{"id":2051,"date":"2015-07-14T18:08:12","date_gmt":"2015-07-14T17:08:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.hovatek.com\/?p=2051"},"modified":"2022-08-15T22:13:22","modified_gmt":"2022-08-15T22:13:22","slug":"how-to-remove-bloatware-on-an-android-phone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hovatek.com\/blog\/how-to-remove-bloatware-on-an-android-phone\/","title":{"rendered":"How to remove bloatware on an Android phone"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"removing<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In previous articles, we’d treated some negatives effects that Bloatware could have on the speed (see https:\/\/www.hovatek.com\/blog\/how-to-easily-make-an-android-phone-run-faster-or-stop-lagging\/<\/a>\u00a0) and user experience (see https:\/\/www.hovatek.com\/blog\/how-to-solve-the-problem-of-heavy-data-consumption-in-iphone-ipad-and-android-smartphones-tablets\/<\/a>\u00a0) of an Android phone . In this brief article, we’ll be looking at how to identify bloatware and remove them.<\/p>\n

What are bloatware?<\/h3>\n

Bloatware are unwanted applications that come pre-installed (by the manufacturer) on an Android phone. In other words, any pre-installed application which the phone doesn’t need to function (might also consume excessive disk space \/ memory)\u00a0 can be classified as Bloatware.<\/p>\n

Why do manufacturers include Bloatware?<\/h3>\n

Having a popular mobile application pre-installed could be a marketing boost for the phone. The manufacturer might also have been paid to have other applications pre-installed for advertisement purposes.<\/p>\n

Are bloatware harmful?<\/h3>\n

No they’re not, although they might consume valuable resources like disk space or memory, resulting in a reduced performance. Any pre-installed application that is harmful to the phone or user can be classified as Malware.<\/p>\n

How do I identify bloatware?<\/h3>\n

There’s no definite answer to that because One Man’s meat is another Man’s poison.\u00a0<\/em>Any pre-installed application which you feel you (personally) don’t need can be tagged as bloatware.<\/p>\n

Why are Bloatware so difficult to remove?<\/h3>\n

Their location. You can’t uninstall most bloatware like you would a regular application because they’re system applications. You will need root permissions to edit the system partition (see https:\/\/www.hovatek.com\/blog\/how-to-root-android-easily-without-pc\/<\/a> for more information on Android rooting).<\/p>\n

Where (on the phone) are Bloatware located?<\/h3>\n

They’re often located in the system\/app folder. On some phones, they could be in\u00a0vendor\/operator\/app , system\/priv-app, system\/preloadapp or other folders. You’ll need a root browser to access these directories.<\/p>\n

How do I remove bloatware?<\/h3>\n

* Go to Settings > Apps > Downloaded and uninstall any bloatware you find there<\/p>\n

* Ensure the phone is rooted and backed up (see https:\/\/www.hovatek.com\/blog\/how-to-root-android-easily-without-pc\/<\/a>\u00a0to know more about rooting in Android)<\/p>\n

* Be careful what you delete from the \/system folder else you’ll end up bricking the phone (see https:\/\/www.hovatek.com\/blog\/how-to-unbrick-fix-a-bricked-android-device\/<\/a> to know more about bricking)<\/p>\n

We’ll consider two methods:<\/p>\n

1. Using a system application\u00a0uninstaller<\/p>\n

2. Manually deleting the bloatware apk<\/p>\n

A. How to remove bloatware using a system application uninstaller<\/h3>\n

1. Install\u00a0System App Remover (ROOT)<\/a>\u00a0 and launch it (authorize if prompted for root permissions)<\/p>\n

\"how<\/a><\/p>\n

2. Tick the system app(s) you wish to uninstall and click the red uninstall button at the bottom<\/p>\n

\"how<\/a><\/p>\n

3. Tap Yes to confirm<\/p>\n

\"how<\/a><\/p>\n

4. Wait while the app(s) get uninstalled<\/p>\n

\"how<\/a><\/p>\n

5. You should get a confirmation that the uninstallation was successful<\/p>\n

\"how<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

B. How to remove bloatware using a\u00a0root browser<\/h3>\n

This method is ideal for removing bloatware stored in locations\u00a0outside system\/app<\/em><\/p>\n

1. Install ROM Toolbox Lite<\/a>\u00a0 and launch it\u00a0(authorize if prompted for root permissions)<\/p>\n

\"how<\/a><\/p>\n

2. Scroll down and select Root browser (tap No if prompted to download additional utilities)<\/p>\n

\"how<\/a><\/p>\n

3. Depending on your phone type, navigate to the location of the bloatware (they could be in\u00a0vendor\/operator\/app , system\/priv-app, system\/preloadapp or other folders )<\/p>\n

\"how<\/a><\/p>\n

4. Tap Multi-Sel at the bottom<\/p>\n

\"how<\/a><\/p>\n

5. Select the apks and odex files you wish to delete then tap Delete<\/p>\n

\"how<\/a><\/p>\n

6. Select Yes to confirm<\/p>\n

\"how<\/a><\/p>\n

7. Wait while the files get deleted<\/p>\n

\"how<\/a><\/p>\n

My phone is stuck at brand logo after deleting something wrong in the \/system folder. How do I fix my phone?<\/h3>\n

You need to flash back system.img or system.ext4.tar depending on the format that your \/system directory is in the ROM.\u00a0Please, create a new thread at our forum and our reps will provide free step by step assistance (see https:\/\/www.hovatek.com\/forum\/thread-514.html<\/a> for how to create a thread) .<\/p>\n

Hovatek….just a button away!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  In previous articles, we’d treated some negatives effects that Bloatware could have on the speed (see https:\/\/www.hovatek.com\/blog\/how-to-easily-make-an-android-phone-run-faster-or-stop-lagging\/\u00a0) and user experience (see https:\/\/www.hovatek.com\/blog\/how-to-solve-the-problem-of-heavy-data-consumption-in-iphone-ipad-and-android-smartphones-tablets\/\u00a0) of an Android phone . In this brief article, we’ll be looking at how to identify bloatware and remove them. What are bloatware? Bloatware are unwanted applications that come pre-installed (by the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":2052,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[818],"tags":[20,126],"class_list":["post-2051","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tutorials","tag-android","tag-tutorials"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hovatek.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2051","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hovatek.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hovatek.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hovatek.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hovatek.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2051"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.hovatek.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2051\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hovatek.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2051"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hovatek.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2051"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hovatek.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2051"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}