Database Develop

Can you tell me what these .apks do?

Hello
I am looking at my /system/app and trying to figure out what these apks are responsible for and is it safe to nuke them
MediaProvider.apk
BugReport.apk
MediaUploader.apk
Clicker.apk
PackageInstaller.apk
Development.apk
DownloadProvider.apk
SettingsProvider.apk
DrmProvider.apk
SoundRecorder.apk
FilePicker.apk
Stk.apk
GooglePartnerSetup.apk
Term.apk
TmoImPlugin.apk
UserDictionaryProvider.apk
GoogleSubscribedFeedsProvider.apk
HTMLViewer.apk
ImProvider.apk
Now, I am pretty sure what some of them are (like ImProvider.apk) however I don't quite use those services so I'm wondering if they are stand-alon apps or integrated with something else (like IM and Gtalk may be?). Also, DRM provider, what's that? I don't believe that I have any DRM media, do I still need it? If someone could neat-pick thru those and let me know - that would be greatly appreciated. I decided to get rid of my a2sd set-up and going lean and mean. I already nuked all the stuff I could think of but I want to free up some more space in /system/app and stuff some of my apps from /data/app in there.
Thank you in advance.

borodin1 said:
Hello
I am looking at my /system/app and trying to figure out what these apks are responsible for and is it safe to nuke them
MediaProvider.apk
BugReport.apk
MediaUploader.apk
Clicker.apk
PackageInstaller.apk
Development.apk
DownloadProvider.apk
SettingsProvider.apk
DrmProvider.apk
SoundRecorder.apk
FilePicker.apk
Stk.apk
GooglePartnerSetup.apk
Term.apk
TmoImPlugin.apk
UserDictionaryProvider.apk
GoogleSubscribedFeedsProvider.apk
HTMLViewer.apk
ImProvider.apk
Now, I am pretty sure what some of them are (like ImProvider.apk) however I don't quite use those services so I'm wondering if they are stand-alon apps or integrated with something else (like IM and Gtalk may be?). Also, DRM provider, what's that? I don't believe that I have any DRM media, do I still need it? If someone could neat-pick thru those and let me know - that would be greatly appreciated. I decided to get rid of my a2sd set-up and going lean and mean. I already nuked all the stuff I could think of but I want to free up some more space in /system/app and stuff some of my apps from /data/app in there.
Thank you in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have an idea what most of them are but don't want to give a wrong answer.
package installer - what allows you to install .apk's
sound recorder - self explained, sound recording app
bug report - reports whats goin on
googlepartnersetup - googles first intial set up
settings - settings for your phone
media uploader - what allows your phone to upload video and pics to internet
development - for development purposes (assuming dev tools or something in it)
user dictionary - assuming its what stores all the words you use when you type
I'm not 100%. If I'm wrong on anything go ahead and flame me.

supremeteam256 said:
I have an idea what most of them are but don't want to give a wrong answer.
package installer - what allows you to install .apk's
sound recorder - self explained, sound recording app
bug report - reports whats goin on
googlepartnersetup - googles first intial set up
settings - settings for your phone
media uploader - what allows your phone to upload video and pics to internet
development - for development purposes (assuming dev tools or something in it)
user dictionary - assuming its what stores all the words you use when you type
I'm not 100%. If I'm wrong on anything go ahead and flame me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
See that's where the problem is.... I use astro and that has built-in package installer... do I need 2? I know I need file browser lol
Initial set-up is handled by Checkin.apk and Set-upWizard.apk and I got both of those nuked successfully
Well....I guess nothing left to do
.....goes to nuke some stuff
Thank god for nandroid

My guess would be that package installer is used by Market so maybe you need it or maybe Market just downloads and doesn't install without package installer so then you can install with ASTRO. I wanna know what the stk.apk is for as it's never been in there before, I know it has something to do with the SIM card but what exactly?

_Kyros_ said:
My guess would be that package installer is used by Market so maybe you need it or maybe Market just downloads and doesn't install without package installer so then you can install with ASTRO. I wanna know what the stk.apk is for as it's never been in there before, I know it has something to do with the SIM card but what exactly?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're right, I remember seeing it somewhere that stk has something to do with dual sim enviroment however I thought that android did not support dual sims... hmm interesting, well going to nuke it anyway.

You're probably going to want to keep PackageInstaller. Even though you can install apks through Astro it wouldn't have the right permissions to do so on its own. It would have to do so through a system level service which is likely what PackageInstaller is.

numerik said:
You're probably going to want to keep PackageInstaller. Even though you can install apks through Astro it wouldn't have the right permissions to do so on its own. It would have to do so through a system level service which is likely what PackageInstaller is.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good point. I'm taking them out one by one to see what happens.
Thanks!

FYI I wouldn't delete any of the *Provider.apk files. These appear to be basic system services that other apps would need to implement some of their functionality. MediaProvider for example would be the service apps would use for playing sound or video. I'm not sure but I think DRMProvider is for protected apps (this would also include free apps if the developer published it that way). Some of the others also look like they would be used for app functionality through intents as well. Like HTML Viewer which I believe provides HTML rendering for apps that need it (possibly including the browser as it wouldn't make sense for it to have it's own separate renderer). Term might be what provides the adb shell. I would really do more research before you start deleting files indiscriminately. I just keep recalling the old story about the guy who deleted all those useless DLL files to free up hard drive space...

numerik said:
Term might be what provides the adb shell.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
By the way Term.apk is actually Terminal Emulator so you don't need it if you don't use it and plus you can download it from Market.

numerik said:
FYI I wouldn't delete any of the *Provider.apk files. These appear to be basic system services that other apps would need to implement some of their functionality. MediaProvider for example would be the service apps would use for playing sound or video. I'm not sure but I think DRMProvider is for protected apps (this would also include free apps if the developer published it that way). Some of the others also look like they would be used for app functionality through intents as well. Like HTML Viewer which I believe provides HTML rendering for apps that need it (possibly including the browser as it wouldn't make sense for it to have it's own separate renderer). Term might be what provides the adb shell. I would really do more research before you start deleting files indiscriminately. I just keep recalling the old story about the guy who deleted all those useless DLL files to free up hard drive space...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have to say once more.. thank god for nandroid. I'll post my results here at some point. See, some stuff may only be useful to some people and be a complete waste of space and resources for others. In my case - IM is that waste of space. I do use Gtalk but it's a stand-alone app therefore I thought that I could delete IM.apk, IMprovider.apk and TmoIMPlugin.apk without any problems.... WRONG!!! Gtalk started giving me FC. I've deleted IM.apk previously without any problems so it's one of the other two. Nand for now... will play with it later.
Thank you for your thoughts, if anyone wants to contribute - please do so.

Which Stock N1 Froyo Apps are Safe to Remove?

I'm wondering what apps (system/google) are safe to remove from my N1 running Froyo? I deleted the Amazon MP3 store, but am afraid to delete much more because I don't want to run into problems.

tardman91 said:
I'm wondering what apps (system/google) are safe to remove from my N1 running Froyo? I deleted the Amazon MP3 store, but am afraid to delete much more because I don't want to run into problems.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The normal procedure is to nandroid first, so remove whatever you want as long as you've verified your nandroid is good.

tardman91 said:
I'm wondering what apps (system/google) are safe to remove from my N1 running Froyo? I deleted the Amazon MP3 store, but am afraid to delete much more because I don't want to run into problems.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can remove the following without affecting system stability:
Bluetooth (as long as you never turn it on)
Calculator
GenieWidget
Gmail
GoogleFeedback (but will cause non-fatal errors)
GoogleQuickSearchBox (breaks Google Search on the phone)
Launcher2 (if you have another launcher)
LatinIMETutoral
LiveWallpapers
LiveWallpapersPicker
Music
PassionQuickOffice
Maps
Street
TTSService (will break all text to speech services)
VoiceDialer
VoiceSearch
VPNServices
With the obvious consequential loss of functionality.
Removing some of these will cause non-fatal errors in your logs.
Backup first!

What about latitude, goggles, google talk, and google voice?

I removed the stock messaging app since I use Handcent, which unfortunately broke MMS. SMS still worked just fine.

I removed those successfully:
- Facebook
- Twitter
- CarDock
- Email (not the Gmail one)
- Amazon MP3
- Google Voice
- QuickOffice
- and couple more I can't remember

Safe/Unsafe to Delete
Ran across this earlier, not sure how or why lol, but bookmarked it for future reference, as I have most all those deleted already.
http://wiki.cyanogenmod.com/index.php?title=Barebones

^That's sure an informative list! There seems to be a few more I can trash

I have removed FACEBOOK and TWITTER without any noticeable issue.
Dan

So besides not seeing the apps anymore (and then sometimes loading themselves), does this free any space? In /system I guess? So doesn't help much in that regard.
Although I get the point, I dunno why but Amazon MP3 running all the time really bugged me, it's the first thing I nuked after installing Titanium.

Reduce amount of options on sharing files/photos?

This might even be fixable via OTA software as far as I know, but is there a method available to reduce the amount of apps you must choose in order to share something on your device? Its just annoying when you don't even use 2/3 of the apps for sharing, most of which aren't used at all. I know I can delete the bloatware and it will reduce some.....
Attached a screenshot in case clarification is needed. Even if you are sharing a widely know method and want to toss in a smart comment, I deserve it if a fix exists and I am missing it. TIA

very simple, apps that you dont use, get rid of them. or go into the main settings, choose apps, now disable the system apps that you dont use. or, if you have root, delete those apps that you dont use.

simms22 said:
very simple, apps that you dont use, get rid of them. or go into the main settings, choose apps, now disable the system apps that you dont use. or, if you have root, delete those apps that you dont use.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are some obvious apps I know I can delete without system harm. I guess I can pretty easily search for what is 'safe' to delete, such as below.....
Apps I don't use:
Messenger (I use Messaging for SMS/MMS)
Bluetooth
Hangouts
Google+ (I'm sure I can delete)
Photos (Picasa/Google)
Kindle (I'm sure I can delete)
AT&T Locker
But here is the real twist........
Apps I use but would never send via:
Audio Manager
Tapatalk
Convert to PDF
Android Beam
AirDroid
ES File Explorer 'Send by LAN'
ES File Explorer 'Save to'

In a word, no.

[Q] How can we discover what each of the apks actually are from the package files?

Hi All,
I haven't had much luck with the questions I've asked, it's a shame these forums aren't more active but I'll try my luck again (and thanks in advance to all those who read).
A lot of us newbies who want to debloat our phones are unsure what apks to delete and what needs to stay. I've found various lists of apks that others have deleted, but with no indication of what they are exactly are. Some are obvious but others are not.
I, for instance, can't figure out which apk produces Video Unlimited, Smart Connect or Xperia Care Support from looking in system/app with the root browser. Is this even the only place I'd need to delete each apk from to remove it? But I digress.
So there surely must be a way to read each package and view or extract the user-friendly name that appears to the user in the Apps list or in the home screen. Can anyone tell me what it is? I would be very happy to go through each apk and list it out for people to then use as a reference, and we'd have one more resource for newbies to draw on, instead of us just deleting them blindly and/or at random.
Cheers as always,
schnidex

Use ES File Explorer and check the "App" menu. You will be able to see the apps by its user-friendly name, and clicking on each one you will see its package name.
- Install ES File Explorer from the Play Store (it's free)
- Press the hamburger menu (located up-left -> Library -> App)
- You will see user apps, then you can click on the menu and check system apps or all apps installed.
If you are rooted, you may uninstall system apps from there (long press, uninstall located down-left).

BarajaVLC said:
Use ES File Explorer and check the "App" menu. You will be able to see the apps by its user-friendly name, and clicking on each one you will see its package name.
- Install ES File Explorer from the Play Store (it's free)
- Press the hamburger menu (located up-left -> Library -> App)
- You will see user apps, then you can click on the menu and check system apps or all apps installed.
If you are rooted, you may uninstall system apps from there (long press, uninstall located down-left).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
¡MUCHISIMAS GRACIAS, MI AMIGO!
:good:

The problem is not in knowing which APK belongs to which app (and sometimes one APK is several apps at once - like Google+, and you need to know it, and sometimes you don't see an app at all for the APK, like for most system APKs). The problem is knowing what the app actually does, which parts of the system rely on it being present, and how well will these parts behave if the app is removed (vs disabled, which is a normal way to deal with unwanted apps). And this is where "debloating" can do more harm than good.

Jack_R1 said:
The problem is not in knowing which APK belongs to which app (and sometimes one APK is several apps at once - like Google+, and you need to know it, and sometimes you don't see an app at all for the APK, like for most system APKs). The problem is knowing what the app actually does, which parts of the system rely on it being present, and how well will these parts behave if the app is removed (vs disabled, which is a normal way to deal with unwanted apps). And this is where "debloating" can do more harm than good.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
True in many ways, but my primary concern was removing the apps that appear in the app drawer. This seems to handle that perfectly.

Which /system apps can be safely uninstalled?

I have recently upgraded my Xperia ZR to Lollipop 5.1.1 stock Sony ROM. I have rooted it. One big irritant I am facing is lack of internal storage space. Among the main culprits here are apps in /system (both /system/app as well as /system/priv-app) that are taking up precious space in internal memory (only 4.6 GB is user available out of total 8 GB) in the form of .DEX files.
My goal here is safety first. I know that I may not need them now, but I should be able to install them in future if necessary. Hence I am mainly looking at applications that are not required for normal functioning of the phone and could be installed from the Play Store if necessary later (considering that so many are already on the Play Store including many Sony applications)
Do all these applications necessarily need to run as system applications for their proper functioning? If I can install them as a regular user app, I can use Link2SD and send both the APK and DEX files to SD card with a link on internal memory thus greatly saving space.
Here are some I have shortlisted:
Google applications
1. Maps
2. YouTube
3. Google Search (the APK is called Velvet) - I do not use Google Search app, I do not want OK Google.
4. Drive - I do not use it now. May be in future.
5. Chrome - it is just a browser. Will it not work equally well as a user app?
Sony applications
1. File Commander (not exactly a Sony application but available on the Play Store and is already pushing ads, is there any unique functionality that only File Commander can provide and not other file browser? WiFi Direct?)
2. Album - is it not available on Play Store too? Can I install it from there?
3. Movies - same as Album.
4. Walkman or Music
5. What's New - not needed for me.
6. Movie Creator - I doubt I will be routinely stitching up videos on the phone. Still it would be nice to have in case needed in future.
7. Podcast - I do not listen to podcasts now but in future if the situation changes.
8. Movie Creator - there are 2!!!!!
9. Xperia with Facebook
10. Xperia Lounge Pass
11. Sony Music
12. Xperia with Twitter
13. Xperia Calender Sync - seems to deal with Facebook
14. Xperia Social Engine****
Please go through the list and suggest.

Greetings, you are on the same boat as I am, and yes I have uninstalled all the apps you have mentioned in the list. I have deleted even some other apps too. Also you may wanna keep "whats new" >> This app is like the update center so any new OS updates will be shown from here only and Xperia ZR will have a bug fixing update soon.

ariftwister said:
Greetings, you are on the same boat as I am, and yes I have uninstalled all the apps you have mentioned in the list. I have deleted even some other apps too. Also you may wanna keep "whats new" >> This app is like the update center so any new OS updates will be shown from here only and Xperia ZR will have a bug fixing update soon.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks. Could please tell me the other applications you got rid of?
I will keep What’s New then.
Are we probably the only 2 active ZR users? [emoji13]

Don't uninstall google Webviev.. Its same Bugs..
I have mail, exchange uninstalled..

mahferer said:
Don't uninstall google Webviev.. Its same Bugs..
I have mail, exchange uninstalled..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Webview is needed by many applications to display webcontent right? What did you mean by 'its same bugs'?
Exchange probably is related to Microsoft Exchange which is a corporate email thingy(?) and hence I too may not need it.
What about Chrome? I actually am a Firefox person but some sites may need Chrome. Hence I want to keep it but does it really need to be a system app?

For example ; Application details in Google play store can't not show.. Iys says play store stopped.. And My sms Application Truemessenger is too.. Stopped..
I don't use Chrome.. Deleted.. I use lovely Dolphin browser with Flash.player

sling-shot said:
Thanks. Could please tell me the other applications you got rid of?
I will keep What’s New then.
Are we probably the only 2 active ZR users? [emoji13]
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't remember them now, because using CM. Also why not try TB feature ? If space is your concern, sort apps by size and you will get which useless app is eating your internel memory. Also use "backup > verify > uninstall app" when un installing imp system apps. If they cause FC , you can restore them later.
Yeah its a pretty old device, soon you may be the only one (Hunting for the next Mobile )
---------- Post added at 10:08 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:04 AM ----------
Also some apps may seem like redundant (2 movie creator apps ) but in reality they are very useful. One used for merging and editing Video clips and the other used for PlayMemories Slideshow for album. These apps are very small in size and doesn't clog your internals. Look for the big one.

You shouldn't uninstall system apps, as they won't free up any space; if you want to free space, uninstall the apps on the /data partition, i.e. the apps that you can uninstall normally. If you want to improve performance, just disable the app in question. Deleting it does absolutely nothing that disabling wouldn't do at much less risk. I'm a little surprised nobody else has pointed this out.
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