# Is there a way to remove factory installed apps on my droid? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 2, 2012, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-remove-factory-installed-apps-on-my-droid/611478 "2012-02-02T00:23:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2012, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-remove-factory-installed-apps-on-my-droid/611478/1 "2012-02-02T00:23:35Z")
Tittle says it all. I recently bought a phone and I’m a little miffed that that the manufacturer saw fit to take a lions share of my internal memory with their factory installed apps. 90% of which I have no intention of using! Anyway of getting them off? Currently, the uninstall function on these apps is disabled. ---
**Author:** ![gazpacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6f9a4e/32.png) [@gazpacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gazpacho)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2012, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-remove-factory-installed-apps-on-my-droid/611478/2 "2012-02-02T00:27:29Z")
Not without a fair amount of work. You will need to root your phone. Then remove the apk files. I have personally not rooted my phone and it is possible to ruin the phone if you do it wrong. ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2012, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-remove-factory-installed-apps-on-my-droid/611478/3 "2012-02-02T00:42:34Z")
Depending on what model of phone you have, rooting is as easy as “download a file to the phone, run it” to as hard as “download several files and a program to your PC, run the program in DOS, do some more commands in DOS, transfer over some files to the phone, reboot phone, pray to God.” May I ask exactly what make/model of phone you have? ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2012, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-remove-factory-installed-apps-on-my-droid/611478/4 "2012-02-02T01:07:42Z")
It’s a Samsung Admire. The provider is Meto PCS. I don’t know what “rooting” means but it scares me. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![rbroome](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/838e76/32.png) [@rbroome](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rbroome)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2012, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-remove-factory-installed-apps-on-my-droid/611478/5 "2012-02-02T01:22:22Z")
> [@Shakes](#): > > It’s a Samsung Admire. The provider is Meto PCS. > > I don’t know what “rooting” means but it scares me. 🙂 a wise person! If you don’t know what it is, don’t play with it. I have a Samsung Galaxy, not rooted. The advantages aren’t worth risking destroying the phone. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2012, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-remove-factory-installed-apps-on-my-droid/611478/6 "2012-02-02T02:38:21Z")
> [@rbroome](#): > > a wise person! If you don’t know what it is, don’t play with it. I have a Samsung Galaxy, not rooted. The advantages aren’t worth risking destroying the phone. Yeah. I’m reasonably computer-literate, and am pissed at the Veridiots putting several un-installable games etc. on my phone, but I’ve chosen to “find them charming” and ignore them vs. rooting the phone. Though it is tempting now… there was an OS upgrade a while back and now the phone is incredibly slow to do anything. ---
**Author:** ![Edward\_The\_Head](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ce73a5/32.png) [@Edward\_The\_Head](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Edward_The_Head)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2012, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-remove-factory-installed-apps-on-my-droid/611478/7 "2012-02-02T02:48:21Z")
These apps annoy me to no end. I haven’t wanted to root my phone, but they install and run stuff all the time. I am always turning off Amazon mp3 down loader, Google Maps, and Facebook, none of which I use. I found that when I turn them off my phone lasts longer and runs faster. You should be able to turn them off through Settings-\>Manage Apps. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2012, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-remove-factory-installed-apps-on-my-droid/611478/8 "2012-02-02T02:49:13Z")
Definitely not a topic that would have been raised in 1992. ---
**Author:** ![sco3tt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@sco3tt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sco3tt)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2012, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-remove-factory-installed-apps-on-my-droid/611478/9 "2012-02-02T03:02:23Z")
[Here’s a good place to start](http://androidforums.com/admire-all-things-root/412730-root-one-click-root-samsung-admire-sch-r720-windows-mac-linux-9-12-2011-a.html). ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2012, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-remove-factory-installed-apps-on-my-droid/611478/10 "2012-02-02T15:09:54Z")
> [@sco3tt](#): > > [Here’s a good place to start](http://androidforums.com/admire-all-things-root/412730-root-one-click-root-samsung-admire-sch-r720-windows-mac-linux-9-12-2011-a.html). Looking at that, this is one of the easier phones to root (almost all Samsungs are.) It’s as easy as two downloads (one is the drivers for the Samsung phones, the other is the actual “rooting” software,) then connect your phone, and run the “rooting” program. After you root, if you don’t do a single thing, your phone will appear to be the same, but there are now some apps you can download and other things you can do. If you want to remove those built-inn apps, after rooting, download the program “Titanium Backup.” It can make backups of apps, but also uninstall those factory ones (though it does need root.) It can also simply “freeze” an app, which is safer. Basically, freezing prevents it from doing anything, though it still takes up space, but if you freeze an app and notice your phone is acting weird, you can un-freeze it…if you just uninstalled it, you might not be able to get your phone back to “normal.” ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2012, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-remove-factory-installed-apps-on-my-droid/611478/11 "2012-02-02T15:27:06Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Definitely not a topic that would have been raised in 1992. Droids had a rather different meaning back then and I could never find the one’s I was looking for. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2012, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-remove-factory-installed-apps-on-my-droid/611478/12 "2012-02-02T15:31:36Z")
I’m glad I’m not totally consumed with the hate, but it’s taken a lot of effort. Fucking T-Mobile’s browser has un-deletable _bookmarks_. Fox sports? Not only do I find reading about sports more boring than the back of the shampoo bottle, I have a pretty strong aversion to Fox anything. But I can’t get rid of it (though I could DL and use Firefox). Game demos that I can’t get rid of, even after trying the fucking demo? Twitter? No, I don’t. No issues with it, I just don’t. Stop, please. Get off my phone. I was flabbergasted that even with calling customer service they weren’t removable. I could understand having to jump through hoops so you’re forced to see their subsidized bullshit, but absolutely impossible to remove? Even more painful is we don’t use contracts (don’t use the service enough), so we paid full price for the phones. Yarrrghh! ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2012, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-remove-factory-installed-apps-on-my-droid/611478/13 "2012-02-02T16:22:26Z")
> [@Rhythmdvl](#): > > I’m glad I’m not totally consumed with the hate, but it’s taken a lot of effort. Fucking T-Mobile’s browser has un-deletable _bookmarks_. Fox sports? Not only do I find reading about sports more boring than the back of the shampoo bottle, I have a pretty strong aversion to Fox anything. But I can’t get rid of it (though I could DL and use Firefox). Actually, Firefox Mobile isn’t so great…I (and plenty of other people) really prefer Dolphin HD Browser. Has cool gesture controls if you want, easy bookmarking, etc… ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2012, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-remove-factory-installed-apps-on-my-droid/611478/14 "2012-02-02T16:23:21Z")
Look at the bright side. The providers get \*paid \*to put those apps on your phone, so your price to buy the phone goes down a little. They saved you some money. That’s a good thing. Hint for Android shoppers: Don’t believe the memory listed on the spec sheet. You never know home much of that is going to be filled up by bloatware. Go to a store, handle the phone, and check for available internal memory. That’s your space for apps. I’d recommend that you want at least 500 megs of space. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2012, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-remove-factory-installed-apps-on-my-droid/611478/15 "2012-02-02T16:37:54Z")
> [@bouv](#): > > Actually, Firefox Mobile isn’t so great…I (and plenty of other people) really prefer Dolphin HD Browser. Has cool gesture controls if you want, easy bookmarking, etc… I tried Dolphin shortly before moving to FF. I moved out of habit more than anything, but I did notice Dolphin itself seemed to push ads (or did it?), plus FF has the adblock extension that kicks ass. My main browsing is on a tablet though, if that makes a difference. A nice Acer tablet with nothing I’ve found that I can’t do/delete. ETA: I can appreciate the subsidizing effects of bloatware. What’s off-pissing is that it’s un-removable, even after trying it out. The hassle of deleting pre-installed bookmarks and apps on a retail-purchased computer is one level of bitching, especially if you need to hunt down methods for complete removal somewhere on the net. But the absolute inability to remove something as simple as _bookmarks_ without rooting? Absurd. ---
**Author:** ![tullsterx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@tullsterx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tullsterx)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2012, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-remove-factory-installed-apps-on-my-droid/611478/16 "2012-02-02T17:41:36Z")
I rooted my Samsung Galaxy, it was easy but not really a big deal and pretty much a waste of time. Unless your phone is really dragging or you’re just really into stuff like that for fun, then I wouldn’t worry with it. But, otherwise, no, you can’t generally remove the “bloatware”. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2012, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-remove-factory-installed-apps-on-my-droid/611478/17 "2012-02-02T17:46:15Z")
I rooted my Droid X primarily to remove these apps. I’m a software professional, so I’m comfortable doing that stuff, but I can see many (most?) Android users not wanting to jump into that kind of thing. ---
**Author:** ![simple\_homer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@simple\_homer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simple_homer)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2012, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-remove-factory-installed-apps-on-my-droid/611478/18 "2012-02-02T17:52:22Z")
I rooted my Sony Xperia Arc. It would not be something that I would recommend that a novice should do. Have only seen a minor improvement in performance. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2012, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-remove-factory-installed-apps-on-my-droid/611478/19 "2012-02-02T18:05:14Z")
> [@simple\_homer](#): > > I rooted my Sony Xperia Arc. > It would not be something that I would recommend that a novice should do. > Have only seen a minor improvement in performance. I don’t think rooting alone would improve performance, if that’s what you are saying. Once you have root access, then you might be able to do additional things that might improve performance, like removing bloatware or overclocking the CPU. ---
**Author:** ![simple\_homer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@simple\_homer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simple_homer)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2012, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-remove-factory-installed-apps-on-my-droid/611478/20 "2012-02-02T18:27:27Z")
> [@Revtim](#): > > I don’t think rooting alone would improve performance, if that’s what you are saying. Once you have root access, then you might be able to do additional things that might improve performance, like removing bloatware or overclocking the CPU. Only a minor improvement after removing bloatware. Don’t want to overclock due to not wanting to cause overheating or reliability problems. I rooted it for fun 🙂