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Root [MetroPCS/CDMA] [GUIDE][Safe to Remove/Freeze Stock System Apps][HOW TO][Debloat Your SCH-R530M YOURSELF]

ARocker

Android Expert
[GUIDE][Safe to Remove/Freeze Stock System Apps][HOW TO][Debloat Your SCH-R530M YOURSELF]


THIS INFORMATION HAS BEEN GATHERED FROM MANY POSTS ON DIFFERENT FORUMS.
THANKS TO THOSE BRAVE SOULS THAT DID THE INITIAL WORK NECESSARY TO BRING THIS VALUABLE INFORMATION TO YOU.
PLEASE UNDERSTAND THAT DELETING CERTAIN APPS (APKS) MAY INTERFERE IN THE SMOOTH OPERATION OF YOUR DEVICE OR WORSE! DO SO AT YOUR OWN RISK!!!



Which preinstalled factory or stock apps on Samsung Galaxy S3 are useless and safe to uninstall or move from the /system/app directory into /data/app directory?

e.g., apps like MetroPCS Easy Wifi, which keeps turning on by itself but does not seem to do anything useful except to waste system resources and power.

That's a great question ktchong! Thanks for asking!

Before I get into that though.....Keep reading.....
 
[HOW TO] DELETE/FREEZE SYSTEM APPS

YOU MUST HAVE A ROOTED DEVICE!!!
PLEASE BACKUP YOUR SYSTEM!!!

System and "Junk" apps that were included with your phone cant simply be uninstalled like normally downloaded apps from Google play and the like (i'm sure you've already tried). They take up space and sometimes you just hate looking at their stupid faces and wish they would just go away. In many cases they can also drain system resources and battery life which is precious to us like so many fuzzy bunnies.


Shabbypenguin said:
THAT MAKES ME MAD!!! But what can I do?


Don't fret guy! The best thing to do is Eradicate them! You can choose to freeze them or banish them to hell outright like so many fuzzy bunnies.

These offending apps are located in the system/app folder on your phone. You cant see these folders and the apps therein because of a powerful spell (so i've heard) without a root explorer app like RootExplorer, FileExplorer or ROM Toolbox. You can see them with Titanium Backup as well, although they might have different names (Titanium will use the display name rather than apk name but typically the apps very own icon will usually give away its true identity).

Alternately, if you are feeling compassionate, apps like Titanium Backup and ROM Toolbox give you the awesome power to Freeze the offending app/apk (no freak experiments gone wrong necessary) instead of dispatching the app outright.


Ldrifta said:
But why would i want to freeze them instead of just deleting them? These apps make me feel icky and are all bad, right?


Well, LD, not all of them are "bad". Some seemingly useless apps are necessary for other apps to function correctly and deleting something you're not sure about can cause unintended issues. Its a lot like like going back in time and shooting your grandfather, he might be a jerk, but trust me, you'll regret it.

Freezing the apk is EXACTLY like putting Han Solo in carbonite. Its technically still alive but not being used by the system so it cant talk back to you or roll its eyes....or something like that. You can then use your phone as you normally do and in that way test to see if deleting it later will cause any nasty issues. If your phone is playing nice after a while then you can probably delete the app if you like or if freezing it causes issues, simply unfreeze it and allow it to roam free and run as before...or whatever.

Alternately, You can rename them too from, lets say, Application.apk to Application.OLDapk or what have you. This will prevent your phone from recognizing them as applications without you having to fully remove them. When you are sure of your choices and want to free up space, go ahead and delete them.

Also, firmware versions (Roms) that have not been deodexed will have .odex files with the same name as the .apk. When deleting an apk, you must also delete it
 
[GUIDE] SYSTEM APPS THAT ARE SAFE TO REMOVE


Here is a list of the apks that I typically remove:

Books.apk
Flipboard.apk
Magazines.apk
PlusOne.apk
Videos.apk

These are Google apps that are included with our phone. I cant read, don't like news, and hate social networking so these are out. If you purchase books, magazines, and videos from Google Play or like interacting with "people" then you might need these.

Dropbox.apk
DropboxOOBEPriority4.apk

Dropbox. If you delete one its a good idea delete the other.

DeepSea.apk

A live wallpaper that comes with the SG3. I hate it, so its got to go.

myMetro-d2mtr.apk

This is a very controversial app. Some use this Metro PCS app in order to pay their phone bill. Some people are allergic to anything with the letters MPCS. Do what you will.

Kies.apk
KiesAir.apk

I've never used these...ever. They are from Samsung and apparently are for downloading updates from Samsung and transferring files wirelessly to other things running Kies. I'm sure they do other things too.

DigitalClock.apk
DigitalClock21.apk
DualClockAnalog.apk
DualClockDigital.apk
DualClockDigital42.apk
AnalogClockSimple.apk
AnalogClockUnique.apk

Ummm...Various clock widgets.

AccuWeatherDaemon.apk
AccuWeatherWidget.apk
AccuWeatherWidgetMain.apk

AccuWeatherDaemon and AccuWeatherWidgetMain are responsible for getting the weather information that gets displayed with the AccuWeatherWidget and the lockscreen weather feature, You can delete these if you like but it will cause force closes if you activate the feature that uses them.

GameHub_2.0_ICS.apk
Rhapsody-d2mtr.apk
MetroAppStore-d2mtr.apk
MetroPCS-EasyWiFi-android-d2mtr.apk
MetroStudio-d2mtr.apk
SamsungApps.apk
SamsungAppsUNA3.apk
HelpHub.apk
MoreServices.apk
MediaHub_D2.apk
MusicHub_30.apk

Junky stuff...delete without prejudice.


Music2.apk
google music player
MusicPlayer.apk
Samsung music player

There are 2 music players that are included, delete one of these if you like. If you've got a thing for a different music player altogether then you can delete both. Be Warned!! Deleting the default Samsung music apk might probably cause other issues as it it tied to other system apps or so i've heard.

PopupBrowser_NOTEII_v1.3.apk
SecBrowser.apk
ChromeWithBrowser.apk

There are three browsers that are included, popup browser needs to have another browser for when you go fullscreen. So if you want to use popup browser, you have to keep the default Samsung browser. Idk if chrome works with popup.

YahoonewsWidget.apk
YahoonewsDaemon.apk
YahoostockWidget.apk
YahoostockDaemon.apk

Similar to the Accuweather apks in that the daemons are responsible for getting the information that gets displayed with the YahooWidgets and the lockscreen news feature, Deleting these will cause force closes if you activate the feature that uses them.


That's my list. If your a knowitall or a rom dev and you need more information on more system apks, don't bother me about it. Instead, veyka from the xda forum has the answer you seek.

Hes been awesome enough to create a spreadsheet that has comprehensive information on just about all of the stock apps that come with the phone.

Spreadsheet of Applications which are safe to remove/freeze

N4zty said:
Wait one second there mister...this spreadsheet says its for the SGS2 not the SG3. What the what?

Calm down pal! Let me explain....
Yes, its true, the list is for the SGS2 but as veyka states,

veyka said:
...most of the "generic" apks should be the simmillar across Samsung devices...I have noticed that Samsung keeps app names the same across phones to some degree. When researching (Or trying to) I found a lot of info about stuff from SGS1 related threads and such.

So there N4zty! What have you got to say now! Hush yo mouth!


And I think that's it folks.
If you've found this information useful or hilarious, please rate this thread and hit the Thanks button! >>>>>>>>>>>----------------------------Over Here-------------------->>>>>>>>>>>>>
 
Thanks!!!!


Thanks to those mentioned in this thread with or without their knowledge! You're all good sports!

Thanks to veyka, jermitano, VegasRooted, nishant_713, robothegreatful and many others i'm sure who took the time to research all of this (so we don't have to) and shared it freely!

Thanks to our all powerful moderators for making this thread sticky...hopefully.

Thanks to Metroid Prime for including this in the (MetroPCS) Galaxy S3: All Things Root Guide...eventually.
Here:"http://androidforums.com/metropcs-...metropcs-galaxy-s3-all-things-root-guide.html

Thanks to our Guides and Devs!

Thanks to the ghost ninjas, the Tampa Connection, and other unseen forces involved in our community!

Thanks to all that thanked me, I appreciate your support!

The rest of you suck. You really, really do. LMAO


Important!!!! No fuzzy bunnies were harmed in bringing you this thread......yet.


Resources!!!!


http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1487073

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1913428

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1910885


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? i dont recall saying any of that.....

knowing how to remove bloatware was the first thing we learned back in the days with the samsung indulge. no need for titanium backup or any app.
 
well i meant apps such as titnanium back up ofcourse u do need root and u do need some sort of file manager app. but when i see people complaining they switched from one rom to another just beacause of the bloat ware that shows me the lack of effort that goes into trying to learn something than rather being handed everything in a silver platter. old saying goes give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime. Same principle goes here alot of contributers can hand everything done for such users and they can be happy for a day or you can show them how to actually use their device and they can manage on their own. sad thing is most are content by being hand fed. anyways back to the topic its a good thread hopefully with these steps users can debloat themselves. ;)
 
well i meant apps such as titnanium back up ofcourse u do need root and u do need some sort of file manager app. but when i see people complaining they switched from one rom to another just beacause of the bloat ware that shows me the lack of effort that goes into trying to learn something than rather being handed everything in a silver platter. old saying goes give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime. Same principle goes here alot of contributers can hand everything done for such users and they can be happy for a day or you can show them how to actually use their device and they can manage on their own. sad thing is most are content by being hand fed. anyways back to the topic its a good thread hopefully with these steps users can debloat themselves. ;)

True...that was me at one point :)
 
Help! My phone's bloated and it runs slow!
I've looked all over my phone (even took the back cover off), and I still can't find this "Titanium Backup" of which you speak.... wouldn't putting my phone in the freezer for a few hours accomplish the same thing?
 
Help! My phone's bloated and it runs slow!
I've looked all over my phone (even took the back cover off), and I still can't find this "Titanium Backup" of which you speak.... wouldn't putting my phone in the freezer for a few hours accomplish the same thing?

Lol...no not good enough...can you get something that emits gamma rays?
 
well i meant apps such as titnanium back up ofcourse u do need root and u do need some sort of file manager app. but when i see people complaining they switched from one rom to another just beacause of the bloat ware that shows me the lack of effort that goes into trying to learn something than rather being handed everything in a silver platter. old saying goes give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime. Same principle goes here alot of contributers can hand everything done for such users and they can be happy for a day or you can show them how to actually use their device and they can manage on their own. sad thing is most are content by being hand fed. anyways back to the topic its a good thread hopefully with these steps users can debloat themselves. ;)


That was me exactly when I first got the esteem. When I actually read the threads & applied it all, I actually accomplished more of what I wanted to do.
 
Originally Posted by Ldrifta
But why would i want to freeze them instead of just deleting them? These apps make me feel icky and are all bad, right?

Bloatware is bad and it should feel bad!!
32658580.jpg
 
Over a month later, and this thread is STILL the funniest one on the entire forum. Not to mention one of the most informative as well.

Rockerman, if you ever get down to my neck of the woods, the beers are on me bro!:cheers:
I know a bar, right on the beach in Daytona, that has the most amazing and beautiful... and they have huge... well, never mind that for now. :listen:
I don't want to get you in trouble with Mrs. Rocker.
;)

(man they really do have huge drinks... and they come in beautiful glasses too. lol) :flute:

lol
 
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