Anyone who has purchased a new Android smartphone has probably discovered that it comes with a bunch of free apps that your did not need or want. This problem has only gotten worse as more and more people purchase Android handsets.
The bad thing about these preloaded Android apps also known as crapware, is that most of them cannot be removed from the phone with rooting it. While the option of rooting your Android phone might appeal to the techie amongst us, it is not for the faint of heart. I prefer a more humble and less technical approach, simply disabling the apps that you do not use. This will not remove them or free up any disk space they use, but it will keep them from launching in the background when you start up your Android Smartphone.
While the specific instructions for doing this vary by handset, the basic procedure is the same:
- Go to settings on your Android Phone
- Now go to Apps
- Select all Apps
- Pick the app you want to disable
- Click the disable button
- You may get a warning message that says “If you disable a built-in app, other apps may misbehave”. Press Ok
- Repeat for all the apps you would like to disable
While disabling crapware Android Apps does not remove them from the phone or free up disk space, it does stop them from running and helps to make your Android more secure. Plus you can go back in at any time and enable an app if you decide you would like to use it.
