is partitioned, and the pre-installed apps live in the /system partition while user-installed apps live in the /data partition. The significance of this is that removing apps from the system partition will not give you any more space in the data partition, so uninstalling will help less than you expect.

However, updates to system apps, and those apps' data, do live in the data partition, so removing those does help.

So how can you do this? In earlier versions of Android disabling an app would suffice: this would uninstall all updates, clear all data, and prevent further updates as well as preventing the app from storing any new data. But more recently it seems that disabled apps still show as using space. I don't know whether this is a change in the way they report things (i.e. they now show the space the app takes in the system partition, even though that's irrelevant) or because disabling no longer uninstall updates. But what I'd now suggest is playing safe by uninstalling updates, clearing data, and then disabling the app. Or experiment: do this for one app, just disable another, look at their storage use and see whether it makes a difference.

But without root this is all you can do: remove updates, clear data for the app, prevent the app updating or storing data, i.e. disabling it. And even with root you won't gain any more space than that.

If you have a 16GB Samsung the system partitions probably take up 6GB, so the best you can hope for is 10GB for your usage.
 
Normally, I fully agree with both of the answers given here.

Recently, a friend overseas has told me that he completely removed unwanted system apps from his Samsung by using his computer and some kind of command.

According to him, he was able to do this without rooting the device, and he removed Bixby and all things Google, along with anything else he didn't need.

I was insistant that he would not be able to use the space that he cleared out, yet he says that he can.

Of course, I cannot verify his claims, as I am in the USA and he is in Europe.

And as I have neither a computer or a Samsung device, I have no way of testing this out for myself.

But, I have no problem sending this over to him to ask about exactly what he did, and how it has been working out for him.

Stay tuned, and I will post his reply.
 
As soon as I heard the guy state this isn't actually 'Uninstalling' an app but rather just hiding it, I just stopped watching (about 1:30 minutes)
When people intentionally play with semantics in a deceptive way, I find them to be a waste of time.
 
@svim

This is true, but the point is to inactivate these apps.

Although they remain on the device, these actions prevent the apps from auto-starting, running, growing, sending or receiving data, or even appearing to the user.

This is probably the best solution for devices that cannot be rooted, and for those that don't want to root their devices.
 
Well yeah, you could install ADB and follow those directions to disable and hide the apps. A lot of effort and a learning curve to master it, but it's a good option if you want to learn about how to manipulate your phone on a deeper level.
Or root your device, install an app like Titanium Backup, and use its Freeze/Defrost feature to do the same thing, disable an app/service and hide it, or its Uninstall feature. The former better for most people as a lot of people get overzealous and delete necessary apps along with bloatware, the latter for when you're sure its safe to delete an app.

Or a simpler option, if you don't get fixated on having an app you don't want showing in your Settings menu,is to just use an app's Disable button to make it inactive. When disabled an app isn't usable nor can it run a process in the background. This also allows one to enable the app if disabling creates a problem, and it's a lot less of a hassle to manipulate apps in general.
 
@svim

But many devices are not rootable, and many bloatware apps are set to start on boot and/or are not able to be disabled.

My devices fall into both categories.

And the guy in the video did say that it is a good idea to make copies of all the apks of any app that you do this to.

Sure, I wanted to quit watching right when you did (damn Pootube clickbait title!), but because the video was short and from XDA I did watch the whole thing.

I did point out all the flaws to my European friend, I just didn't get back here to point it all out- as all of this is mentioned in the video.

As far as Youtube videos go, it is fast moving, gets right to the point, as is only as long as it needs to be.

This is a great exception to the rule, as the vast majority of Youtube videos leave me shaking my fist and screaming "Get on with it already!" less than halfway through.

So, in short, if I had a computer, I would definitely give this method a shot.
 
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