Apps safe to remove

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jtsativa420

jtsativa420

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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

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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.

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akiles

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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.

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akiles

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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?

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jtsativa420

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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!
 
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akiles

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The file explorer in rom toolbox is equivalent to root explorer -no ftp or smba connections. Great if you want to edit something under system, aside from that, I'd stick to ES.
I could not find the stock MHS app running either, but I get the "Tethering or MHS" notification asking me to set it up. Clicking on it, takes me to the same place the MHS app took me to when I just tried it for the first time when I bought the phone. Just to confirm, I defrosted, MHS, and got to the same place (???). And not only that, but cellular and 3G connection were lost. It look like the phone went into airplane mode. I froze it again, and turned on airplane mode and back off and now it's fine.
I haven't tried the sqlite fix yet. It kind of scares me to modify the db files with those tools... I don't know how safe the sqlite apps are or what the repercussions of modifying that entry are with big red. What sqlite app did you use, if you don't mind me asking?
My big hope was to use Open Garden bluetooth tethering but my Iconia does not have the pan profile.
 
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jtsativa420

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The sqlite is pretty safe imo. I used it on my bionic and 3 others and on my razr. Also a factory reset undoes it or u can just change it back manually.

I agree freezing the app is puzzling. I played with it for some time and like you say it takes you where the stock app does. I didn't drop data but the stock hotspot notification kept going in and out (connecting and disconnecting).

I think I'll stick to sqlite and the stock app unless there is a better way to freeze or the bugs are worked out.

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tlhord

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If I root, and play around a little - not doing anything major, just freezing things like Slacker radio that are ALWAYS active for some reason in task killer........ anyway, if I do that and just try a few things - can I easily "unroot" if I don't like how things are going and want to revert back to standard, boring safe mode?

Thanks-
 
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jtsativa420

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Yes you can easily go back. However I don't believe you will once you do.

Swyped from my DROID RAZR using DroidForums.
 

akiles

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No, not quite -well you can remove root privileges, but your phone may not be the same.

Rooting does nothing to your phone -really. Well, you add the root folder and busybox and superuser? but you can easily delete that while you are still the root user. On the next reboot, you'll be back to "lesser mortal status" :)
Unrooting does nothing either.

So if you root, them modify your system and unroot, your system will not be the same, because you have just modified it. You will have a modified phone with no root privileges.

What you can do: root, freeze apps. Don't delete stuff, just freeze with bloat freezer (or app of choice). If you don't like it, just unfreeze them. I believe there are methods to unroot -check out the thread about rooting here:
http://www.droidforums.net/forum/dr...ot-your-motorola-droid-razr-windows-only.html

Read it all -seriously. By the end of the 12+ pages, you will be amazed of how much you will learn.
Read it again.

But, please keep in mind that if you delete something, it will be GONE FOREVER. I cannot stress this enough! If you freeze stuff, be careful. and remember to put it back.

One more thing, after the update you may loose root. Here is what happens (kind of): the stuff in your phone, like the /system/ folder gets replaced by the /system/ folder and other crap in the update file. So root may, in all likelihood, be gone -someone correct me here if I'm wrong please. JT??


If I root, and play around a little - not doing anything major, just freezing things like Slacker radio that are ALWAYS active for some reason in task killer........ anyway, if I do that and just try a few things - can I easily "unroot" if I don't like how things are going and want to revert back to standard, boring safe mode?

Thanks-
 
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akiles

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+1
Hard to let go of all that "power" :)
And wait until developers start cooking some roms with no blurr. Your battery will last a little longer, your phone may be faster. Girls will want you bad!
Meh... maybe not the last one :)

Yes you can easily go back. However I don't believe you will once you do.

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tlhord

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Hard to let go of all that "power" :)
And wait until developers start cooking some roms with no blurr. Your battery will last a little longer, your phone may be faster. Girls will want you bad!
Meh... maybe not the last one :)

Having never done it before - should I expect the speed to be noticeably faster and battery life to be substantially longer once rooted and unnecessary things are frozen? And would someone mind listing the top 10 or 15 things I should freeze right out of the gate that will show noticeable improvements?

Seriously - I really appreciate the advice.
 

akiles

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try the apps listed by JT -the very first post in this thread.

i think there is another thread around with more apps, but careful there: some people remove the stock mail and txt apps and the universal mailbox. this is ok as long as that's what you want. some advanced users prefer other mail and txt apps -i like moto's because it does html and the active sync support is great.

fyi: i experienced fc's when freezing weptop. it's a loop and the only way out is a hard power off (power+vol down -or up? for 15 secs.)

should you expect a faster phone and longer batt life? if you have installed nothing else, yes! but the phone is already pretty fast and moto stuff believe it or not is pretty efficient. so don't expect 3 days of battery. some apps eat up battery and so do the wrong settings. also freezing the wrong app could cause your phone to eat more batt (i.e. freezin app xyz required by blurr: blurr may continue to ask xyz for data and won't stop until it gets it, so since the app is frozen, the processor may continue to run crazy without your knowledge) .

the apps in the 1st post are pretty safe, but there are no warranties.

1.- root
2.- bootstrap -see recovery thread under "razr hacks"
3.- make a nandbackup -see recovery thread
4.- back up your apps -use titanium or rom toolbox
5.- freeze -carefully.

my advise: if you are not having battery or performance issues, wait until there is an sbf (a file you can use to flash your phone to stock). but you sound like you are ready to taste the power of the root users now :)


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edit: you should not listen to me. i did not do #3 and #4 myself and was very trigger happy with #5 :}
 
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tlhord

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If I root, will I get ICS when Verizon pushes it out?
 
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