Hi All,
I'm new to Android/Rooting. I used the SOC root method to root the phone, and now I have some questions I'm sure more knowledgeable folks can answer.
First and foremost, I know a recovery is in the works/testing phase and will soon allow alternate ROMS to be loaded. Until that time, I need to know what apps/processes I can safely remove from my phone without bricking it.
I know I can and have killed Bing and BingVoice. As well as stupid apps like Blockbuster, CityID etc....
What about things like VCast Apps? Verizon Media manager? Widgets?
Most of the VCast/VZW apps can be frozen/disabled/removed without issue. The one piece of bloat that I have heard some rumblings about removing was the Backup Assistant... if you use it, great, but if you don't, just make sure to skip setup and ensure all Syncs are disabled for it.
I don't have my own Revolution, just a Demo phone I am testing. Looking at the preinstalled apps in the app drawer, here is what I would say you could safely remove without issue:
- Facebook for LG
- Twitter for LG
- VZ Navigator
- Amazon Kindle
- Bitbop
- Blockbuster
- Lets Golf 2 (and I would say delete this one, it takes a ton of space!)
- Rhapsody
- Rock Band
- Slacker
- Tune Wiki
- V Cast Apps
- V Cast Media Mgr
- Video Player
- YouTube
- City ID
I have tinkered with all of these apps on my other rooted phones (Thunderbolt and Temp-Rooted Incredible 2) and not suffered any issues because of it.
There seems to be a lot of processes running in the background that I have no idea what they do.
I know each phone has different bloatware, is there a list for the Revolution?
If you don't know what it does and you can't figure it out (Google Web Search, etc.) then I would say don't touch it. For the most part, if someone says "You can delete this App on
(Different Android Phone)," then it is likely safe to do on the Revolution. All of the apps I got rid of on my Thunderbolt were also successful frozen on my wife's Incredible 2.
Also what is the difference between uninstalling and freezing an App? Is there a free way to freeze an app?
Really, there are 3 ways to dump bloatware:
- Freeze it: Use a program like Titanium Backup or MyBackup Pro/Root (there are free and paid versions of both). This keeps the APK and files for the App on the phone, but stops the process from running until you un-freeze it. Think of it like a more perminant "App Killer."
- Rename/Move the APK: Using a File Explorer (Root Explorer is the most popular), go into the System>App folder on your phone, mount it R/W and long press on the APK file and rename the file (I usually put a ".old" at the end). You can also copy and paste the APK file to your SDCard just in case you want to free up your phone's memory but don't want to leave yourself SOL if you want the app back in the future. The advantage over Freezing is that you can free up space on your Phone's internal memory this way.
- Delete the APK: I think you can do this in either Titanium Backup as well as Root Explorer, but a straight up delete is obviously the most risky as you may brick your phone if you delete something you shouldn't.
I would recommend three Apps if you are a Root user:
- ROM Manager (with Clockwork Recovery Image)
- File Manager (most popular is Root Explorer)
- App/Data Backup manager (I like MyBackup Pro/Root, but also use Titanium Backup)
The three above types of apps are worth spending money on if you plan on doing a lot with your Rooted phone.
Before you do anything to APKs, weather it is just freeze them or if you delete/move files, Do a backup using ROM Manager (backs up the entire image of the phone) as well as a backup using Titanium or MyBackup (backs up the individual Apps and your Phone's Data/Settings), and THEN do your Freezing and/or deletions. That way, you can always boot into Recovery mode and restore your backup if it makes your phone wierd.
