How to Remove Pre-Installed Android Apps — Removing Bloatware
Have you noticed those useless apps on your Android device that cannot be removed? They drain your battery and take up space. Here’s how to get rid of bloatware.
Android phones and tablets come with a fair few pre-installed apps that cannot be removed from your phone. Some of these apps have their place on your phone, performing useful tasks and storing data critical to your phones. Some of them, however, perform tasks that aren’t useful to some users and instead take up unnecessary space on your device. On top of this, some of these apps even drain your battery in the background.
If you want to get rid of them, you’re going to have to geek out a bit — for the most part, this process involves rooting your device, which carries a lot of risks and voids your warranty for the device. There are other ways to stop these apps from running in the background though, simply by disabling them.
If you want to remove them completely, then you’re going to need third-party software and you’re going to need to do some homework on rooting your device, lest you render it an unusable brick for the bin.
Another option is to simply disable them and clear all the data held within them, this means that you won’t see them anymore, although you can reactivate them at any point with a couple of very simple steps. This will still take up a little space on your device, although less than if they were active — they also won’t ever run in the background if you do this.
How to disable bloatware on Android
To disable bloatware, you just need to go through a few simple actions via the Settings menu. It’s important to note that not all of these apps can be disabled. Most of them can, but some are required to actually keep your Android running properly while disabling others can prevent you from installing updates. In some cases, it appears that Samsung, or one of the various other companies that make Android devices, is just being cheeky by not allowing you to get rid of their own software.
If you can’t remove an app then simply go to the Settings and then navigate to Apps (or Applications), then select the app that you cannot conceive the reasons behind its existence and press Disable. You’ll get a warning telling you that disabling the app might have negative consequences for other apps on your phone — don’t worry about this, the liklihood of this happening with most apps is incredibly slim.
Once you’ve done this, the app will no longer be visible on your home screen and it won’t ever be running in the background. You can also press the Force Stop and Clear Data buttons too, for good measure.
Bear in mind that these apps will still take up a little space on your device while disabled and that some of them simply cannot be disabled. For these apps, you’ll need to root your device to delete them.
How to root your Android
First things first, this is a simple yet complex procedure that comes with a set of risks and isn’t really encouraged as you can break your phone doing it. Also, you can’t use your phone’s warranty if you’ve rooted it, so be careful here. We’re certainly not taking any responsibility if you do try this and it doesn’t work — don’t say we didn’t warn you!
If you want to root your Android, you’ll first need to download third-party software to do so. We recommend you download Kingroot APK, seeing as its free and also has a pretty good track record of not turning people’s phones into immobilized lumps of plastic that aren’t good for anything.
Once you’ve got Kingroot installed, open the app and follow the instructions on how to root your device. It’s very simple, but make sure that you’ve backed up all the data on your phone first. Also, go to Settings > Applications > Developer Options and enable USB debugging.
You can install Pro Key and Titanium Backup from Google Play and grant them superuser permission once you’ve rooted your device. This allows you to freeze apps — essentially getting rid of them.
The main downside with this is the rooting itself. You have to make sure that your phone is charged during the rooting process because if it isn’t and it dies, then it’ll never turn on again. Also, you might struggle to get Android updates in the future.
Why root your Android?
Other than removing bloatware, there are many other reasons to root your Android device. Once your Android is rooted, you can install as well as uninstall apps of your chosing. Essentially, you have administrator control on your phone — it removes the limitations that Android puts on your phone.
The thing about this is that if you’re going to do it you sort of need to know what you’re actually doing. While rooting is easy, the follow ups can be difficult and for everyday users it’s not the best idea. Basically, if you’re not a tech geek, then be careful or you might expose your phone to hackers and get in the way of updates that keep you secure.
Wrapping Up
Now that you understand a bit more about how to remove bloatware from your Android device, we recommend that you try the first method laid out — simply disable your apps. See how many you can disable and how much space it leaves you with, and then consider rooting your Android device if that fails.
Always be careful with rooting and always remember that you cannot take it into a store and get it replaced on the warranty if it goes wrong (which it has been known to do).
We hope you found this article helpful and that you manage to get your Android into smoother shape as a result. If you want more information about how to modify your Android, then keep following our blog for the best tips on how to clean it up and make it perform better.
Via downloadall.biz
