Database Develop

Removing/freezing bloat after OTA

I noticed there are some new apps and some new processes with the new update to ICS, like Google+ and a new messenger and some new authenticators. Does anyone have an updated list of what is safe to disable/freeze?

Marvin- said:
I noticed there are some new apps and some new processes with the new update to ICS, like Google+ and a new messenger and some new authenticators. Does anyone have an updated list of what is safe to disable/freeze?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm just looking to remove that junk. Root Uninstaller didn't seem to be helpful. Thankfully, this Moto junk is my work phone and not my personal. I'd never buy one of these!

I too am interested after noticing that I am down 75MB+ of available memory on average after the OTA ICS upgrade (coming from stock GB).

Actually, you don't really need any special guide. Almost everything can be either uninstalled or frozen by going into Settings => Applications and finding the app in the list. This is now built in to Android, so if you can disable it from there, it is safe. Also, most of the additional bloatware that isn't directly VZW can just be uninstalled now.

Awesome. I noticed that you can disable natively now. I just wanted to make sure disabling or removing stuff would not hurt future updates like people have said it would in the past.

Marvin- said:
Awesome. I noticed that you can disable natively now. I just wanted to make sure disabling or removing stuff would not hurt future updates like people have said it would in the past.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope, this is now an Android feature. You can, of course, root your phone and further disable some software, but for the most part, you should be fine sticking with the safety of the native disabling.

Excellent, thanks for the quick response.

i like how they discourage you from disabling the bloatware by telling you stuff might misbehave... yeah, if i disable the NFL thing and my phone misbehaves, it's getting returned. lol
i can't wait for the day when the carriers are forced to allow us to completely remove the bloat that comes on phones, just like PC manufacturers were required to in the 90s.
has anyone experimented with repartitioning so that the app storage and user data areas are in the same partition? i really don't see any reason to keep them separate. right now i could get another 2gb back from the app partition to store more music in if i wanted to.

Gibson99 said:
i like how they discourage you from disabling the bloatware by telling you stuff might misbehave... yeah, if i disable the NFL thing and my phone misbehaves, it's getting returned. lol
i can't wait for the day when the carriers are forced to allow us to completely remove the bloat that comes on phones, just like PC manufacturers were required to in the 90s.
has anyone experimented with repartitioning so that the app storage and user data areas are in the same partition? i really don't see any reason to keep them separate. right now i could get another 2gb back from the app partition to store more music in if i wanted to.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The "your phone might misbehave" is more of a generic message, but it can apply to anything. For example, if you have an app that relies on one of the activities from the NFL app, it is quite possible that your phone will do something unexpected (like crash).
Of course, I do also wish I could completely and safely obliterate all the VZW stuff.
As for repartitioning, Motorola does this so that they can continue to provide a mass storage connection mode. If you repartition to unified storage, it will mean that you will be restricted to MTP/PTP transfer modes. It also means that you'll need to be a LOT more careful when modifying your phone's OS. Personally, I recommend you simply invest $35 in a 32GB mirco SD card, or if you really have a lot of music, spring for a 64GB one.

[Q] Removing System Apps

I was wondering if there was a way for me to remove the apps that came preloaded but no functional uninstall button (twitter, facebook, amazon kindle, etc) without rooting it? I rooted my nook color successfully a few times last years, but I'd really rather not with the dell just because it really already has the functionality I was looking to get out of the nook (except these annoying apps). It seems to run low on space quickly, much faster than the nook. I don't even need the navigation apps as it is one that has the sim card blocked off so it's wi-fi only. If I do have to root it to get rid of them, what would be the best route to go? Thank you in advance!

Nope! You download Superuser7 and install from Fastboot.
Woops! That wasn't correct! You must install a custom recovery like CWM or TWRP first and than install Superuser7 from that.

cmperry said:
I was wondering if there was a way for me to remove the apps that came preloaded but no functional uninstall button (twitter, facebook, amazon kindle, etc) without rooting it? I rooted my nook color successfully a few times last years, but I'd really rather not with the dell just because it really already has the functionality I was looking to get out of the nook (except these annoying apps). It seems to run low on space quickly, much faster than the nook. I don't even need the navigation apps as it is one that has the sim card blocked off so it's wi-fi only. If I do have to root it to get rid of them, what would be the best route to go? Thank you in advance!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mine was rooted with gingerbreak, but I never upgraded it to hc, so it probably doesn't fit your situation.
Sent from my HTC_Amaze_4G using xda premium

It seems I may have a problem with my device and not these system apps like I was thinking. I tried to install a 29 mb app today it said insuffiescient space so I unloaded another app and got rid of a few pictures, still wouldn't work. I checked the space and it says I have nearly 12GB available internal and my sd is blank so theres almost 8GB external available. For some reason the device sees the empty space but can't install to it. I have 6 apps and 10 pictures on my devices and it still says theres no space. I guess I'll have to send it to Dell again because I don't know what it's problem is!

[Q] How is the Z3C without root? Can backups and moving apps to SD be done?

Hi everyone. I'm heavily considering getting a Xperia Z3 Compact, but I have a few hangups that I would like to get some feedback. I've been rooting my devices since I've been using Android. When my Galaxy S4 Active was updated to Android 4.3 and I lost root for 3 months, I hated it. But it's an ongoing battle that I'm tired of fighting and I've found that there are only really a couple apps that I really need root access for. Plus, if I really need to, I can unlock the bootloader and root the Z3C, but I don't want to lose the DRM keys and degrade my device for only a couple programs if I don't have to. So I'm wondering just how necessary they are and whether I can work around this.
The first application that I use all the time is Titanium Backup. I've been using it since my very first Android device and it has been a valuable tool. I've used it to backup applications that I didn't have room for and restore them later, to remove or freeze bloatware, and to upgrade system apps with new versions to save room. These things were a necessity with my old Xperia Play. However, the main function that I really need is the backup of app data. Anything can restore the installed apps, but very little will backup the actual app data.
Or at least so I thought. I've been using Titanium Backup for so long that I didn't really consider switching to any other applications. Plus the GS4A was my first phone on Android 4.x, so I didn't know about the included ADB backup feature built into it. From what I understand, Helium can do an ADB backup without root access, correct? Has anyone used this with the Z3C? I've read that some Sony phones don't support it. Although I've also read that all Motorola phones don't support it, and the GSM version of the Droid Turbo (aka "Moto X Play" last I read) is my other contender against the Z3C.
The next app that I use right now is FolderMount and this one is a bit trickier. Back on the Xperia Play, space was incredibly limited. I used Link2SD to save more space than moving apps to the MicroSD card through the Application Management. I could probably have used it on the GS4A, but I found FolderMount to be much easier to work with. It was also necessary because all moving apps to the SD card did was move them to an emulated SD card on the main device storage, which defeated the entire purpose.
I still don't understand why this is so stupidly designed now and why Google keeps trying to kill off the SD card. Or for that matter why device manufacturers still include only 16GB with SD card expansion (and no way of moving apps properly) or only 32GB without. Neither is enough room for games that can consume a gigabyte or two for massive .obb files. And in all honesty, those .obb files are all that I want to move, which is why FolderMount works so well for that.
So that brings me to the question that I think I already know the answer to: Has anyone found a way to move the .obb files to the external SD card without root access? Either that, or to change it so that the shared storage is the SD card and all the .obb files get downloaded to it by default? I suspect that the answer is still "not without root" here. It just seems asinine that Sony not include this feature if they are going to include an inadequate amount of storage space.
Aside from those issues, I could probably run without root access for most other things. Although root does make it much handier. I just hate needing it to fix or workaround poor design decisions on the part of manufacturers or Google themselves.

Info
MechaBouncer said:
Hi everyone. ...
Can backups and moving apps to SD be done?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
without Root >> NO
:good:

So that goes for using Helium as well?

http://forum.xda-developers.com/search.php?searchid=312768077

Helium does work with Z3C without root. Switched from my old HTC One to Z3C with Helium. Restored most of the apps without a problem. Not all apps do work though, but this seems to be a problem with adb backup itself, not Helium itself.

MechaBouncer said:
Hi everyone. I'm heavily considering getting a Xperia Z3 Compact, but I have a few hangups that I would like to get some feedback. I've been rooting my devices since I've been using Android. When my Galaxy S4 Active was updated to Android 4.3 and I lost root for 3 months, I hated it. But it's an ongoing battle that I'm tired of fighting and I've found that there are only really a couple apps that I really need root access for. Plus, if I really need to, I can unlock the bootloader and root the Z3C, but I don't want to lose the DRM keys and degrade my device for only a couple programs if I don't have to. So I'm wondering just how necessary they are and whether I can work around this.
The first application that I use all the time is Titanium Backup. I've been using it since my very first Android device and it has been a valuable tool. I've used it to backup applications that I didn't have room for and restore them later, to remove or freeze bloatware, and to upgrade system apps with new versions to save room. These things were a necessity with my old Xperia Play. However, the main function that I really need is the backup of app data. Anything can restore the installed apps, but very little will backup the actual app data.
Or at least so I thought. I've been using Titanium Backup for so long that I didn't really consider switching to any other applications. Plus the GS4A was my first phone on Android 4.x, so I didn't know about the included ADB backup feature built into it. From what I understand, Helium can do an ADB backup without root access, correct? Has anyone used this with the Z3C? I've read that some Sony phones don't support it. Although I've also read that all Motorola phones don't support it, and the GSM version of the Droid Turbo (aka "Moto X Play" last I read) is my other contender against the Z3C.
The next app that I use right now is FolderMount and this one is a bit trickier. Back on the Xperia Play, space was incredibly limited. I used Link2SD to save more space than moving apps to the MicroSD card through the Application Management. I could probably have used it on the GS4A, but I found FolderMount to be much easier to work with. It was also necessary because all moving apps to the SD card did was move them to an emulated SD card on the main device storage, which defeated the entire purpose.
I still don't understand why this is so stupidly designed now and why Google keeps trying to kill off the SD card. Or for that matter why device manufacturers still include only 16GB with SD card expansion (and no way of moving apps properly) or only 32GB without. Neither is enough room for games that can consume a gigabyte or two for massive .obb files. And in all honesty, those .obb files are all that I want to move, which is why FolderMount works so well for that.
So that brings me to the question that I think I already know the answer to: Has anyone found a way to move the .obb files to the external SD card without root access? Either that, or to change it so that the shared storage is the SD card and all the .obb files get downloaded to it by default? I suspect that the answer is still "not without root" here. It just seems asinine that Sony not include this feature if they are going to include an inadequate amount of storage space.
Aside from those issues, I could probably run without root access for most other things. Although root does make it much handier. I just hate needing it to fix or workaround poor design decisions on the part of manufacturers or Google themselves.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Titanium backup doesn't work because it is built in a way that requires root to work. On the other hand Helium uses ADB therefore it works without root but requires the device to be connected to a computer for the backup. Tested and it works flawlessly. I heard that the Sony compagnon isn't bad either but it doesn't work with encryption.
Also you can do manually full ADB backups including the APK without any software or root.
You cannot move apps to the sd card but I would say that you don't need too either since the apps can store their data on it.

Thanks -Vulture- and difto. That confirms what I was wondering about Helium. I knew that Titanium Backup wouldn't work without root, so it's good to know that Helium still will for most apps.
And I figured root would be necessary to move apps or their files to the SD card. Unfortunately, a lot of games I have still won't write to it on their own, which is why I've had to resort to FolderMount. It's quite frustrating. I feel like any application that needs to download external files should be able to move those to the SD card.

Move Apps to External Storage

did we lose this capability in the Note 8? still haven't found a setting and my aqua mail isn't letting me select my extSD for storage of attacments. anyone find it or is it gone? any workarounds other than root?

I honestly thought that ability was removed several years back. Like maybe 3-4 years ago. I could be mistaken.

PsiPhiDan said:
I honestly thought that ability was removed several years back. Like maybe 3-4 years ago. I could be mistaken.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks. wtg Sammy. take away the functions we use most. why allow large external sd cards if you can't store anything there. zero permissions to access it for important apps and no way to move hoggy apps there. nice. definitely rooting again. so tired of paying for fewer and fewer really usable features. dumbed down devices are not my thing.

toenail_flicker said:
did we lose this capability in the Note 8? still haven't found a setting and my aqua mail isn't letting me select my extSD for storage of attacments. anyone find it or is it gone? any workarounds other than root?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
haven't tested it yet, but found an option under Developer Options. hope it works.
Settings>Build (enable dev options)>Developer Options>Force Allow Apps on External

PsiPhiDan said:
I honestly thought that ability was removed several years back. Like maybe 3-4 years ago. I could be mistaken.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes it was . Google removed that ability in kitkat.

Some applications have option to move to SD, but not all: settings/apps click on application, then storage. If you don't see "storage used - change" then that app is not movable. However SD card is not as reliable and fast as internal store, so I wouldn't move important apps even if I could.

toenail_flicker said:
haven't tested it yet, but found an option under Developer Options. hope it works.
Settings>Build (enable dev options)>Developer Options>Force Allow Apps on External
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just tried this and it shows that it was "moved" to my SD card. The storage being taken up increased but on the internal storage it reflects the same. So probably didn't work.
Edit: Okay so it does work but not for all of the Apps/Games I tried. I'd say about 10% of the apps I tried didn't actually go over to the SD Card but the rest of them did.

GallardosEggrollShop said:
Just tried this and it shows that it was "moved" to my SD card. The storage being taken up increased but on the internal storage it reflects the same. So probably didn't work.
Edit: Okay so it does work but not for all of the Apps/Games I tried. I'd say about 10% of the apps I tried didn't actually go over to the SD Card but the rest of them did.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
some clarification for me...
so even though inside the "apps info" tab on a particular app, if it says "external storage" it may still live on internal? or will it show "internal"?

marctronixx said:
some clarification for me...
so even though inside the "apps info" tab on a particular app, if it says "external storage" it may still live on internal? or will it show "internal"?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exactly, at least from what I'm currently experiencing. For example I had 18.2GBs before I moved GTA San Andreas which is roughly 2.8GBs. From what I can tell it didn't increase my space on the internal as I still have the same 18.2GBs but it also took up more space on my external SD card. So I don't know if it is some false positive but I've restarted a few times and installed other apps. The storage still hasn't changed. Maybe someone else can shed some light on this phenomenon?

GallardosEggrollShop said:
Exactly, at least from what I'm currently experiencing. For example I had 18.2GBs before I moved GTA San Andreas which is roughly 2.8GBs. From what I can tell it didn't increase my space on the internal as I still have the same 18.2GBs but it also took up more space on my external SD card. So I don't know if it is some false positive but I've restarted a few times and installed other apps. The storage still hasn't changed. Maybe someone else can shed some light on this phenomenon?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the follow up.
I moved some things over to SD card (i have a 400gb SSD card) like WhatsApp, philips hue, instagram.. things like that. Nothing serious like any CPU intensive apps. I "see" SOME more internal storage open up but i need to look into it further myself.
Still thanks for starting this discussion. I miss the old days of moving apps to SD (there used to be a program , apps2sd, that would do this in the early days of android) and 64gb is not a lot of storage for apps today. Most of us have over 100+ apps (on a power user device like this device, I would have expected more).
If understand its safer to keep apps internally so as to now cause issues, but having their ability to Mose simple apps like WhatsApp and such, can help.
I don't plan to root so being able to do this and KNOW it will work is intriguing.

allmine1976 said:
Yes it was . Google removed that ability in kitkat.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have kitkat on my N4 and I still have that ability. I am rooted of course.

pete4k said:
Some applications have option to move to SD, but not all: settings/apps click on application, then storage. If you don't see "storage used - change" then that app is not movable. However SD card is not as reliable and fast as internal store, so I wouldn't move important apps even if I could.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the bigger picture for me, until root, is being able to allow different apps to store their images, docs, etc. on my extSD. things aren't working the way I think they should. man I hate knox. need root now.

marctronixx said:
Still thanks for starting this discussion. I miss the old days of moving apps to SD (there used to be a program , apps2sd, that would do this in the early days of android) and 64gb is not a lot of storage for apps today. Most of us have over 100+ apps (on a power user device like this device, I would have expected more).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you're welcome. did a search and was surprised someone hadn't already brought it up. I haven't seen anything that I can move, and it appears as if it's not working at all for me on Sprint. I'll check again later. got tired of things that didn't work and started to play.

toenail_flicker said:
the bigger picture for me, until root, is being able to allow different apps to store their images, docs, etc. on my extSD. things aren't working the way I think they should. man I hate knox. need root now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Google has been screwing with SD card access since Kitkat, if I remember correctly. They don't use it on their phones and messing with permission and all kinds of nonsense to make people move away from SD card to use and pay for their stupid cloud. At least now the permissions are set properly. Anyway, root could be difficult on Snapdragon, S8 just got root few weeks ago, around 6 months after release, so don't hold your breath. But I'm finding that a lot of stuff requiring root can be accomplished with ADB, I just wish somebody made a comprehensive list of ADB tricks. In the past I used root mostly for disabling bloatware and adding functionality, like adding AC3 codec, but there are workarounds for some of those things, just hard to find sometimes. Knox doesn't bother me too much, I may be using it's secure folder for sensitive data, like banking, credit cards, I just hope it's as secure as they say it is, because I have my doubts.

pete4k said:
...I'm finding that a lot of stuff requiring root can be accomplished with ADB, I just wish somebody made a comprehensive list of ADB tricks. In the past I used root mostly for disabling bloatware and adding functionality, like adding AC3 codec, but there are workarounds for some of those things, just hard to find sometimes. Knox doesn't bother me too much, I may be using it's secure folder for sensitive data, like banking, credit cards, I just hope it's as secure as they say it is, because I have my doubts.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
good info about adb. I'm out of practice with it and, yes, a comprehensive list of working adb commands would be great. I'm not in a hurry for root. I know it takes a while. and if we don't get it (I would be surprised) I can deal.

toenail_flicker said:
the bigger picture for me, until root, is being able to allow different apps to store their images, docs, etc. on my extSD. things aren't working the way I think they should. man I hate knox. need root now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not one to root but the main reason i want SOME apps on SD is their folders they store their data in, like whatsapp for example. Conversations in WhatsApp span many years and gigs of videos and photos in a few of those conversations. Having that on an SSD card would be choice.
P.s. Lol love your screen name bro... :good:

Go into developer options and you can turn it on. You can put majority of your apps on your card. No system apps.

marctronixx said:
I'm not one to root but the main reason i want SOME apps on SD is their folders they store their data in, like whatsapp for example. Conversations in WhatsApp span many years and gigs of videos and photos in a few of those conversations. Having that on an SSD card would be choice.
P.s. Lol love your screen name bro... :good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks.
and exactly what you said. some apps like whatsapp... and others. it's just necessary. for the moment I just want the permissions fixed and that's going to take disabling knox and/or applying a fix to do both like for the N4. not sure that type of thing is even doable anymore.

Ill keep an eye out on this thread. If you found more tips/updates on this please post.
I just moved a LOT of stuff over to SD. Evertying i could. Some things, google maps for example, didn't have the option of moving over, so maybe some of these will stick..
I was one danergously low on internal storage, but if i can move things over, I will.

jason504 said:
Go into developer options and you can turn it on. You can put majority of your apps on your card. No system apps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I found it on another screen instead of where I thought it would be. nice. it's working.

Best method for a complete Backup

I am tired of partial backups. I can't seem to find a proper way to keep everything, including application configures, saved user profiles, wifi passwords etc. For example, when Backup, I typically have WhatApps's apps (dual apps) in there. Upon restore, the apps are not configured, I have to go through the motion again to reconfigure.
Is there a best method to backup that will restore everything, or as much as possible? I don't mind using USB, SD card or a cloud SaaS solution. I want something reliable. If all I have to re-enter are my bank/credit cards and finger prints, it's fine.
Thanks,
P.S: And to change the CSC on the SM-N960F with OXM firmware, do I reset with, or without the SIM? In a dual sim, does it need just 1 sim (keep the second slot empty) or it will configure based on the first sim? I kept doing this with both SIM card slots used. Ii wonder if this is one of the issue. I keep getting EGY when I want to try ILO and SEB instead. If anyone is on either and can tell me their experience, it would be appreciated.

lbarouf said:
I am tired of partial backups. I can't seem to find a proper way to keep everything, including application configures, saved user profiles, wifi passwords etc. For example, when Backup, I typically have WhatApps's apps (dual apps) in there. Upon restore, the apps are not configured, I have to go through the motion again to reconfigure.
Is there a best method to backup that will restore everything, or as much as possible? I don't mind using USB, SD card or a cloud SaaS solution. I want something reliable. If all I have to re-enter are my bank/credit cards and finger prints, it's fine.
Thanks,
P.S: And to change the CSC on the SM-N960F with OXM firmware, do I reset with, or without the SIM? In a dual sim, does it need just 1 sim (keep the second slot empty) or it will configure based on the first sim? I kept doing this with both SIM card slots used. Ii wonder if this is one of the issue. I keep getting EGY when I want to try ILO and SEB instead. If anyone is on either and can tell me their experience, it would be appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
root
titanium backup
google account restore
profit.
for csc flash corrponding csc.md5
after you can either manualy switch csc by editing a few files( search and forum and learn) or use an app like samsung info + and use the csc menu to switch
edit
samsung switch i think you can point to an sd card and dump the backup there.

bober10113 said:
root
titanium backup
google account restore
profit.
for csc flash corrponding csc.md5
after you can either manualy switch csc by editing a few files( search and forum and learn) or use an app like samsung info + and use the csc menu to switch
edit
samsung switch i think you can point to an sd card and dump the backup there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks. Is root required for full backup? I'd like to keep not root if possible.
Smart Switch on Mac did not help in that sense. Local copy on disk, but still had to reconfigure everything. I felt like it was useless. Unless the PC version is more powerful?!?
Thanks for the CSC tip, I will research that.

lbarouf said:
Thanks. Is root required for full backup? I'd like to keep not root if possible.
Smart Switch on Mac did not help in that sense. Local copy on disk, but still had to reconfigure everything. I felt like it was useless. Unless the PC version is more powerful?!?
Thanks for the CSC tip, I will research that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
no no not smart switch to backup to a computer # smart switch to backup locally

bober10113 said:
no no not smart switch to backup to a computer # smart switch to backup locally
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh,. thanks for the clarification. So to SD should save more information then? that's it, I'm ordering the darn 512GB sd card then and give it a try.

lbarouf said:
Oh,. thanks for the clarification. So to SD should save more information then? that's it, I'm ordering the darn 512GB sd card then and give it a try.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
well the ultimate solution would be root + titanium backup.
that for sure will save all personal data.
the smart switch to storage, am not 100% sure if personalized data would be saved( app + configs/passwords etc...). maybe you should try with any random sd card first.( not sure but internal storage might work but if you wipe clean your phone then local data might be lost where as external sd card data and backups won't)
but i do know that desktop layout,wallpaper, wifi ssids, keyboard data etc is saved for sure. there is also samsung cloud backup. not 100% sure if the backed up data is any different then the option i suggest to save to SD using smartswitch
edit
https://www.samsung.com/hk_en/support/mobile-devices/backup-your-data/
as stated in that link, depending of the app, its personalized data/config might or might not be backed up.

bober10113 said:
well the ultimate solution would be root + titanium backup.
that for sure will save all personal data.
the smart switch to storage, am not 100% sure if personalized data would be saved( app + configs/passwords etc...). maybe you should try with any random sd card first.( not sure but internal storage might work but if you wipe clean your phone then local data might be lost where as external sd card data and backups won't)
but i do know that desktop layout,wallpaper, wifi ssids, keyboard data etc is saved for sure. there is also samsung cloud backup. not 100% sure if the backed up data is any different then the option i suggest to save to SD using smartswitch
edit
https://www.samsung.com/hk_en/support/mobile-devices/backup-your-data/
as stated in that link, depending of the app, its personalized data/config might or might not be backed up.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Argh. Which I get, just don't like the fact. I like how Apple on a backup, copies all data, except fingerprints, but not the apps. All you re-download are apps. I wished Samsung did similar. I will try the SD card method and compare. Any time saved is appreciated.
Cheers!

Ibarouf mentioned entering credit/ bank card details, seems to me he wishes to use Samsung Pay or Google Pay.
My advice would be stay well away from root.
Any advice to go down a path that requires root should also advise very clearly that this will permanently trip Knox security and hence break Samsung Pay, Google Pay and most banking applications

paul_59 said:
Ibarouf mentioned entering credit/ bank card details, seems to me he wishes to use Samsung Pay or Google Pay.
My advice would be stay well away from root.
Any advice to go down a path that requires root should also advise very clearly that this will permanently trip Knox security and hence break Samsung Pay, Google Pay and most banking applications
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yeah root and samsung pay don't play well together. i believe google pay can work with magisk hide though.
but not sure where he stated that he was using either samsung pay or even Google pay though.

bober10113 said:
yeah root and samsung pay don't play well together. i believe google pay can work with magisk hide though.
but not sure where he stated that he was using either samsung pay or even Google pay though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are correct, he didn't explicitly state he was using these apps, I assumed his reference to bank card details implied using banking apps or Samsung Pay, etc.
I am sometimes a little pedantic, OP may have been aware of downside to Root or how magisk can hide root for some apps, I just wanted to emphasise that tripping Knox by rooting is irreversible.
No problem with anyone rooting if the benefits outweigh the irreversible effect of tripping Knox and conseqential lack of some function that may be necessary

paul_59 said:
Ibarouf mentioned entering credit/ bank card details, seems to me he wishes to use Samsung Pay or Google Pay.
My advice would be stay well away from root.
Any advice to go down a path that requires root should also advise very clearly that this will permanently trip Knox security and hence break Samsung Pay, Google Pay and most banking applications
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Correct, I would wish so, if possible. I prefer not to root if possible.

paul_59 said:
You are correct, he didn't explicitly state he was using these apps, I assumed his reference to bank card details implied using banking apps or Samsung Pay, etc.
I am sometimes a little pedantic, OP may have been aware of downside to Root or how magisk can hide root for some apps, I just wanted to emphasise that tripping Knox by rooting is irreversible.
No problem with anyone rooting if the benefits outweigh the irreversible effect of tripping Knox and conseqential lack of some function that may be necessary
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My bank app allows me to make contactless payments as well, a la google pay, and another bank allows use of google pay as well. When knox is tripped, the app won't even install. So no google pay, but also, no bank details info other than the browser. But what I really had in mind, was no root for all those pain.
Thanks!

update
So, for those interested to whom it may help.
Here's the results of those suggestions.
I saw no difference in terms of data backed up using Samsung's backup to cloud, or to SD card. The things not backed up such as WhatsApp are identified early on, and apply to both of those methods.
Ad indicated, only root access software would create a more complete back-up a-la-Apple.
Reseting the device with a single device yielded the desired results. For example, I got SEB, SEB/SEB,EGY with a single sim card, matching the SEB CSC. Same when I redid with ILO.
I hate the whole concept of CSCs and the impact it has. I switch between a total of 7 SIMs. I don't the same headaches with my iPhone (A2104, true dual SIM). I would need to flash my phone to get LTE vs 4G with certain SIMs. If Apple could do the something like DeX, I would have ditched Samsung a long time ago. Maybe with Android Q, I will be able to find something better with dual sims, OnePlus?
Anyhow, happy enough for now with my Note 9. Able to have 1TB of storage AND dual sim, would make me happier. But for now I keep looking at alternatives to ditch Samsung even if In the meantime I use it.
While I get I'm a fringe use case.... if I don't have to jump through hoops with another vendor, why on earth should I stay with them?
thanks to everyone who chimed in.

lbarouf said:
So, for those interested to whom it may help.
Here's the results of those suggestions.
I saw no difference in terms of data backed up using Samsung's backup to cloud, or to SD card. The things not backed up such as WhatsApp are identified early on, and apply to both of those methods.
Ad indicated, only root access software would create a more complete back-up a-la-Apple.
Reseting the device with a single device yielded the desired results. For example, I got SEB, SEB/SEB,EGY with a single sim card, matching the SEB CSC. Same when I redid with ILO.
I hate the whole concept of CSCs and the impact it has. I switch between a total of 7 SIMs. I don't the same headaches with my iPhone (A2104, true dual SIM). I would need to flash my phone to get LTE vs 4G with certain SIMs. If Apple could do the something like DeX, I would have ditched Samsung a long time ago. Maybe with Android Q, I will be able to find something better with dual sims, OnePlus?
Anyhow, happy enough for now with my Note 9. Able to have 1TB of storage AND dual sim, would make me happier. But for now I keep looking at alternatives to ditch Samsung even if In the meantime I use it.
While I get I'm a fringe use case.... if I don't have to jump through hoops with another vendor, why on earth should I stay with them?
thanks to everyone who chimed in.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
if you ever want to root, you can use csc changers apps to manualy apply a csc from a same regions.(if your device's csc is multi csc and of the same region of your sim cards. also note that csc only applies certain modifications like spam caller id, camera shutter sound toggle, volte, wific calling....etc. none of which are mandatory to make the phone usable. it might make the usage a bit more fun.
you can also forcefully apply a csc with flashable modifications.
not to mention full 100% backups with 2 methods:
-titanium back up
-nandroid image backup using twrp recovery( like with computer imaging software, full clone.)
i know that for the past 5 samsung phones ive had, they all have been rooted for the reasons above. plus for the added benefice of modified system and custom roms. make the phone longevity much more pleasing. at this price i want to extract as much pleasure from this device as possible. flashing a new customized rom makes it feel that i have a different phone each time i switch...its very addictive lol. do yourself a favor and go check out the development section and see the different available roms. ill posted a picture or 2 of what i currently have as modifications/custom rom..you cant say it dosent look years and years in advance if any apple phone because they release the same OS and look for the past 10 years now. i just love the black theming, even for android standards it looks nice! )
so if you are unhappy with locked stock experience, then go read up on rooting and its impact. if you evaluate that there are more benefits than Down sides, then maybe you should consider. if my phone was not rooted, your complaints with the device are 100 %understandable and i would be displeased also. but lucky you have the rootable exynos model...so you have the choice to fix your problems without to spend money on a new or different device.( but all android device have the limitations you speak of. its like apple, all apple have the same locked walled garden principles that make it very very unappealing to me. because you do not control it. apple does.. in fact you dont own the device nor the data. you buy the capacity to use the phone... apple is evil.)

bober10113 said:
if you ever want to root, you can use csc changers apps to manualy apply a csc from a same regions.(if your device's csc is multi csc and of the same region of your sim cards. also note that csc only applies certain modifications like spam caller id, camera shutter sound toggle, volte, wific calling....etc. none of which are mandatory to make the phone usable. it might make the usage a bit more fun.
you can also forcefully apply a csc with flashable modifications.
not to mention full 100% backups with 2 methods:
-titanium back up
-nandroid image backup using twrp recovery( like with computer imaging software, full clone.)
i know that for the past 5 samsung phones ive had, they all have been rooted for the reasons above. plus for the added benefice of modified system and custom roms. make the phone longevity much more pleasing. at this price i want to extract as much pleasure from this device as possible. flashing a new customized rom makes it feel that i have a different phone each time i switch...its very addictive lol. do yourself a favor and go check out the development section and see the different available roms. ill posted a picture or 2 of what i currently have as modifications/custom rom..you cant say it dosent look years and years in advance if any apple phone because they release the same OS and look for the past 10 years now. i just love the black theming, even for android standards it looks nice! )
so if you are unhappy with locked stock experience, then go read up on rooting and its impact. if you evaluate that there are more benefits than Down sides, then maybe you should consider. if my phone was not rooted, your complaints with the device are 100 %understandable and i would be displeased also. but lucky you have the rootable exynos model...so you have the choice to fix your problems without to spend money on a new or different device.( but all android device have the limitations you speak of. its like apple, all apple have the same locked walled garden principles that make it very very unappealing to me. because you do not control it. apple does.. in fact you dont own the device nor the data. you buy the capacity to use the phone... apple is evil.)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the suggestion. While looking at those, I found that most offered me way to customize the look and feel of the device. While it it nice, it's far from a priority for me. The Samsung themes are fine for me. The complete backup was my main pain point. While the complete backup does most of it, I still found it left much behind. What's App, TomTom Go maps, and others.
My main pain with rooting the device, is tripping Knox and everything that comes with that. I prefer the stock experience, and keep the device as such. I just wished Samsung took an approach similar to Apple on the backup front, full and encrypted local backup, and for the regionalization, something simpler as well. Apple loads carrier profiles based on the inserted SIMs. No need for different firmwares or CSC codes. Anytime you can swap a SIM and load the carrier config files. Less headaches. Carriers are pricks, doing things their way is never in the customer's benefit. Anyhow, it's interesting what you can do once rooted. I just don't have the envy nor time to modify my device constantly. It may just not be for me. Maybe 20 years ago... not anymore. Thanks nonetheless!