Database Develop

[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.

Question: SD Card Help for Fire n00b

Hi All, at the risk of being flamed with a crazy n00b question, I'm trying to figure out the best way to use the microSD card. Got 3 of these Kindle Fire's for Christmas for my 10, 8, and 5 yr old boys. The parental controls look fabulous for my needs for them, the obvious problem is the internal storage. I'm reading up as much as I can, realizing root is my saving grace (Thank you Tomsgt!!!!) for getting apps to move to the microSD card, I'm trying to figure out the best/easiest program to make this actually happen.
What are you all using? Any pre-requisites to make this happen (besides root)? Do I have to setup symbolic links, or is there a way to make this all automagic? Is there a way to make content automatically download to the SD card or do I just need to plan on managing this a little an app at a time to move after install?
I tried Link2SD, followed some guides I found, but the immediate problem I found was I wasn't able to copy anything onto the FAT32 partition when it's in the Fire and the Fire is in my computer. Maybe I need to just take the card out and copy content (movies and stuff) directly onto the card that way, but it just doesn't seem quite right.
Ultimately my goal is to get all apps (not system apps obviously) and content to the microSD card.
Thanks so much for your help to this n00b (typically an iPhone user, having a fun time trying to drink from a firehouse trying to live in both worlds)!!

I've been using Link2sd for a number of years. And I find it very helpful for the fire. 1st off you need to repartition the SD card. Set both partitions as primary. 2nd partition I set as a ext2. I have it setup to automatically move new apps to 2nd partition via settings.
Sent from my KFFOWI using Tapatalk

Thanks for responding back! I'm working to try to get link2sd working, but am running into an issue.
I've rooted, installed link2sd, rebooted, and when I launch the app I can choose whichever of the 2 I've created (44GB FAT32 and 20GB EXT2), in either case, after I choose that I'll see a screen that says: "Root Access Warning", "Link2SD could not obtain root access."
In an effort to try to 'start over', I've downloaded the latest firmware, re-installed, went through the basics, did root ONLY (no OTA blocks, nor ad bocks), and just tried re-installing Link2SD, but I'm getting the exact same behavior and unable to move apps.
Got any ideas or thoughts?
Thanks a ton!

Short Version:
I formatted ext2, but had to choose ext4 upon startup of link2sd.
Long Version:
I got it worked out. Stupid. When I formatted the SD card on my computer, I KNOW I told it to go ext2 because every guide I read said use 2 since it'd be better for stock ROMs. When launching link2sd every time I said use ext2 it would tell me it couldn't obtain root. I went and got the link2sd app from google play (I had previously only been using the one from the Amazon App store) and it's pretty obvious the one in the Amazon App store is out dated, or stripped down or something. When I launched the latest link2sd, I would get mount script errors. I then proceeded to just start trying other partitions, and when I chose ext4, BAM, looks like that's the ticket.
Hopefully this might help other poor unsuspecting souls.

Is LINK2SD the only way to do this ?
I'm running the resurrection-remix rom and wondered if there's something built in that I'm missing.
Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk

Connorsdad said:
Is LINK2SD the only way to do this ?
I'm running the resurrection-remix rom and wondered if there's something built in that I'm missing.
Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I certainly can't say for sure, but, it definitely appears that this is truly the only app I can find that will actually allow you to move ALL aspects of an app to the SD Card. I've tried several others and all they end up allowing you to do is move the program itself, not the content. Which, for something like Knights Of The Old Republic, sucks 'cause the app's like 40 MB, and the content is 2GB. The kicker is that Link2SD is "free", but it's basically not functional until you purchase the license. I suppose they do this so you can first see if you can get it all to the point JUST BEFORE you can move content, because as I've found, there are several steps. Once you're ready to move, you're good to go, just need the license and you can proceed forward. I'm still in the middle of playing with it, but it appears that there are settings which will auto place EVERYTHING onto the SD card if installing from an online app store. Truly worth the 2 bucks and change to actually open up your SD card.
(on a side note, I totally understand one reason why this *could* be a bad thing to do, and that's only if your microSD card is slow. The internal memory on devices is likely as fast as you can get, but the budget microSD cards are definitely going to be slower. I seriously doubt it'll prevent an app from opening, all it means is that you just need to go into it with your eyes wide open that it might launch apps a little slower... which... for me I could care less 'cause these fires are for my 10, 8, and 5 year olds )

Just found foldermount on the playstore, sounds ideal, I'll report back here.
Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk

Connorsdad said:
Just found foldermount on the playstore, sounds ideal, I'll report back here.
Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This app works a treat
I highly recommend paying the small price for the pro version to remove the limitations.
Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk

link2sd isn't the only app that's severely out of date on the Amazon appstore. I find that to be very common.
Foldermount works well, but nothing beats the simplicity of link2sd. Most notably, sometimes on bootup Foldermount can take some time to do its thing, whereas link2sd links are usually immediately functional. I don't know what difficulty you had with the free version; I used it successfully for years (and supplemented it with Foldermount for two offline navigation apps whose data storage was particularly bad) before finally paying the $2.35 for the Plus version which basically just adds the ability to move an app's data as well as the app itself.
When you have a ton of apps on a slow SD card (regardless of link2sd vs. Foldermount etc) the whole system can get very slow and even unresponsive, far beyond a tolerable mere need to wait for an app to open. However, if that happens then you know what you need to do...uninstall some apps. I try to keep apps that run all the time on internal. That helps. And yeah, if you're using link2sd/Foldermount/etc then definitely don't cheap out on a slow card.

Using a Samsung Memory 64 GB Evo MicroSDXC UHS-I Grade 1 Class 10 Memory Card at the minute, hopefully good enough. Poor decision not to be able to store apps on an external card as standard tbh.
Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk

Free Time keeps losing apps

I bought a 2015 Amazon Fire Kids' Edition and a 32GB SD card for my son for Christmas. I followed the directions here to upgrade to 5.1.1 and maintain root and the 5.0.1 bootloaders, set up Google, etc. We decided to use the one year of Free Time that came with the tablet to make things simpler to set up and maintain, at least initially. However, my son keeps having to download apps, even ones he frequently uses, all over again. There is plenty of space on the SD card, and there appears to be plenty of space on the internal memory too.
I haven't been able to find a lot of discussion of this issue online, and I'm not sure if that's because it is normal and everyone thinks it is ok, or if it is because (especially on XDA) everyone is using some other setup.
Are other folks having this issue? Is there any way to force it to store the apps on the SD card and not constantly download apps that were already installed?
Since this isn't my device I don't want to spend a lot of time messing with it. I just want it to work without complaints. Even my wife is ticked that Free Time works this way!

if you have FireOS, have you tried contacting Amazon? Just wondering... Otherwise mention which ROM you are running.

I have the exact same issue on both my kids tablets. Apps have to be downloaded again very often, they still show as installed in settings. It even does it on apps downloaded from the normal appstore when they are added to the kids area, but the same apps run with no issues when not on a kids profile so I know they don't need to download extra data or update to run. Have you come across anything that is causing this? I'm going to try speaking with Amazon tomorrow. Both mine are unrooted stock.

I have two tablets and having issues with one of them at the moment. Originally I left one stock (kids subscription) and set the other up with slim rom, but ordered a third (another with the kids sub) and gave away the one with slim rom. The one with fire OS has only the lock screen ad remover and OTA blocker mods. It has an 8GB SD card but constantly running out of space, I can't even uninstall apps to make space now, so frustrating.
I thought the 1yr subscription to all the kids content would be great but its no good if you cant actually play or use them. The best thing I done was change the one to slim rom, didn't have one issue, had access to everything on play store and you could still set up parental controls.
Sent from my InFocus M810t using Tapatalk

Do you still get access to the kids content that comes with the subscription?

I got a Fire tablet forma the kids thought the Free time thing was great, but every time an app is launched it seems to be downloaded again. This is frustrating. I also searched but didn't find much on the topic. Any news on what causes this? I have moved all apps to the SD, maybe that's part of the cause?
Sent from my ASUS_T00J using Tapatalk

glock24 said:
I got a Fire tablet forma the kids thought the Free time thing was great, but every time an app is launched it seems to be downloaded again. This is frustrating. I also searched but didn't find much on the topic. Any news on what causes this? I have moved all apps to the SD, maybe that's part of the cause?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Possibly. If the migration method did not utilize symbolic links good chance relocation is the culprit. Move one or two back to internal storage and see what happens.

apps on the sd card

My mother is looking at getting a new tablet but is looking at getting a tablet where she can install the apps on the sd card. Looking at the 2016 version with 6.0. Can you do that with this tablet

I have the T813 and stock it's cumbersome. You have to manually move each app to SD card within Application Manager. And every time there's an update from Play Store for said app you have to repeat memory move. It's garbage really.

Tennoh said:
I have the T813 and stock it's cumbersome. You have to manually move each app to SD card within Application Manager. And every time there's an update from Play Store for said app you have to repeat memory move. It's garbage really.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is not even a Samsung limitation it's Android in general, so not sure what you mean by 'garbage'?
There are 2 ways around this, enable adoptable storage or use one of the many apps to move the apps for you automatically.
Link2sd , Folder mount etc. Root required.
Also the fact it already has 32gb of internal storage, to fill it you would have to have a serious amount of apps installed if all you use the internal storage for is apps.
I manage just fine with plenty left over on 16gb.
DONATE ME HERE IF YOU WANT TO BUY ME A BEER OR HIT THE THANKS BUTTON IF I HELPED YOU

I had said stock. To use any of those 3rd party app or terminal fixes or you need root which in turn invalidates warranty currently with the 2016 S2 Tabs that I'm aware of.
As for this being a general Android problem, so what? Samsung being largest OEM should be building devices with large internal memory options for this 2016 series.
Aside from memory management, I'm actually quite satisfied with my T813 regardless. I just won't be custom modding right now. Maybe later when the issue becomes more annoying.