Uninstalling Apps on Android

[enjay]

I'm having some trouble uninstalling some apps off my phone and my tablet (both running Android 4). Apps which have never been updated are fine, but if I try and uninstall one which has been updated, it seems as if it just removes the updates; the app then re-appears in the list of ones which need updating, and I can find now way of removing them.

 

What am I missing?!

[sted]

if they are "built in" ones you often cant remove them or id of removed several on both phone and tab

[enjay]

if they are "built in" ones you often cant remove them or id of removed several on both phone and tab

 

Not built in to Android, but I think they are ones which came pre-loaded on the devices...

[sted]

Not built in to Android, but I think they are ones which came pre-loaded on the devices...

 

then without rooting youre probably stuck so for instance i cant remove dropbox even though i dont want it

[enjay]

then without rooting youre probably stuck so for instance i cant remove dropbox even though i dont want it

 

Ah, now it is funny you mention DropBox as that is one of the ones I'm trying to remove, but I'm 99% certain that I added it myself, rather than it coming pre-loaded.

[arwen]

Sometimes if you install Go Launcher you can then use it to remove all the apps from samsun/htc etc. Then uninstall Go Launcher if you don't want to continue using it :-)

 

I got rid of that stupid Samsung voice thing on my Galaxy S2 using it.

[AngryTechnician]

On Android 4 you should be able to Disable built-in apps once you have uninstalled the updates. I can do this on my stock HTC One X via Settings > Apps > All.

 

Edited November 14, 2012 by AngryTechnician

[Geoff]

The apps are installed in the /system partition on the phone, that's why you can't remove them. If you root the phone you can delete things in /system. Alternatively just disable/hide them (assuming you have Android 4.x). Ultimately the best way to get rid of the bundled crud that comes with an android phone is to install a custom rom that only has the things you want. There's plenty of 'minimal' style roms for most make/model of Android phone.

[enjay]

As I said, I don't think these are all built-in apps.

 

Plus, disabling them doesn't release the storage space for other apps.