How to remove factory apps without root - The Happy Android

Some manufacturers and companies often add some apps that we cannot uninstall from our Android device. All this without counting that the system itself often also adds applications that we rarely use, such as Google Play Movies or the umpteenth Vodafone app. All of these apps are known as bloatware. In today's tutorial, then, we are going to see how to delete factory apps without the need for root permissions.

How to uninstall factory apps on Android without root

Although we will not need superuser permissions, it will be necessary connect mobile phone or tablet to PC to say goodbye forever to all those unnecessary apps.

Necessary material:

• A Windows PC or Mac.
• The desktop application Debloater.

Steps to follow to remove pre-installed applications with Debloater

The first thing we have to do is download and install the Debloater application on our PC. Once this is done we activate debugging by USB in the terminal (from "Settings -> Developer options”) And connect it to the PC.

Once the device recognizes the device, we will open Debloater and see how it automatically loads a list with all installed .APK applications in the terminal. Both those that come from the factory and those installed by the user.

To get rid of any of the apps it will be enough with select the .APK file (Let's look at the package name to identify which application corresponds to each one) and click on "Apply”.

Note: Debloater is not fully compatible with all Android devices on the market. In some cases, it will only show us a few applications that we can uninstall in this way.

Alternative method: remove apps using ADB commands and without root permissions

Another way to get rid of protected apps and various bloatware is make use of ADB commands. As in the previous method, we will have to connect the terminal to the PC and meet the following requirements:

• Have USB debugging enabled.
• Have the drivers of our device installed on the PC.
• Install ADB on our PC.

To carry out this method we will also need to know the package name of the app in our terminal. To obtain this information we can install the App Inspector application, which will provide us with this information in a moment. You will find the name of the package here (red box in the image):

In the case of this example, the package name of the Google Plus app is com.google.android.apps.plus.

With all this information in mind, we connect the device to the PC. We open a command window - the ms-dos of all life - and we write the following:

adb devices

In response we must obtain a line with the serial number of the Android terminal, a sign that the PC has correctly identified our mobile or tablet.

Now we will write this other command:

adb shell

Next, we will launch the command to delete the desired app:

pm uninstall -k –user 0 package_name

In the case of the example, if we wanted to remove the Google Plus app, the command to apply would be the following:

pm uninstall -k –user 0 com.google.android.apps.plus

If we get the message «Success»Means that the app has been uninstalled successfully. But beware, in this way we simply delete the app for our Android user. If we create a new user or if we reset to factory state, the app will be there again. Which on the other hand is not bad at all, since this way we do not invalidate the guarantee.

You can see the original thread about this method of uninstalling apps without root in the following link.

If you are fluent in English, it may also be interesting to take a look at the following video from XDA Developers where they carry out the whole process step by step:

How to disable and uninstall updates without root

Another thing that we can do without the need for root permissions and without having to connect the terminal to a PC is disable apps. Although we have factory apps that we cannot uninstall, we always have the possibility to “turn them off” so that they do not waste data or consume space with their updates.

How to disable factory apps

To disable factory apps we just have to go to "Settings -> Applications" and select the desired application. Next, we just have to click on delete data and cache e "Disable”.

In this way, all the data of the application will be erased, its updates and it will stop occupying space with data that we neither use nor really need.

Uninstalling factory apps is easier if you are ROOT

Although the methods for users without super privileges are fine, things get much easier with ROOT permissions. If we have rooted our phone it is as easy as installing System App Remover.

This Android app, which is also available on Google Play, has more than 10 million installations and a very high score of 4.6 stars.

• Allows you to uninstall system and user apps.
• Move applications to the SD card.
• Move apps to the internal memory of the device.
• Allows you to scan, install and delete apk files in the SD memory.

The application has a very interesting detail, which is that, for each application that we have installed, it shows us a message indicating if it is a critical application for the system or if it can be uninstalled without major impediments. Very useful when we are faced with an application that we do not know and we want to know if we can eliminate it from our Android without causing damage to the device.

If you are interested in knowing more about System App Remover, do not hesitate to take a look at the post where we explain how to uninstall Android apps with root.