Bloatware apps safe to remove on the Droid 4

[r314bd]

Bloatware apps safe to freeze/remove on the Droid 4

Below are the apps that are safe to freeze on the Motorola Droid 4. Freezing apps hides them from your app drawer, prevents them from using system resources, and can help with battery life. You can freeze them using an app like Titanium Backup Pro (root required). Do not uninstall them as a.) many cannot be reinstalled correctly (even if you back them up) in the event of an error, and b.) you will need all the system apps when you receive updates in the future. If you freeze others and have no problems, post them here and I'll add them to the list. Likewise if you've frozen any below and you have problems, also let me know and I will remove them from the list (although that shouldn't be the case.)

Blockbuster, GoToMeeting, Let's Golf, and Madden NFL can be uninstalled normally from the Applications menu in Settings.

***There are more apps that can be frozen safely (Calculator, Google Search, My Files, Device Setup, etc.) but I am leaving them off this list because either a.) they are basic apps that aren't really bloatware or b.) links to them are built into basic menus/widgets and clicking on them would cause force closes (i.e. Device Setup, News.) Also there may be items below which you may very well want to use...this list is simply what's safe to freeze, and not necessarily what you should freeze.***

READ THE LIST CAREFULLY as some apps have very similar names but should not be frozen (e.g. Yahoo Calendar Service and Yahoo Contacts can be frozen safely, but Yahoo Mail Authenticator cannot.)

AdService
Amazon Kindle
Android Live Wallpapers
Apps
Backup Assistant Plus
Backup Assistant+
Backup Assistant+ Contacts
Backup Assistant+ Media
Car Dock
Facebook Authenticator (required for Facebook contact sync; not required for Facebook app)
Flickr Authenticator
Help Center
Home screen tips
IM
IM Presence
LastFM Authenticator
LinkedIn Authenticator
Live Wallpaper Picker
Magic Smoke Wallpapers
Mobile Hotspot
MOG Music
MOTOACTV
MotoCast (required for MotoCast, obviously)
MotoCast ID (required for MotoCast)
MOTOPRINT
My Music (Google Play Music app still works)
My Uploads
My Verizon Mobile
Netflix
NFL Mobile
Orkut Authenticator
Photobucket Authenticator
Picasa Authenticator
Skyrock Authenticator
Slacker
Slingbox
Social Messaging
Social Messaging Service
Social Networking
Social Sharing
Social Status
Talk
Twitter Authenticator
V CAST Tones
Verizon Location Agent
Verizon Video
VideoSurf
VZ Navigator
Yahoo Calendar Service
Yahoo Contacts
YouTube Authenticator (YouTube app still works)
ZumoService (required for MotoCast; freeze only if you freeze MotoCast and MotoCast ID as well)

 

[diablo85]

to add to this post, apps, calculator (if you use a different one from the market), downloads (what is this even for anyways?), google search, moto dock service, my files, my gallery (i use quickpic), news, social sharing, universal inbox, videos, voice commands are what i have frozen in addition to this list and my only issue is the occassional home screen crash that i still havent figured out where it is from (possibly due to installing a battery icon by accident)

 

[r314bd]

to add to this post, apps, calculator (if you use a different one from the market), downloads (what is this even for anyways?), google search, moto dock service, my files, my gallery (i use quickpic), news, social sharing, universal inbox, videos, voice commands are what i have frozen in addition to this list and my only issue is the occassional home screen crash that i still havent figured out where it is from (possibly due to installing a battery icon by accident)

Thanks...I added most of these to the list but I left off google search, news, universal inbox, videos, and voice commands just because those are really basic and news is required for the homescreen news widget to work.

 

[diablo85]

no problem, was just putting them in there for people (like myself) who don't use those features.

 

[obogobo]

What's the difference between freezing and uninstalling? I use RootUnistaller to remove the 3rd party media (NFL, VideoSurf, Netflix) and all Verizon branded (VZ Nav, VZ Tones, VisualVM) apps... everything seems to be running fine! I wouldn't however uninstall BackupAssistant though. Even though it sucks it seems to be pretty embedded in the OS this time around

 

[diablo85]

im keeping my items frozen until someone comes out with a bloat-less version of the stock rom. no real difference in uninstalling versus freezing if you dont need the extra space on the internal storage. just be mindful of what you uninstall.

 

[obogobo]

Yeah that's probably a better idea. I just wanted to get the apps I knew we're harmless the hell off asap

 

[diablo85]

i uninstalled the games that came on it, but kept the quick office apps (you dont need to keep them though if you prefer other software.)

 

[Jungle King 76]

The difference between freezing and removing is that when an update comes for the phone, if you removed anything, you will not get the update. Of course, there may be ways around that in due time but it could also be a while.

Freezing is always recommended in the early stages of a phones release. Freezing just hides the app but does not remove it so when an update comes, you just unfreeze and update.



Sent from my DROID RAZR using DroidForums

 

[orangechoochoo]

^ what he said. When an update comes you need the stock apps to be there. After you get the update just freeze the apps again.

 

[krazienluv10]

for those who froze or removed the bloat.... is there a noticable improvement? i noticed when i swipe between screens it doesnt read sometimes... not sure if its lagging or the actual phone issue

 

[Dolphfins2000]

Droid 4 no sound or LED light for text

Went with the list of safe things to remove & now when i get a text message i have no sound, no led blink light, i dont even know i get a text message till i click on the text icon. Please tell me what i did wrong. Thanks

 

[orangechoochoo]

Maybe you froze or removed the wrong app. Someone here uninstalled an app and now he is having a problem, he is waiting for someone to email the app to him. Also, someone made a backup via titanium and he had a problem restoring it. At this early stage after release I would only go so far as freezing apps.

 

[Dolphfins2000]

Maybe you froze or removed the wrong app. Someone here uninstalled an app and now he is having a problem, he is waiting for someone to email the app to him. Also, someone made a backup via titanium and he had a problem restoring it. At this early stage after release I would only go so far as freezing apps.

Yeah i know i only froze the apps from that list. Didn't remove any apps. Calls & yahoo mail work with sound. Not sure what i did. Can i do a reset? or should i just unfreeze everything?


UPDATE: Just unfroze everything from that list & my text sounds works again. Just have to find out what stopped it in the first place.

 

[orangechoochoo]

Let us know when you find out which app it was so others will know not to freeze it.