Apps safe to remove

[tlhord]

Oh, YES!
After freezing webtop, all hell breaks loose. A reboot fixes it

So far, I've had only 3 issues:
1.- the sync icon stays there WAY too long -but this could be due to signal issues
2.- after switching to wifi, I may have a hard time getting connection even with a 3G icon. But then again, the radio on this phone sucks and I think I had this issue before I froze anything.
3.- the USB thing... I can swear I used to get the USB menu on the phone on my 64bit system. Now when I connect it, the phone charges only -no notification, no nothing and "the device is not identified" by windows. On the XP32b, it's hit and miss. But again, I can't really blame the freezing because it does work on the 32 bit system. Meh...

But so far, the phone feels VERY snappy and battery seems to be a little better.

Edit: oh, and I think my sound notifications got all screwed up after I froze one of those. Had to re-select them again.

I'm a newb, so don't yell at me for asking a dumb question.... but how do I freeze an app? I like the sound of it, I'd rather not have useless things eating battery - but I don't understand what freezing is, unless it's just a "force stop."

[akiles]

Until someone better qualified to answer the question jumps in, here's the skinny:

Most apps are installed either in /system/app and data/data Think of it as C:\Program Files in winXP

When you first get your phone out of the box, most apps are in the /system/app folder. You don't have any rights on it. You can't touch it. Can't delete these apps or un-install them. The app that you bring up to make a call is stored there. At work for example, you may not be able to uninstall a program because you may just be a user and not the admin (or root in android.)

What you install goes into the /data/app/ folder.

Once that you root, you can modify whatever you want. This includes "fracking up" your phone.
Apps usually have an *.apk extension. When you turn on your phone, the system reads the contents of that folder and loads them as apps (what you see in your app list/drawer).

Take any app: say mail.apk; and rename it to mail.apk.bak, it is no longer an app. Next time you open your drawer, it won't be there. So, the app is frozen from the perspective that it is still there, but inactive because the system (android) does not recognize it as an app since it is missing the *.apk.

The problem with this is that there are somethings we (at least I) have no idea what they are for. Removing them may cause some issues. Also, moto phones have Blurr, and if you remove something that blurr requires, the phone will go crazy and may become unusable.

Anyway, if you go back and rename the app from mail.apk.bak to mail.apk, it should work again. Some apps may requiere a reboot, if frozen while running.

Bloat Freezer is what I use. It has an option to unfreeze everything at once.

I am so [arghhhhhh] MAD because I lost all connectivity today and thought it was something I froze. It turns out it was verizon's "most reliable network" not being reliable.



Hope it helps.

I'm a newb, so don't yell at me for asking a dumb question.... but how do I freeze an app? I like the sound of it, I'd rather not have useless things eating battery - but I don't understand what freezing is, unless it's just a "force stop."

Edit: user installed apps go into /data/app
Thanks for the correction, jtsativa420

[tlhord]

Until someone better qualified to answer the question jumps in, here's the skinny:

Most apps are installed either in /system/app and data/data Think of it as C:\Program Files in winXP

When you first get your phone out of the box, most apps are in the /system/app folder. You don't have any rights on it. You can't touch it. Can't delete these apps or un-install them. The app that you bring up to make a call is stored there. At work for example, you may not be able to uninstall a program because you may just be a user and not the admin (or root in android.)

What you install goes into the /data/data/ folder.

Once that you root, you can modify whatever you want. This includes "fracking up" your phone.
Apps usually have an *.apk extension. When you turn on your phone, the system reads the contents of that folder and loads them as apps (what you see in your app list/drawer).

Take any app: say mail.apk; and rename it to mail.apk.bak, it is no longer an app. Next time you open your drawer, it won't be there. So, the app is frozen from the perspective that it is still there, but inactive because the system (android) does not recognize it as an app since it is missing the *.apk.

The problem with this is that there are somethings we (at least I) have no idea what they are for. Removing them may cause some issues. Also, moto phones have Blurr, and if you remove something that blurr requires, the phone will go crazy and may become unusable.

Anyway, if you go back and rename the app from mail.apk.bak to mail.apk, it should work again. Some apps may requiere a reboot, if frozen while running.

Bloat Freezer is what I use. It has an option to unfreeze everything at once.

I am so [arghhhhhh] MAD because I lost all connectivity today and thought it was something I froze. It turns out it was verizon's "most reliable network" not being reliable.



Hope it helps.

Wow... it helps BIG TIME. Thank you. I don't know that I've ever had someone spend that much time explaining something to me in a forum. Very refreshing that I didn't simply get called a loser - LOL.....

Does one have to pay for these apps like Bloat Freezer?

Sorry, another dumb question coming {WARNING} - would my phone then be "rooted?" I've seen people talking about that online, and I never knew what they meant or why they would do it? Does one root a phone simply to make it run more efficiently, faster, save battery life by knocking stupid $hit like Slacker off of there?

[jtsativa420]

No bloat freezer is free, but jrummy16 has a great app (ultimate backup pro) for only 2.99. That freezes apps and so much more.

No your phone would not be rooted. you have to root your phone first before any of the options become available to you. Yes the main reason for rooting is better performance, customization (themes and roms) and full control (removing bloat and free hotspot). Here is a link to root the razr if you want to join the rest of us in enjoying the full potential of your phone.

[HOW TO] Root your Motorola Droid RAZR [Windows Only]

Fyi no one should call you a loser and there are no dumb questions. Everyone was a newb once and the purpose of these sights is for people to find answers. In fact I have been building computers, programming severs and hacking phones for sometime now and I still learn new things daily.

Edit: That being said. A good rule of thumb is read before you ask. The question and answer may already be in the thread you are posting to.

[akiles]

JT already answer your questions but I'll add the following:

Careful freezing apps. I cannot stress this enough. Some utilities do not freeze (as in renaming the app). I have plenty of experience screwing up my DroidX with some utilities. A possible cause is that an app needs permissions. For example, apps under the /system/app have "read only" permissions to you. Some need special permissions and when you backup and app, delete it and then restore it (note I am not talking about freezing which leaves the file's permissions intact in /system/app) the permissions may not be retained and then everything is REALLY screwed.

One more thing: apps store stuff under the [crap, i forgot the folder] folder. If you restore with Titanium and restore the data (like the settings, etc) be ready for failures.

In short, be careful with "backing up". JT's suggestion (Jrummy's app) is a good alternative to bloat freezer -the developer is one of the best! I am the happy owner of a few of his apps I personally love ROM Toolbox Pro.

Wow... it helps BIG TIME. Thank you. I don't know that I've ever had someone spend that much time explaining something to me in a forum. Very refreshing that I didn't simply get called a loser - LOL.....

Does one have to pay for these apps like Bloat Freezer?

Sorry, another dumb question coming {WARNING} - would my phone then be "rooted?" I've seen people talking about that online, and I never knew what they meant or why they would do it? Does one root a phone simply to make it run more efficiently, faster, save battery life by knocking stupid $hit like Slacker off of there?

[jtsativa420]

JT already answer your questions but I'll add the following:

Careful freezing apps. I cannot stress this enough. Some utilities do not freeze (as in renaming the app). I have plenty of experience screwing up my DroidX with some utilities. A possible cause is that an app needs permissions. For example, apps under the /system/app have "read only" permissions to you. Some need special permissions and when you backup and app, delete it and then restore it (note I am not talking about freezing which leaves the file's permissions intact in /system/app) the permissions may not be retained and then everything is REALLY screwed.

One more thing: apps store stuff under the [crap, i forgot the folder] folder. If you restore with Titanium and restore the data (like the settings, etc) be ready for failures.

In short, be careful with "backing up". JT's suggestion (Jrummy's app) is a good alternative to bloat freezer -the developer is one of the best! I am the happy owner of a few of his apps I personally love ROM Toolbox Pro.

I have been seriously considering that app but have bought others like tbu and hate to have wasted my money. Even though only $5. Call me cheap!! LOL.

Dose it's file explorer allow you to access your home cpu through lan and an ftp server anywhere over the network? If not i may stick with what i have thus far.

[akiles]

you talking about rom toolbox?

it has many modules. the one i was referring to was the built in app manager. it allows you to back up, freeze, etc.
my fav module is "performance": it allows you to tweak build.prop and sysctl, but the best is the ability to set your own parameters for the built-in android task manager.
it has a root explorer -which i have not used- and a scripter. oh, and a startup manager to kill those pesky apps that slow down your boot.
boot animations, themes, etc. i would not play with those though, because frameworks are diff. between roms: install a nice battery icon in the wrong place and brick your phone.

there is a free version: nearly everything is enabled.

to access my home network, i use astro on the tablet (looks nice) and es because you can see "root" folders. es also allows you to browse sugar sync folders, but it is une ugly app on the tablet.
to access the phone or tablet from my pcs i use "samba file sharing". these 3 apps are free.

Sent from my A500 using DroidForums

[akiles]

oh, and i dont really use tbu -and i own it. i think bloat freezer does a great job with a better interface. i normally use rom toolbox to back up and then freeze with bf. whenever i learn what rom tb is doing, i will ditch bf. see, with bf, the apk is renamed, but the odex file remains and another file is created (for what, i have no idea). rom tb freezes the aps but i can't tell what it does -yet!

and i never use the back ups. to me it is easier and safer to reinstall (and a sbf would be best!) -less hassle.

seriously, check out rom toolbox free and play with a dumb app that you dont care about and see what you think. if you find out what it does and how it freezes, please do share.

Sent from my A500 using DroidForums

[akiles]

last post -i've posted so much it looks like i'm spaming.

i froze the mobile hotspot app and the sucker keeps coming out after i launch open garden on wifi mode. i thought freezing it would take care of that,no?

Sent from my A500 using DroidForums

[jtsativa420]

Yes. I to use es for my lan and ftp connections. I also use samba for accesing my phone via lan. So for now I'll stick with tbu unless i can get rid of both tb and es for the toolbox. Play with the file explorer and let me know if it's comparable to es and or samba.

I will also dl the free toolbox, do a little playing, and get back to you.

Lol. Yeah it looks a little spam like. Maybe next time an edit would be better than the multiple posts. I could care less how you do it.

Edit: I'll also check out the hotspot deal. But why not just use the stock app? Did you use the sqlite method or another to achieve it?

Edit: Froze mobile hot spot and have no signs of it running in task manager, application manager or auto run manager. I do get a pop up though. Appears to be more of a notification than the app actually running.

Also can't freeze apps in the free version so won't be able to find out exactly what it does but am most likely going to purchase as it does what four out five of my other apps do and then some!