bloatware - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

Mar

Verizon Approves An Update To... The Droid Charge? Face Unlock And A Photo Editor Come To Gingerbread

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Charge (i510), News, Verizon Wireless

Verizon is just not letting up on the updates. Which is kind of a crazy thing to say about the carrier. Today's is an oddity, though, as the Droid Charge will be getting a mild upgrade. Yes, really. It's not a huge change, though. Unfortunately, it's not Jelly Bean (or even Ice Cream Sandwich), but it does bring a couple of the features from those platforms, including face unlock and a photo editor.

Since it's not coming with Ice Cream Sandwich, we have to assume that either Verizon or Samsung (more likely the latter) added the features in themselves.

Apr

Verizon Xperia Play Updated To Version 4.0.2.E.0.57; It's Not Ice Cream Sandwich

Posted by Ron Amadeo in Gingerbread 2.3, Sony Ericsson, Xperia Play (Zeus, PlayStation Phone)

I know, I know. 4.0.2 sounds a lot like Android 4.0, but it isn't. It's actually Gingerbread 2.3.4, and Verizon Xperia Play owners who wish to rock out like it's May 2011 need only mash the update button.

The good news (in addition to the version bump) is that this update will let you take pictures with the right trigger (how did they not think of that earlier?), enable 720p video with continuous autofocus, and fix those crazy bugs like charging forcing landscape mode. You also get to take screenshots with the power button. The bad news is that it will install Verizon Video on Demand and Verizon Navigator.

Oct

Here's What Didn't Make It Into Tonight's ICS Demo - Encryption, Disabling Apps, And More

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0, News

While tonight's event positively overloaded us with details about Ice Cream Sandwich, there were some features that didn't make the cut - Android engineer Dan Morrill has spilled the details on even more awesome features we can expect from the latest version of Android, posting a brief message about them on Google+. Unfortunately we don't have screen shots of these features, but we can discuss what information we do have, feature-by-feature.

Disabling Apps

One of the most impressive features that we didn't get to see tonight is the ability to completely disable apps. Essentially this spells an end to resource-hogging bloatware, since users can keep individual apps from ever running, opening tasks, or using resources.

Sep

Leaked System App List For The Next Nexus Shows Lack Of Bloatware... And A Few New Goodies

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Galaxy Nexus, Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0, News

So, by now you've heard of the Galaxy Nexus/Nexus Prime/Droid Prime/Samsung Prime... or whatever we're calling it these days. If you haven't, well... you should find a rock with internet access to live under. Details are few and far between, but thanks to the guys over at MyDroidWorld, we have a full listing of the installed system apps to gander at while we wait for something better to come along.

There are a few notable entries in the list, but we can talk about those after you look over it in its entirety:

ApplicationsProvider.apk
BIP.apk
BackupRestoreConfirmation.apk
Bluetooth.apk
BooksTablet.apk
BrowserGoogle.apk
Calculator.apk
CalendarGoogle.apk
CalendarProvider.apk
CameraGoogle.apk
CertInstaller.apk
ChromeBookmarksSyncAdapter.apk
Contacts.apk
ContacsProvider.apk
DefaultContainerService.apk
DeskClockGoogle.apk
DownloadProvider.apk
DownloadProviderUi.apk
DrmProvider.apk
EmailGoogle.apk
ExchangeGoogle.apk
FaceLock.apk
Galaxy4.apk
GalleryGoogle.apk
GenieWidget.apk
Gmail.apk
GoogleBackupTransport.apk
GoogleContactSyncAdapter.apk
GoogleEarth.apk
GoogleFeedback.apk
GoogleLoginService.apk
GooglePackageVerifier.apk
GooglePartnerSetup.apk
GoogleQuickSearchBox.apk
GoogleServicesFramework.apk
GoogleTTS.apk
HTMLVierwer.apk
HoloSpiralWallpaper.apk
IMSFramework.apk
KeyChain.apk
LatinIMEDictionaryPack.apk
LatinImeGoogle.apk
Launcher2.apk
LiveWallpapers.apk
LiveWallpapersPicker.apk
Maps.apk
MarketUpdater.apk
MediaProvider.apk
MediaUploader.apk
Microbes.apk
Music2.apk
MusicFX.apk
NetworkLocation.apk
NfcGoogle.apk
NoiseField.apk
OneTimeInitializer.apk
PackageInstaller.apk
PhaseBeam.apk
Phone.apk
Phonesky.apk
PlusOne.apk
SDM.apk
Settings.apk
SettingsProvider.apk
SetupWizard.apk
SoundRecorder.apk
Stk.apk
Street.apk
SyncMLSvc.apk
SystemUI.apk
TagGoogle.apk
Talk.apk
TelephoneProvider.apk
Thinkfree.apk
UserDictionaryProvider.apk
VZWAPNlib.apk
VZWAPNService.apk
Videos.apk
VisualizationWallpapers.apk
VoicDialer.apk
VoiceSearch.apk
VpnDialogs.apk
YouTube.apk

Alright, let's do this in alphabetical order, shall we?

Sep

[Editorial] Let Android Be Android: One Year Later

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Android OS, Editorials

Introduction

It's now been exactly a year (minus one day) since I published my very first editorial for Android Police, Let Android Be Android. A lot has changed since - dual-core CPUs are now table stakes for a high-end smartphone; Android has evolved from an exclusively mobile OS to a software powerhouse for phones and tablets alike; and we've been given several seminars on stretching the truth about the speed of a wireless network (yep, that would be the "4G" drama).

Sadly, one thing has remained almost entirely stagnant: the diminutive amount of vanilla Android devices on the market. In fact, it would be more than accurate to say that the skin situation has been exacerbated since my article on it last year.

Sep

[Complete Guide] Root, Custom Recovery, Backup, And De-Bloat Your DROID BIONIC

Posted by David Ruddock in Bionic, Tips & Tutorials

WARNING: We are not responsible for any destruction of data, phones, or small animals resulting from your use of these instructions. Utilize them at your own risk. If you brick your BIONIC, head to this link.

OK, DROID BIONIC owners - I think it's finally safe-ish (well, as safe as it can be for the moment) to start tinkering with your phone a little. There's enough information out there now to reliably root, backup, and de-bloat your phone - with the ability to unbrick if you screw something up. So, let's get this party started. Also, these instructions are for Windows only.

Jun

[Updated] Sprint Wisens Up, Plans To Allow Bloatware Removal On Future Android Devices

Posted by Cameron Summerson in News, Sprint

Update: For those of you that thought this was too good to be true, you may be right. It turns out that most of the bloatware is still unremovable on the EVO 3D, so we'll just have to wait and see how Sprint handles this moving forward.

Yesterday we told you that all the unwanted junk bundled with the EVO 3D could be removed like any other app, a feature that no other phone/carrier had previously offered. Personally, I thought it was a fluke and Sprint would quickly release an OTA update to lock these apps in place - but I couldn't have been more wrong.

Jun

[Tip] [Updated] Don't Want Bloatware On Your HTC EVO 3D? It Can Be Uninstalled Just Like Any Other App

Posted by Cameron Summerson in EVO 3D (Shooter), News, Tips & Tutorials

Update: It turns out that this may not be as encompassing as we originally thought. According to Reddit member apantek, only a very limited amount of bloatware can be removed, leaving the bulk of it untouchable (this has been confirmed by our own Jaroslav Stekl). The unremovable files include:

Facebook for HTC Sense
Flickr
Footprints
HTC Hub
Peep
Picasa web albums
Polaris Office
Ringtone Trimmer
Spider-Man
Sprint Zone
The Green Hornet 3D
TrimIt

So, while Sprint may be making steps in the right direction, it's not completely there yet.

---Original post:

One of the biggest pet peeves that most users have with their Android phone is the insane amounts of crap that carriers put on the device.

Sep

Editorial: Let Android Be Android

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Android OS, Editorials

Last Updated: January 17th, 2011

Introduction

I've had this article in mind for quite some time now, but haven't mustered up the courage to do it in fear of upsetting fanboys. But when the Fascinate shipped with Bing rather than Google as the default search engine, I could hold off no longer. For a Google Android phone to ship with a search engine other than Google, the search engine I know, love, and use on a daily basis (and I'm pretty sure I'm not alone here) is unthinkable; not offering a way to change it is even more of an outrage. Of course, Verizon isn't the only one committing this crime; AT&T did essentially the same thing with the Motorola Backflip, T-Mobile bastardized Sense on the MyTouch 3G Slide, and Sprint's had its share of Android-related evilness too (Sprint NASCAR?

Jun

EVO 4G DamageControl v3.0 - Fast, Improved Battery Life, Tweaks

[EVO 4G ROM] DamageControl v3.0 - Fast, Improved Battery Life, Tweaks

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Development, Eclair 2.1, EVO 4G (Supersonic), HTC, Sprint, Tips & Tutorials

What a day for EVO 4G ROMs! Hot on the heels of the release of Fresh ROM for EVO, another former HTC Hero ROM developer damageless, notorious for his DamageControl Hero ROM, announced his version for the EVO.

DamageControl v3.0 is damageless' and his partner TrevE's first crack at customizing the EVO and making it both faster and much more battery efficient. First, a little introduction:

I am proud to present the first DamageControl ROM for the HTC Evo!

The ROMs I release are always focused on stability, speed, and ease of use.

My partner, TrevE and I, continue to present ROMs that are easy to update through an application that is bundled with the ROM, DCUpdater (based upon cm-updater).