Can Hangouts be uninstalled?

[JKS75]

Hi,

I have a rooted Nexus 6 with Lollipop 5.1 installed. I was wondering if it was safe/possible to uninstall (completely uninstall if possible, using Titanium Backup Pro) some of the Google apps that I will never use such as Hangouts, Sheets, Slides, Docs, Fit, and Keep? I had read that some of these apps are intertwined with the OS (Hangouts in particular) and that removing them may have consequences.

I use the Messaging app for MMS/SMS, so no real need for Hangouts. I use MS Office for managing those types of files, so have no need for Sheets, Slides, or Docs. I use Evernote, not Keep. Fit, has absolutely no utility for me whatsoever.

Also, can Google+ be uninstalled safely?

Thanks,

JK

 

[SpookDroid]

I've turned OFF Hangouts before on some phones, but never uninstalled on a rooted phone. Why not just do that for now? I mean, it's not like uninstalling will free up 500MB of space... If you turn off, it'll just lay dormant and if something goes wrong, you can always turn it back on.

 

[JKS75]

Thank you for the response. The first thing I did when I got the phone was root it and disable Hangouts. I've also disabled Keep, Sheets, Slides, and Docs. I was just curious as to whether they can be removed entirely without causing a problem?

 

[SpookDroid]

The latter, yes. Hangouts not so much. Not sure if on LP the messaging parts of it got removed in favor of the Messaging app, but on KK some messaging features are part of the Hangouts code and removing it does bork your messaging. Again, you could just play it safe at least with Hangouts and just disable it. Uninstalling doesn't make much of a difference, really, so not worth the risk.

 

[JKS75]

Actually, the total size of the files I want to remove is ~250 Mb. This may not be significant to you, but I would like them gone if possible. That is why I am asking if those apps can be uninstalled and not just disabled.

 

[SpookDroid]

Hangouts is not 250MB!! Shouldn't be... if it's showing up as much, then yeah, there's something more there. If these 250MB are counting the other apps, then yeah, that could very well add up to that much. Keep, Sheets, Slides, Docs, Drive, etc. can all be safely removed.

 

[jwt873]

If you go to application manager, you can 'disable' hangouts there so it won't run. It's the best you can do without rooting the phone.

There is also an option to 'clear data' there. That will remove any directories and/or files created by Hangouts when it was running. The app itself should only be taking up 24.84 MB of memory.

I disabled a pile of crap installed by Samsung and my carrier that I couldn't delete without rooting the phone. (This was something Kit Kat wouldn't let me do on my Note 4)

 

[patel_rosh]

yes if your Smartphone is rooted than you can do what ever you want with you Smartphone!!!

 

[SpookDroid]

Thanks for your input guys! But yeah, the OP is rooted, knows the possibilities and consequences of rooting, and is precisely why the question is being posted: Is Hangouts (and other Google Apps) safe to be removed from a rooted phone?.

I know for sure about Google Docs (now that it's broken into several apps) and Keep, but Hangouts MAY still be tied to the OS, that I'm not sure since I'm not on Lollipoop yet. (Yes, 'double oh').

 

[JKS75]

Thanks for your input guys! But yeah, the OP is rooted, knows the possibilities and consequences of rooting, and is precisely why the question is being posted: Is Hangouts (and other Google Apps) safe to be removed from a rooted phone?.

I know for sure about Google Docs (now that it's broken into several apps) and Keep, but Hangouts MAY still be tied to the OS, that I'm not sure since I'm not on Lollipoop yet. (Yes, 'double oh').

Thanks again for all the input. This is it exactly. My main concern is that Hangouts may still be woven into the OS and that completely removing it may cause problems. I already have Hangouts disabled and my phone was rooted 20 minutes after I got it home. I suppose I should have been clearer in my original post and just asked, What apps on a stock Lollipop phone (Nexus 6) are safe to remove (not just disable) because they are not intertwined into the OS?

 

[SpookDroid]

I'd say if Hangouts is 'asking' to remove 250MB worth of files, then I wouldn't do it. Hangouts itself shouldn't be that big unless it's got code that's shared with other system apps.

 

[JKS75]

I stated that I had ~250 MB of files that I wanted to remove in total. Not that Hangouts alone is taking 250 MB. All I'm really trying to find out is, in stock Android, what files/apps are safe to uninstall and which are not because the OS may depend on them being there.

 

[SpookDroid]

I understand, but as far as Hangouts goes, I'm not sure. All the others you mention I'm sure they're safe to remove. So you might want to start there. Hangouts shouldn't take more than 20MB IIRC, so not such a bad thing to have 230MB free out of 250, right?

 

[JKS75]

Actually, the others aren't 100% safe to remove. I uninstalled Sheets, Docs, and Slides completely. I periodically get a stream of error messages that com.android.google.apps.<app name> cannot be found/started, one error message for each of the three apps. So, something calls them or checks for their existence from time to time. I suspect it is either the Google app or whatever has taken the place of Google Now in Lollipop.

 

[SpookDroid]

You have to clear defaults for those apps first or you'll get those errors constantly. It's like associating PowerPoint files with PowerPoint, then just deleting the EXE file on a Windows machine. Since you didn't uninstall properly, the system is still looking for the app, and it's not there. Same thing here.

 

[Stephen Manak]

Hangouts is not 250MB!! Shouldn't be... if it's showing up as much, then yeah, there's something more there. If these 250MB are counting the other apps, then yeah, that could very well add up to that much. Keep, Sheets, Slides, Docs, Drive, etc. can all be safely removed.

They are referring to all the files I'm in the same boat while hangout is only 631KB of space the total of all the other apps is 6.19MB, while again not like it's going to free the phone up to the point of being able to download every cool app its a decent amount of space.