Nexus 5: What apps/services do you disable?

[dkhmwilliams]

I don't disable anything.

Sent from my Nexus 5

 

[crxssi]

Some system apps may start on their own, which will take up system RAM. While it's true that the system will automatically close some apps if more RAM is needed for other processes, that process does take a little bit of CPU power, so it would be more efficient to block apps that are never used from starting at all.

Just as important as that, some apps can start and actually DO things in the background, even if you are not using the app. By disabling it, that goes away. For example, many of the Google apps will "call home" and check for things. This uses network/data, cpu, memory, and battery. Probably none of it amounts to much, but when added across several things you don't use, it can amount to something. Other apps might share data about you that you don't want to share. Another nice thing about disabling an app is that it no longer shows up in your app drawer/list, cluttering things up. Finally, it gives that nice "I am in control of my own device" feeling... which is priceless.

Just be careful what you disable- it can and will cause problems if you disable a service or OS component that might be needed. With power comes responsibility

 

[crxssi]

For people who disabled "Face Unlock".
If you go to Settings->Security->Screen Lock->Face Unlock, does the Settings app crash on you?

It crashes for me and I feel like it is a bug. If "Face Unlock" is disabled that menu item should not be in Settings anymore.

That would not surprise me at all. And I wouldn't really think of it as a bug... Face unlocking is more of a service than an app, so other things will depend on it being there. I suppose they could have coded the interface to first detect if the library/service was not installed and handle it gracefully, but that is a lot of extra code. Personally, I would not disable it, since I really doubt that sub-system would ever be used/called/resident unless needed (although I can certainly understand the motivation to want to disable it, since it can be a bit creepy to think of your phone watching you through a camera.). But if you do disable it, expect anything that relies on it to malfunction.

 

[greydarrah]

Absolutely nothing...why would you?

 

[crxssi]

Absolutely nothing...why would you?

See the previous posts for the very good reasons one would.

 

[MBSMD]

Absolutely nothing...why would you?

While I don't install apps I don't need, there are some things that use a bit of memory that don't need to be there. Like the Korean keyboard, for example. Not something I personally need, so no reason to have it running/loaded. But, like I said in a prior post, I just disabled the three keyboards I don't require (Hindi, Korean and Pinyin).

Posted via Android Central App

 

[crxssi]

While I don't install apps I don't need, there are some things that use a bit of memory that don't need to be there. Like the Korean keyboard, for example. Not something I personally need, so no reason to have it running/loaded. But, like I said in a prior post, I just disabled the three keyboards I don't require (Hindi, Korean and Pinyin).

Things not being actively used don't use "available" memory. In the case of those keyboards, it is unlikely the OS would load them into cache memory if they have never been used before (although I suppose it is possible). I am not saying it doesn't make since to disable them, but you probably will never gain memory from such an action on those particular apps.

 

[pseudoware]

You can guess what else if you could scroll down

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

[evostudios]

You can guess what else if you could scroll down

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/03/17/ape8ygab.jpg

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

A Nexus 5 with all the Google Apps disabled! "This is madness!"

Posted via Android Central App

 

[homerun79]

Thanks for starting this thread, I have successfully made my phone even tidier! According to Clean Master my memory was usually about 50-60% used, after disabling all the apps I don't use, Clean Master reported 30% memory used, that is a huge improvement!

Thanks

 

[crxssi]

Thanks for starting this thread, I have successfully made my phone even tidier! According to Clean Master my memory was usually about 50-60% used, after disabling all the apps I don't use, Clean Master reported 30% memory used, that is a huge improvement!

Not really. That is not the way memory management works and not the reason for disabling apps. If you have too much free memory, something is probably wrong. The OS is *supposed* to be loading inactive programs into memory that you regularly use. Memory sitting empty is wasted. In Linux, otherwise unused memory is used not only to cache programs, but also cache the disk.

 

[seasickseagull#CB]

I have a Nexus 5, and when I go to disable a pre-installed app, I get a message telling me that disabling the app might cause other apps to misbehave. But now I know that I can disable them.