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Root List of system apps - What they do and can you remove them??

PJ147

PJ147

Android Enthusiast
Hi,

Found this and thought it would be of use. Credits to Google as it is from them!

It is a constantly updated APK list and has details on if safe to remove or not. Quite useful if you want to debrand or debloat your carrier filled Stock ROM, or if you are making a Custom ROM.

It can be found HERE
 
Also, before I start deleting the ones that are okay to be removed, I plan to back them up onto my laptop's hard drive. Do you recommend I use Titanium Backup? Or is there some better app for this purpose?
 
cutedroid said:
Also, before I start deleting the ones that are okay to be removed, I plan to back them up onto my laptop's hard drive. Do you recommend I use Titanium Backup? Or is there some better app for this purpose?
Click to expand...
I recommend that you don't delete them at all.

Use Titanium Backup to freeze them.

You gain zero user space by deleting them.

Settings, Apps, All, clear data and uninstall updates for each suspect before freezing.

Make nandroid backup before proceeding.
 
EarlyMon said:
I recommend that you don't delete them at all.
Click to expand...
Thank you again for swift and helpful responses!
Why is it not recommended to delete all of the apps that are marked as "safe to remove"?

EarlyMon said:
Use Titanium Backup to freeze them.
Click to expand...
I have Titanium Backup, but never use it. I've been using Link2SD to freeze apps (both user and system apps). :)

EarlyMon said:
You gain zero user space by deleting them.
Click to expand...

How come deleting these system apps don't give me more user space? And is there any way to make it so?
Settings, Apps, All, clear data and uninstall updates for each suspect before freezing.

EarlyMon said:
Make nandroid backup before proceeding.
Click to expand...
From what I just read about nandroid backup, it makes an exact copy of everything on my Android (and including my microSD card, too, I presume?).

What if I don't need to backup apps like the 4GB Wikipedia Offline, and other apps I can easily get from the Play Store?
 
Terminal Emulator -

df

Tap screen to hide keyboard, turn phone sideways for better view.

The /system and /data partitions are separate.

All of your apps, app updates, and private app data goes to /data.

You can't change the allocations.

You can sneak some apps in /system/app - and you can also cause bootlooping doing that. Not all apps can be moved to /system and most ought not due to security reasons.

As you're not going to change your storage profile - but you could cause really bad side effects freezing the wrong app - well, you can recover from a freeze usually a lot easier than a delete.

It's kinda why we freeze in the first place - lessons hard learned.
 
A proper nandroid backup is just your boot image, /system and /data.

That's the default.

You can force other partitions to back up.

There's rarely a good reason to do so.
 
EarlyMon said:
Terminal Emulator -

df

Tap screen to hide keyboard, turn phone sideways for better view.
Click to expand...
With my 8-inch tablet, turning sideways doesn't seem necessary :). Screenshot: Screenshot_2015-05-22-19-31-28.png

EarlyMon said:
The /system and /data partitions are separate.

All of your apps, app updates, and private app data goes to /data.

You can't change the allocations.
Click to expand...
Hmmm... I use Linux Mint and I was able to choose the size of the Windows partition and the Linux Mint partition. I guess I was wrong to think that Linux's descendant Android can do the same thing.

EarlyMon said:
You can sneak some apps in /system/app - and you can also cause bootlooping doing that. Not all apps can be moved to /system and most ought not due to security reasons.
Click to expand...
Link2SD makes it super easy to "convert" an app into a system app. But I have never done such a conversion.

EarlyMon said:
As you're not going to change your storage profile - but you could cause really bad side effects freezing the wrong app - well, you can recover from a freeze usually a lot easier than a delete.

It's kinda why we freeze in the first place - lessons hard learned.
Click to expand...

Right. If resizing allocations/partitions is not possible on Android as it is in Linux, I won't delete. I'll just freeze, as you suggest.

By the way, how much is the tuition fee for all these classes I'm taking in Android 101, Professor EarlyMon? :) :) :)
 
No.

You make a nandroid backup via a custom recovery - typically either CWM or TWRP.

You can try that app but only after knowing that you're safe with a traditional nandroid.

If you can't get a custom recovery, then that app is probably your best hope.
 
cutedroid said:
Hmmm... I use Linux Mint and I was able to choose the size of the Windows partition and the Linux Mint partition. I guess I was wrong to think that Linux's descendant Android can do the same thing.
Click to expand...

You represent a reasonable Linux user - you know what you're doing and you've probably had no trouble burning down an installation and starting over.

Android is locked the way it is to serve the masses.

For a few examples - "I found the trash bin, it's a folder under /system. I couldn't find a way to empty it, so I deleted it. Now my phone doesn't work. Why does Android suck? I'm going to make them give me a new one." (yeah, /system/bin)

"I installed a custom recovery because I wanted to make my phone run faster. I guess I accidentally erased all of the partitions I could find. Does anyone know why my phone won't boot? Is Android really this lame?"

"I rooted my phone, erased some stuff and now my phone doesn't work. How do I fix it?"

"I checked the Internet and found that I needed to edit my build.prop - I followed the instructions exactly. What do I install to stop my phone from bootlooping?"


Those examples are neither made up, rare, nor uncommon.

The need to enforce a known configuration to make normal user support possible is well established and proven true repeatedly every day.

So - Android devices are strictly fixed configurations until you root and even then you can't do everything.

And please trust me even though I'm at a loss for a proper reference for proof - apps in /system inherently gain an additional root permission. Despite bloatware working there, you really don't want to assume that /system is just an area that you can use for any old app.

Wait - found the reference.

http://www.cs.cuhk.hk/~cslui/PUBLICATION/ASIACCS2014DROIDRAY.pdf
 
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