Can I Delete the Bloatware on My New Verizon S4?

zippy_1

New member
Nov 29, 2013
4
0
0
Visit site
Yesterday, I bought a VErizon S4. I like the phone but I'm having a tough time maneuvering around all the bloatware.
Can I create a Group that contains the apps I use such as AccuWeather, Financial, Notes, Calendar, Clock (timers),
Flixster, TuneIn Radio?

Can I delete a lot of stuff from the phone I'll never use?
 

Dave-in-Decatur

Well-known member
Feb 4, 2012
387
7
0
Visit site
There are several steps you can take, but you can't actually delete or uninstall the bloatware (supposedly they are helping keep the cost of the phone down because the app makers pay VZW to put them on there). At the most basic level, you can disable them. From the Home screen, press the Menu button and then Settings. Under More, tap Application manager. Scroll the band at the top of the screen to the right till you get to All, and wait a few seconds for the list to populate. Then go through the list, pick the ones you will never use, never want to see, wish didn't exist at all, etc., and turn them off. Tap an unwanted app and then tap the Turn off button. You'll get a warning that "Turning off built-in apps may cause errors in other apps"; ignore that and tap OK. Doing this will create a new list to the right of All named Turned Off. Any time you want one of these back, you just go to that list and turn it back on. There are some things you can't turn off because they are truly basic to the functioning of the phone; the Turn off button will be unavailable for them.

Less drastic than this, you can hide apps you don't want to turn off altogether but don't want to be bothered with. Start from the Home screen and tap the Apps shortcut. Then press the Menu button and select Hide applications. That will put a check box next to every app. Check the ones you don't want to see, and when you've got them all, tap Done in the upper right corner of the screen (or Cancel if you decide not to hide them). The checked apps are still enabled, but you won't see them in the apps area. To make some of them visible again, while in the apps area press Menu and select Show hidden applications, and then check the ones you want to see.

Finally, once you're down to just the apps you might conceivably want to use some time, you can create folders in the apps area and drag apps into them. This provides organization, a clean-looking screen, and quick access. (I've got all the enabled, non-hidden apps on my phone organized into 12 folders that show up on just one screen.) To do this, from Home tap the Apps shortcut, and in the apps area press Menu and then Create folder, and give the folder a name. When you've got the folders that you want, press Menu and then Edit (an essential step, which I am always forgetting), and start moving apps into folders. It's good to plan out in advance what folders you're going to want, so you don't spend a lot of time dragging apps into and out of folders. Once you've got everything organized the way your want, tap Save in the top right corner and you're set!
 

zippo_1

New member
Dec 3, 2013
4
0
0
Visit site
I managed to Turn Off most of the Apps I won't be using, then stopped by the Verizon Store to get Voice Mail reset.
While there the sales guy showed me how to setup a folder which contains most of the Apps I use. When I got home
I attempted to d/l Yahoo! Finance App and actually took the time to read the Privacy policy. I did not d/l the app because
to the contents of the privacy policy. I'm going to check out some more Apps if the privacy policy is similar to the Yahoo!
I may be going back to an iPhone.

BTW, I used the Samsung SmartSwitch app to painlessly transfer data from my iPhone 4S to the new Samsung S4

Yahoo! Finance

App permissions

Storage
Modify or delete the contents of your USB storage
Allows the app to write to the US storage

Microphone
record audio
Allows the app to record audio with the microphone. This permission allows the app to record audio with

the microphone. This permission allows the app to record audio at any time without your confirmation

Your Location
Precise Location (GPS and network-based)
Allows the apps to access your approximate location using GPS or location services based on network

resources, such as mobile phone towers and WIFI apps. When these location services are available and

enabled, this permission allows apps to determine your approximate location. This may consume more

battery power

Phone calls
Allows the app to access the phone features of the device. This permission allows the app to determine the

phone number and device IDs, whether a call is active, and the remote number connected by a call.
Network Communication

Full network access
Allows the app to create network sockets and use the custom network protocols. The browser and other

application provide means to send data to the internwt, so this permission is not required to send data to

the internet and device Is, whether a call is active, and the remote number connected by a call.

Audio settings
Allows the app to modify the global audio settings such as volume and which speaker is used for output.


system tools
Test access to protected storage
Allows the app to test a permission for USB storage that will be available on future devices.
 

Dave-in-Decatur

Well-known member
Feb 4, 2012
387
7
0
Visit site
In all honesty, I've seen lots scarier permissions lists. Permission descriptions tend to be very general, telling everything that an app could do with that permission, not necessarily what this specific app does do.

It might be worth going through the permission list and comparing it with what Yahoo! Finance does (about which I have no idea). Does it offer to find nearby ATMs, for instance? That would be a reason for needing your location.
 

zippo_1

New member
Dec 3, 2013
4
0
0
Visit site
>I've seen lots scarier permissions lists.

I'd like to see some of them. It's amazing what we allow to invade our privacy.

There is no reason why Yahoo Finance needs to know where I am. There is no reason why it needs to know the numbers/contacts on my phone or the phone number of in progress calls.
Allows the app to access the phone features of the device. This permission allows the app to determine the
phone number and device IDs, whether a call is active, and the remote number connected by a call."

Couple more examples:

TapaTalk

Run at startup
Allows the app to have itself started as soon as the system has finished booting. This can make it take
longer to start the phone and allow the app to slow down the overall phone by always running.

Your accounts
Find accounts on the Device
Allows the App to get a list of accounts known by the phone. This may include any accounts created by
applications you have installed

Why do any of these apps need to copy data from my PhoneBook?
 

Forum statistics

Threads
942,111
Messages
6,912,515
Members
3,158,232
Latest member
andrewsmith