Rooting 101: Bloatware

Every Android phone comes with some bloatware automatically. Haven’t heard the term yet? Check out some Android forums, you’ll see a lot of things like “stupid f****ing bloatware” or “how do i delete bloatware crap?!” For a lot of rooted users bloatware is a hassle and one of the reasons they decide to root, so they can remove it. In this edition of Rooting 101, we will not only find out what bloatware is, but how to remove it using different methods. Get ready, class is in session:

So, What is Bloatware?

Bloatware is commonly referred to any software that takes up a significant amount of the hard drive and is hardly used. Essentially, this unused software is taking up space on the hard drive which could be used for more productive applications, causing the hard drive to be overloaded or “bloated” (where the name comes from). An example of bloatware would be applications like Amazon MP3, Blockbuster app, home/car docks and more. These applications come pre-installed with your phone and cannot be removed normally.

Where Rooting Comes in

When you root your phone, you gain superuser permissions. This means you can do things you normally can’t, including overclocking/underclocking your processor, controlling 3G radio, custom ROMs, and even going into/modifying hard drive files. There are apps that do this for you, or you can do it yourself if you would like.

Removing Bloatware With Titanium Backup

Titanium Backup is a freeware application that uses superuser permissions to backup/restore your applications, settings, and data. Since this app does it’s main functions by moving around files in the hard drive, it also has the ability to delete unwanted applications. All you have to do after downloading the application is go to Explore, the click on the triangle to the right of the application you want to remove. Then it will give you the option to either backup or un-install the app. If you aren’t sure you really want to delete it, make sure you make a backup first just in case.

This is by far the easiest method to uninstalling bloatware. So go to the link above and download it now. It’s simple, plus the fact that your can backup/restore data makes life so much easier.

Removing Bloatware Using Terminal Emulator

If you don’t feel like going the easy route, this method is for you. First, you will need to download Terminal Emulator from the Android market. It’s free and simple enough to use. Once you’ve downloaded it, start up the application to see a plain blue screen. Bring up your keyboard and type:

su
mount -o remount,rw -t yaffs2 /dev/block/mtdblock3 /system
cd /system/app
ls

This will give you a list of all the applications on your hard drive. From there it is easy to remove, just by typing:

mv (Application Name Here).apk (Application Name Here).bak

This method doesn’t delete the application, just uninstalls it by changing the name. This makes it very easy to get it back if you want it.

Thanks for reading this edition of Rooting 101. If you have any rooting questions you would like answered in the next edition just ask below, or just wait to see what I decide to write next!

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