Disabling apps

[t_p]

I upgraded to LG G4 in December from HTC One M7 (unrooted)... This is a great phone but one thing I miss is being able to disable apps. I could disable most apps in HTC One, whereas now, I mostly only have the option to uninstall them if I don't want them enabled. From the poking around I've done it seems I'd have to root the LG to be able to disable apps... Is that right? Has anybody here done this? Is paying for the root the only safe way? I've never rooted a phone and just looking at the thread titles here about the bricked LG phones, it seems like maybe this brand/model is not as commonly rooted as others? The HTC One section as I recall had a bunch of threads about rooting that phone, but there don't seem to be any threads here about it... Thanks for any suggestions/insights...

 

[sydneycooper1979]

Hello! What are you trying to disable? If you aren't going to use it, then why not uninstall?

 

[mango1228]

Package disabler pro... I use that

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[t_p]

Hello! What are you trying to disable? If you aren't going to use it, then why not uninstall?

Some apps I use occasionally (maybe once a week or so) like FB or IG but don't want them running in the background when I'm not using them.. And I dont trust them to not be running in some sneaky way unless I disable them... And if I uninstall them then it's more effort with login info to reinstall them rather than just re-enable them...

Package disabler pro... I use that

Posted via the Android Central App

Can you confirm it works for LG? Says it works for Samsung only. So don't want to pay $2 for nothing... Thanks

 

[Allen Brandt]

You could try the Greenify app. It allows you to freeze an app and it generally stays that way until you use it. I've been a user on multiple devices for a few years and it seems safe and works. I paid the few dollars to support the developer; it's worth it

 

[sydneycooper1979]

Ahhhh gotcha. Greenify sounds like what you are looking for

 

[anon(782252)]

If you are just trying to make sure apps aren't utilizing battery when you aren't using them, give Access Lock a try. It's a hidden menu on LG G3, G4, V10 that allows you to control some of the permissions of downloaded apps ( system apps can't be controlled unfortunately).

I described how to access it in this thread and there is also an app in the play store that will access it as well.

http://forums.androidcentral.com/showthread.php?t=544464

Most apps have a keep awake permission. I've turned that off in just about every app and haven't seen any loss in functionality of the app but I was able to get 5+ hours SOT consistently when I had my G4.

The menu is still there on the G4 after the upgrade to MM ( at least on the T-Mobile version it is).

 

[t_p]

You could try the Greenify app

Just tried it. Thanks. Initial impression is that it's more steps and maybe too many more than simply disabling apps like I could before. I'll keep trying it for a bit....

give Access Lock a try

Thanks. Tried it and see its benefit but unfortunately it doesn't allow to disable apps, and many apps aren't even in that list.

Both these options unfortunately don't do another key thing that I really liked before on my HTC One... When I disabled apps from the app manager, it removed them from my app drawer until I enabled them again... I like running Apex launcher and keeping all my apps on one drawer page (many apps hidden using Apex to accomplish that)... So if I had FB disabled for example, whether it was in the drawer menu was a quick reminder if I had it disabled or not...

 

[Kebero]

I know I'm a bit late to the party, but I just got a G4 for my wife yesterday. If you go into Settings > Apps, you can disable from there.

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[t_p]

Some apps will disable from there but many/most don't, at least that's how it goes on my G4. If I recall correctly, some or all of the apps that can be 'disabled' there force you to revert back to previous versions when disabling (disabling requires uninstalling them back to factory versions).

 

[tardus]

...The menu is still there on the G4 after the upgrade to MM ( at least on the T-Mobile version it is).

I can confirm Access Lock still works with the T-Mobile version, after the upgrade to Marshmallow. It's really useful!