Removing bloatware

Richard Jones

Richard Jones

Richard Jones

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17 Jan 2019
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2
Hi All - I'm a silver surfer who is new here and looking for advice!

I am a very light smartphone user (on 3 PAYG - £10 credit lasts me about 18 months.......) My phone is a basic Huawei Y360 I got cheap on a Vodafone deal and is now unlocked and on 3. As with a lot of these things, my device is smothered with bloatware which takes up almost all the storage and complains constantly about lack of capacity if I try to install any apps I want. In addition, despite adding a micro SD card, I find it impossible to transfer embedded apps across to the SD. I've managed to set the phone in 'developer mode' but not been able to get any further. Naturally I don't want to screw up the device! I could just buy a new phone but would probably be faced with the same situation again. Besides, I'm of that generation that would rather 'repair' than 'replace' and with my phone usage, paying out shed loads for a new phone would really go against the grain!!

Can anyone point me to a good tutorial that gives step by step instructions on how to either a) move embedded apps, b) delete any and all unnecessary apps (and indicates which should be left alone)?

Failing that, I'm up for a go at flashing a new ROM - if I can find the instructions to do it.

I'm a Linux user so am used to downloading and installing software but have never had experience of Android so any tips would be welcome!

Thanks in advance,

Rich
 
Pre installed bloatware would usually be on the /system partition, which isn't accessible to the user anyway. Removing it wouldn't free up any storage. Try SD Maid from Google Play to see where your storage space is being filled and go from there. SD Maid can free up some space by deleting cache too.

'Apps-to-SD' hasn't been a thing for a long time now and i'd be surprised if there were any working implementation of that in existence. Move anything you can to the SD to free up space on Internal Storage, as it's the latter where a lot of App Data ends up. Pictures, Audio and Video are better off on the SD. Any folders that Apps write to should stay on Internal Storage. (The 'Android' folder, for example).
 
Dirk said:
Pre installed bloatware would usually be on the /system partition, which isn't accessible to the user anyway. Removing it wouldn't free up any storage. Try SD Maid from Google Play to see where your storage space is being filled and go from there. SD Maid can free up some space by deleting cache too.

'Apps-to-SD' hasn't been a thing for a long time now and i'd be surprised if there were any working implementation of that in existence. Move anything you can to the SD to free up space on Internal Storage, as it's the latter where a lot of App Data ends up. Pictures, Audio and Video are better off on the SD. Any folders that Apps write to should stay on Internal Storage. (The 'Android' folder, for example).
Click to expand...

Hi Dirk - and thanks for taking the time to reply.
I've tried out SD Maid and it does do as you say but the main issue still remains - i.e. installed apps can't be moved or deleted and even apps that I install can't always be moved to the SD. So I'm thinking that flashing a new ROM might be the way to go. However ........

I've researched across the 'net for solutions and it seems that there isn't a custom ROM available for my model (Huawei Y360-U31) which is an old phone (hence cheap....!!) but nevertheless is more than adequate for my general needs. I found a reference to this - CyanogenMOD 12.1 / Android 5.1.1 Lollipop For Huawei Y3 (Y360-U61) which is slightly newer but runs on 4.4.2 KitKat, the same as mine. I'm wondering if this might flash ok? Failing that, there are stock ROM's available for my model so, would a stock Android ROM come in a more 'basic' version? I'm thinking that most of the 'bloatware' would probably be added by the carrier's developers (in this case Vodafone) so perhaps a stock (lighter) version would be the way to go?

Looking at some of the 'guides' to flashing is very daunting to a newbie and fraught with problems if you get it wrong! Is there a more 'user-friendly' set of instructions that you know of? I can view the drive on my pc (Linux Mint O/S) so it may be possible to 'wipe' the o/s from there - or would this be an absolute no-no and render the phone u/s?

Thanks once again for your time

Rich
 
Richard Jones said:
Hi All - I'm a silver surfer who is new here and looking for advice!

I am a very light smartphone user (on 3 PAYG - £10 credit lasts me about 18 months.......) My phone is a basic Huawei Y360 I got cheap on a Vodafone deal and is now unlocked and on 3. As with a lot of these things, my device is smothered with bloatware which takes up almost all the storage and complains constantly about lack of capacity if I try to install any apps I want. In addition, despite adding a micro SD card, I find it impossible to transfer embedded apps across to the SD. I've managed to set the phone in 'developer mode' but not been able to get any further. Naturally I don't want to screw up the device! I could just buy a new phone but would probably be faced with the same situation again. Besides, I'm of that generation that would rather 'repair' than 'replace' and with my phone usage, paying out shed loads for a new phone would really go against the grain!!

Can anyone point me to a good tutorial that gives step by step instructions on how to either a) move embedded apps, b) delete any and all unnecessary apps (and indicates which should be left alone)?

Failing that, I'm up for a go at flashing a new ROM - if I can find the instructions to do it.

I'm a Linux user so am used to downloading and installing software but have never had experience of Android so any tips would be welcome!

Thanks in advance,

Rich
Click to expand...

Looking at the spec of that phone (quick Google search) - it states it only has 4GB of internal storage, and runs Android 4.4.4 - you can only move certain apps onto the SD card, and those only become evident when you open them within Settings > Apps (or the equivalent on your model); you will see a "Move to SD card" at the bottom.

I don't recall exactly how large that version of Android was, but if your internal storage really is 4GB - then I expect you'll not be getting much back, by removing the bloatware; and besides, you might find that the apps you wish to install, no longer support that version of Android!

As for loading a custom ROM, that really depends on the amount of support offered by the likes of XDA developers (and the like) - you might be hard pressed to find a custom ROM for your particular model of phone.

I appreciate that you are from a generation that would rather Repair, than Replace - sadly, a lot of technology isn't designed with that mindset, so you might need to bite the bullet and pick up an entry level phone from the last few years.

All the best.
 
Richard Jones said:
Hi Dirk - and thanks for taking the time to reply.
I've tried out SD Maid and it does do as you say but the main issue still remains - i.e. installed apps can't be moved or deleted and even apps that I install can't always be moved to the SD. So I'm thinking that flashing a new ROM might be the way to go. However ........

I've researched across the 'net for solutions and it seems that there isn't a custom ROM available for my model (Huawei Y360-U31) which is an old phone (hence cheap....!!) but nevertheless is more than adequate for my general needs. I found a reference to this - CyanogenMOD 12.1 / Android 5.1.1 Lollipop For Huawei Y3 (Y360-U61) which is slightly newer but runs on 4.4.2 KitKat, the same as mine. I'm wondering if this might flash ok? Failing that, there are stock ROM's available for my model so, would a stock Android ROM come in a more 'basic' version? I'm thinking that most of the 'bloatware' would probably be added by the carrier's developers (in this case Vodafone) so perhaps a stock (lighter) version would be the way to go?

Looking at some of the 'guides' to flashing is very daunting to a newbie and fraught with problems if you get it wrong! Is there a more 'user-friendly' set of instructions that you know of? I can view the drive on my pc (Linux Mint O/S) so it may be possible to 'wipe' the o/s from there - or would this be an absolute no-no and render the phone u/s?

Thanks once again for your time

Rich
Click to expand...

Sorry to butt in.

You really need to read up as much as possible, and maybe even watch some Youtube videos, on flashing a ROM - prior to going down that route. The guides that you have found, are likely as 'user friendly' as they come; as they have been updated and re-written with the final [established] process, whereas they would have been even wrose, when people were just starting out with the particular model phone.

There is always a risk of 'bricking' your device with a Root and ROM process - simply put, if it goes wrong, your once working phone, is now just a paperweight!

Regarding a stock ROM - those are pretty much what you already have, they may have a few less apps in them (i.e. carrier specific things will differ), but they won't be as clean as "stock Android", which is only usually found on Google-backed phones. You are indeed correct in thinking that carriers add bloatware, but from experience, it usually isn't very much.

As for using your linux machine to wipe anything, I would strongly suggest not doing this - I'm not a huge user of that brand of operating system; but as Android is the same, who knows what ramifications could occur, with you issue a powerful su command (or the like).

Edit: https://forum.xda-developers.com/android/general/guide-huawei-y360-u61-stock-rom-factory-t3775937

That's a very user-friendly guide.
 
Kinda on-topic: can Facebook be removed? My previous phone was a Note 4 and Facebook wasn't on it. My next phone was an S8+ (so still the same make, Samsung) but Facebook is included and I can't seem to remove it.
 
Pawnless Endgame said:
Kinda on-topic: can Facebook be removed? My previous phone was a Note 4 and Facebook wasn't on it. My next phone was an S8+ (so still the same make, Samsung) but Facebook is included and I can't seem to remove it.
Click to expand...

Typically, you can only disable it - it's on my S9+ and can only be disabled - which is pretty annoying, as I don't have Facebook and never will. The following thread (possibly applicable for the S8+, you can check) gives a way to 'properly' disable things you don't need, without needing root:

https://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s9-plus/how-to/s9-s9-bloatware-removal-thread-g960u-t3817810
 
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