Android phones, apps and tablets

You can uninstall/disable system apps using adb shell uninstall commands and command prompt. No need for root i believe just few drivers on your computer.

Apps I'm looking at don't have the option to be disabled (bastard Asus and its shitty apps with wide-ranging permissions).

Will have to look into adb shell for it, didn't know you could do it without root. It's already set up for my phone on my laptop so hopefully getting my tablet working shouldn't be too much hassle.

Unless you have the su binary on your device, you will not be able to change anything in /system/app or /system/priv-app

/system is mounted at runtime as a read-only filesystem - you would need to remount this as read-write before uninstalling app (which is just moving / deleting apks), and this can only be done as root

If it is already mounted (for whatever reason) you would still need to have a user that had rw permissions on the folders. /system/app & /system/priv-app are owned by root:root

(user apps are in /data/app, which is owned by system:system)

https://forum.xda-developers.com/android/general/guide-to-disable-oem-bloatware-aka-apps-t3779873

as it means that these applications truly aren’t being uninstalled from the device, they are just being uninstalled for the current user (user 0 is the default/main user of the phone). That’s why, if you omit the “–user 0” and “-k” part of the command, the command won’t work. These two commands respectively specify that the system app will only be uninstalled for the current user (and not all users, which is something that requires root access) and that the cache/data of the system application will be preserved (which can’t be removed without root access). Therefore, even if you “uninstall” a system application using this method, you can still receive official OTA updates from your carrier or OEM.

Every day's a learning day! I've only ever disabled apps using root.

Rookie.

I'm sure there's a Jim Jefferies joke here but I'm too PC to attempt it.

Nice. I might give this a go on the XCover.
It's got a few things I'll never use preinstalled - FaceIndentityTheftBook springs to mind.

Jim Jefferies joke

That's an oxymoron, no?

Two thoughts on the "pm uninstall -k --user 0 app"

• does it persist through a reboot?
  
• I don't understand why the guide needs fastboot
  
  

Also, this command might be useful for @aggi to list all of the packages on your device

adb shell "pm list packages -f"

One man's steak is another man's poison.

Fastboot to connect your phone to PC using USB and alter system files I guess. Did this to my redmi recently and it worked, waiting for an update hope it'll stays as it is

Will give it a try. It's an old tablet so won't be receiving any updates.

Although maybe I should just root the fucker if I'm going to be pissing about with adb anyway.

Does anyone know of a good phone that has a long battery life, normal buttons / no touch screen, not made of glass, and internet ready?

(By long battery I mean up to a week like my last samsung)

No touchscreen and internet ready is a combination you're unlikely to find.

Slightly hipster-bait; but
https://www.gsmarena.com/nokia_8110_4g-9089.php

nokia_8110

I have the functionally similar 2730, and while it jumps through @winnifred0001 's hoops in that it has a web browser and email client plus buttons, week long standby etc., it is a deeply unpleasant thing to use for anything but voice calls compared with a modern phone.

A5/A3 can have some GPS accuracy issues if it matters to you, ant+ is accurate though.

Picked up a Moto G6 refurb with 12 month warranty from Argos for £134.99, can't really complain. Either it keeps me ticking until the Pixel 2 price (hopefully) drops in October or I use it full time.

It's like there's no perfect phone or something.

Pixel XL - amazing camera, lovely to use in general, but got very hot, speaker location is shit and the headphone output was fucking dire. Also, quite big, obvs. Just bought a Sony XZ1 Compact out of interest because the Pixel is broked, and it's such a good size and shape in the hand, the battery stuff is great, good audio, speakers are decent, I like the power button fingerprint scanner, yada yada yada, but the camera just doesn't compare, and it's weirdly hard to get in a pocket. UGH.

Will no-one fulfil all my desires?

I'm thinking about a XZ1 still, what's bad about the camera, and surely it's small that's the point so it can fit in a pocket?!
I need a phone, I don't think my requirements are outlandish, yet none of them appeal...

Will no-one fulfil all my desires?

iPhone?

Get out

It's not the size, the harder edges on the top get a bit caught on the seams or pocket edge. And the camera is fine, it's fast and produces decent images, but they look like phone photos, whereas the Pixel XL was really outstanding.

oh yeah it has a bit of a funny shape. camera sounds a great deal more functional than my current one!
also considering that Xcover 4, just wish it was a bit smaller...

Mine has recently been updated to Oreo. Obvs it's the 2017 version, my mate with the 2016 version has Nougat.