How can I get rid of the Samsung apps that are taking up all the internal storage?

[BenMargoza]

There are apps that cannot be removed and keep updating and taking more storage. Is there any way to get rid of all this and just have a regular android tablet; we don't use the Samsung apps and I think without them the 16 gb internal memory would be enough, seeing as we have 64 gb sd cards--though so many programs only load to internal memory.

 

[B. Diddy]

In general, you can't remove preinstalled apps -- you can only try to Disable them in Settings>Apps. Disabling an app reverts it to its factory installed version (which is usually smaller than any updated version) and prevents it from opening into RAM or updating again. On Samsung devices, if you can't Disable a certain app, you can try using Package Disabler Pro. Otherwise, you'd have to root the device to completely remove a preinstalled app -- but you need to be careful and make sure that app isn't crucial for some other function.

 

[BenMargoza]

Is there some way to know which apps are crucial? For example Hancom? I don't use office applications, is it crucial?

 

[B. Diddy]

Apps that aren't from Samsung (i.e., preinstalled 3rd party apps) are generally not crucial, so yes, Hancom can most likely be disabled without problems. Even if disabling an app causes problems, it's no big deal, because you can just re-enable it.

Don't disable Samsung keyboard unless you have another keyboard installed, since that could leave you high and dry if the tablet reboots and you have to enter a password/PIN.

 

[Rukbat]

1. If you want to try, you can root the tablet, then uninstall the Samsung bloat. But check on XDA Forums first, for the particular tablet model, for a list of apps that are safe to uninstall.

2. Don't move apps to the SD card - there are 3 problems with doing that.

i. Apps get moved in pieces, not as one whole app (due to the way Java works). Most pieces aren't that much larger than the link left in internal storage to point to where on the card the piece is (because Android looks in internal storage for them). So moving a 5MB app may save you a few K of internal storage.

ii. Many apps won't run from an SD card. Many developers are aware of that, and disable the ability to move the app, but those who aren't, and don't, allow you to move the app and it stops working.

iii. Android apps must keep their current state at all times (because if Android needs RAM space for something you're running, it can kill any background app, then - when you bring that app to the foreground - Android tells the app to run, and to start where it left off. (To you it looks as if the app's been there all along, but it hasn't.) That means that some apps are almost constantly writing their current state. (Any time anything changes, the app has to write the state, so in a game with a constantly changing background, the game is always writing.) eMMC storage, internal storage, is designed to take that kind of use. SD storage is rated in number of writes, so if an app that does a lot of writing gets moved to the SD card, it can destroy the card pretty quickly.

SD cards are for storing data (basically wrote once/read many), not for storing apps. If you need more internal storage, your only options are:

1. Get a tablet with more internal storage.
2. Use an app like Apk Extractor. Keep the apps you use daily installed. Use Apk Extractor to make apk files (installation files) of apps you don't use that often and save them on the SD card. Then, when you need one of those apps, install it, use it, then uninstall it.