How do you remove stock apps?

[Jo The Veteran]

I was just wondering, can the Gmail and Messages stock applications be removed? I tried to do just that, but then a warning pops up saying "it can't be done". And I've tried the stock uninstaller and third party ones. And if it can be done what happens then?
Any complications like... i dunno, deleting Gmail connection to my phone, or SMS network settings? I don't want either of that obviously.

I use the stock Mail application for all my email accounts, so Gmail is plain redundant, and i also use Handcent SMS third party app for my SMS, which makes the messages stock app also redundant. I don't mind about the bit of space they take, but it's just annoying when i receive an email from Gmail, both apps activate and i get two notifications. And same thing happens with SMS too.

 

[Xyro]

Well, you certainly don't want to remove the stock SMS app; doing so would screw up your phone's ability to send/receive SMS messages. (Handcent is just an interface, not a full scale replacement).

It would be possible to remove the Gmail app if you had root access. I've never heard of anyone doing this, but I don't imagine it would screw up the phone.

But, you do know you can turn off notifications from each of those two apps, right? Just have a look in the settings of each app and turn off the notifications option. You can also effectively turn off the gmail app by going to the 'Accounts and Sync' option in the android settings, picking the gmail account and unticking Sync Email.

 

[Jo The Veteran]

Thanks for the fast reply
You know i've been bugged by this thing allot latelly and i eventually shut the notification settings for those 2 apps like you too proposed prior to sending this post. There are still some stock apps that, and while not anoying, i never use them anyway. That's why i posted the question nevertheless, to see if it was possible at all. So i guess it is, but in a rooted phone only. And even then how do i do it? Would deleting their respective folder be enough?

 

[Jo The Veteran]

Double post WTF?!?

 

[Xyro]

You have to use the android terminal (like command prompt on windows) to remove the system apps, since they're installed in a different place to regular apps. That's what 'root' refers to: having access to the root files/folders on your phone, including the system apps folders.