I downloaded an app from Amazon's appstore and decided I didn't want it - so I uninstalled it
Now I receive notifications several times a day telling me that there is an update - which I don't want. I don't know how to stop it.. it's getting to be a nuisance.
Does anyone know how to eliminate an unwanted app from "my apps" (without calling Customer Service)?
___________________
- Derek
I've been wondering the same thing... they have instructions for it, but they don't work because they refer to a checkbox that doesn't exist.
To remove an application from the "Apps to Install" list without installing/updating it:
Select the application you want to remove
Check the box "Don't include this in the new apps list"
You can always come back and uncheck this box if you want the app to show up again later
I finally found that I can uninstall them from the Nook Color tools. I was getting frustrated until I found that. Now I am annoyed that the Swift Keyboard app doesn't work.
We're not talking about uninstalling the apps purchased through Amazon, we're talking about not seeing them in the Amazon App itself anymore so that we don't keep getting notifications for updates.
on your SD card, look for the folder Android/data/com.amazon.venezia/cache . This is where amazon stores the .apk files that it has downloaded but not yet installed. Delete them from here and you should stop seeing notifications on them, as the notification bit seems to just list .apks that are in there yet not installed. You could also move them from there to another directory and give them their proper name so that you don't have to download them again in the future if you do decide to put them back on.
Related
I downloaded an app called App quarantine from the market and put the following apps in the don't run bin , but before doing that I downloaded Go Launcher / Go Contacts / Go Sms Pro and did a ehh, conversion from the stock samsung apps to Go Stuff. Has anyone else done this or anything similar?
Apk's no longer running on boot
(See screen shots, i'm lazy today.)
jb0nd38372 said:
I downloaded an app called App quarantine from the market and put the following apps in the don't run bin , but before doing that I downloaded Go Launcher / Go Contacts / Go Sms Pro and did a ehh, conversion from the stock samsung apps to Go Stuff. Has anyone else done this or anything similar?
Apk's no longer running on boot
(See screen shots, i'm lazy today.)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are a number of apps that do the same type of thing, Titanium Backup will 'freeze' apps as well as a whole host of additional features.
Then of course, another option is to just rename the apps from *.apk to *.bpk and rebooting.
My personal preference is a third option called Autostarts which is similar to MSconfig in Windows but for Android. The reason being is, it gives you the ability to keep an app from ever running unless you actually tap the app to run it but still allows you to keep the app installed in the event you want to use it. Google Maps comes to mind, I want it installed, I dont want it running in the background.
I dont recommend removing any of the bloatware if you plan on staying on stock but, some of it for US Note users was able to be uninstalled without root via either Settings->Applications->Manage Applications->All Applications, then tap an app and see if uninstall was lit up, if so, sweet. Or, alternatively you could go thru the Market->(Menu Key)->My Apps but not all apps show up in this list. As a side note, I actually manually did a search for many of the apps on the phone and manually updated them because they were not showing up in the market 'My Apps' list.
One other side note, most of the Samsung apps are actually pretty decent, I usually dont touch them. Its the ATT software and the apps ATT took bribe money from third parties that bothers me (Yellow Pages for example).
Oh, and a little known feature of Go Launcher is the ability to hide apps.
Tap the App drawer icon to get to the list of apps on your phone, tap the menu button, tap hide apps. For those of us that havent bothered to root, this at least gives you the ability to not have to look at apps you dont want to see in the app drawer.
Wow thank you for all the info. As far as staying stock, I like making my devices unique to me, I did keep all spen related apps, but killed pretty much everything else. I doubt my phone will ever see an official release of anything, Xda all the way
littlewierdo said:
There are a number of apps that do the same type of thing, Titanium Backup will 'freeze' apps as well as a whole host of additional features.
Then of course, another option is to just rename the apps from *.apk to *.bpk and rebooting.
My personal preference is a third option called Autostarts which is similar to MSconfig in Windows but for Android. The reason being is, it gives you the ability to keep an app from ever running unless you actually tap the app to run it but still allows you to keep the app installed in the event you want to use it. Google Maps comes to mind, I want it installed, I dont want it running in the background.
I dont recommend removing any of the bloatware if you plan on staying on stock but, some of it for US Note users was able to be uninstalled without root via either Settings->Applications->Manage Applications->All Applications, then tap an app and see if uninstall was lit up, if so, sweet. Or, alternatively you could go thru the Market->(Menu Key)->My Apps but not all apps show up in this list. As a side note, I actually manually did a search for many of the apps on the phone and manually updated them because they were not showing up in the market 'My Apps' list.
One other side note, most of the Samsung apps are actually pretty decent, I usually dont touch them. Its the ATT software and the apps ATT took bribe money from third parties that bothers me (Yellow Pages for example).
Oh, and a little known feature of Go Launcher is the ability to hide apps.
Tap the App drawer icon to get to the list of apps on your phone, tap the menu button, tap hide apps. For those of us that havent bothered to root, this at least gives you the ability to not have to look at apps you dont want to see in the app drawer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just to add I guess a 'fourth' option, I like to use the app 'root toolbox' available on the market with both free and pro versions. Under the advanced menu you can remove any system apps you like but the nice thing is anything you remove is automatically backed up to the root toolbox folder on the internal sd. The backup is done automatically so you dont have to worry about removing something and forgetting to backup first and also gives you the option to restore any system apps you removed simply and easily. Ill be honest the restore feature has saved my bacon many times lol and is also a great way to experiment which apps are safe and unsafe to remove.
I've been using Android since 2009 and since the very beginning I have wondered why Google has done such a poor job developing their Marketplace store (since renamed to Google Play -- ridiculous name but that's a different topic). Specifically, the User Interface of the marketplace. The market HAS undergone a couple of changes to its appearance and has had the addition of music, movies, etc. But the basic user interface components for App Installation have seen practically no change at all.
Here's my incomplete list of severe shortcomings of Google Play:
1. There is NO WAY to see a short concise list of all the apps you have already purchased. You can choose between two tabs -- "Installed" and "All". The "Installed" list is just that -- apps already installed. The "All" list shows everything -- already installed, purchased but not installed, free and recently installed on a different device, etc. And this is big jumbled mess is listed in the order of apps most recently installed, which leads to:
2. There Is NO WAY to sort the list in the "All" tab by any criterion. It is what it is, you are stuck with the order everything is listed in and you cannot change it.
3. When you want to install an app, you first have to tap on the app name and then it jumps to the detailed page for that app, where you then press "Install" and then another screen to confirm. There is NO WAY to install the app directly from the app listing without jumping through multiple screens every time for every individual app. This wouldn't be so terrible, except:
4. The listing does not REMEMBER YOUR POSITION when you press back. I find myself scrolling down through the UNSORTABLE list on the "All" page, finding the app I want, which may be 150+ apps down, going to that app's detailed page and pressing install/confirm, then pressing back twice, and it returns me back to the TOP of the list again. So if I wanted to then install the next app that was right below the previous one, I have to SCROLL DOWN AGAIN.
5. Ultimately, what I WANT and NEED is a batch installer directly from the marketplace. Put some freaking CHECKBOXES next to every app on the main list and then put a big "Install All Checked" button at the top. What's so difficult about this concept?
6. You may say "Just use titanium backup, it will solve all your problems." Well I DO use Titanium backup where appropriate. But sometimes I just want to do a CLEAN install of every app, directly downloading from the marketplace again. App backups do get screwed up over time, and reinstalling from marketplace fixes those issues. Not to mention, TiBackup requires ROOT, which not everyone has/wants/needs/knows how to obtain. Or I might be installing all my required apps on a totally new device and I don't want to import incompatible data from some other device.
In my opinion this is a MAJOR shortcoming in Android. There absolutely NEEDS to be a way to easily batch-install many apps directly from the marketplace. Especially for people like me who have 100+ apps installed and regularly wipe my phone to install the latest ROM. And #1 is just insulting in my opinion. I can't see a list of only the apps I OWN? I might forget that I purchased something a long time ago and just forgot to reinstall it. And nobody has come up with a third party tool to batch-install from the market (or have they?)
Can someone please help me understand why Google has failed to improve their storefront for so long? Where is the suggestion box for me to voice all of these concerns?
christophocles said:
I've been using Android since 2009 and since the very beginning I have wondered why Google has done such a poor job developing their Marketplace store (since renamed to Google Play -- ridiculous name but that's a different topic). Specifically, the User Interface of the marketplace. The market HAS undergone a couple of changes to its appearance and has had the addition of music, movies, etc. But the basic user interface components for App Installation have seen practically no change at all.
Here's my incomplete list of severe shortcomings of Google Play:
1. There is NO WAY to see a short concise list of all the apps you have already purchased. You can choose between two tabs -- "Installed" and "All". The "Installed" list is just that -- apps already installed. The "All" list shows everything -- already installed, purchased but not installed, free and recently installed on a different device, etc. And this is big jumbled mess is listed in the order of apps most recently installed, which leads to:
2. There Is NO WAY to sort the list in the "All" tab by any criterion. It is what it is, you are stuck with the order everything is listed in and you cannot change it.
3. When you want to install an app, you first have to tap on the app name and then it jumps to the detailed page for that app, where you then press "Install" and then another screen to confirm. There is NO WAY to install the app directly from the app listing without jumping through multiple screens every time for every individual app. This wouldn't be so terrible, except:
4. The listing does not REMEMBER YOUR POSITION when you press back. I find myself scrolling down through the UNSORTABLE list on the "All" page, finding the app I want, which may be 150+ apps down, going to that app's detailed page and pressing install/confirm, then pressing back twice, and it returns me back to the TOP of the list again. So if I wanted to then install the next app that was right below the previous one, I have to SCROLL DOWN AGAIN.
5. Ultimately, what I WANT and NEED is a batch installer directly from the marketplace. Put some freaking CHECKBOXES next to every app on the main list and then put a big "Install All Checked" button at the top. What's so difficult about this concept?
6. You may say "Just use titanium backup, it will solve all your problems." Well I DO use Titanium backup where appropriate. But sometimes I just want to do a CLEAN install of every app, directly downloading from the marketplace again. App backups do get screwed up over time, and reinstalling from marketplace fixes those issues. Not to mention, TiBackup requires ROOT, which not everyone has/wants/needs/knows how to obtain. Or I might be installing all my required apps on a totally new device and I don't want to import incompatible data from some other device.
In my opinion this is a MAJOR shortcoming in Android. There absolutely NEEDS to be a way to easily batch-install many apps directly from the marketplace. Especially for people like me who have 100+ apps installed and regularly wipe my phone to install the latest ROM. And #1 is just insulting in my opinion. I can't see a list of only the apps I OWN? I might forget that I purchased something a long time ago and just forgot to reinstall it. And nobody has come up with a third party tool to batch-install from the market (or have they?)
Can someone please help me understand why Google has failed to improve their storefront for so long? Where is the suggestion box for me to voice all of these concerns?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm waiting for google to fix this too!
I agree with everything youve said - but the way I see it is that the Play store is a work in progress. There have been some pretty significant enhancements made in the last few years (I think I started using android in 2010).
Since then they have made 2 or 3 comprehensive UI updates, added books and movies support (which you mentioned), and the “ALL” apps list is also reasonably new (since Google Play was implemented).
I think within the next year or two you will start to see a lot of the features you mentioned.
Apple’s app store was pretty basic when it first started, now they have a lot of great sorting and display options.
Hopefully Google will step up.
Cheers.
Yeah, it will be nice if we can install multiple apps at the same time. Well, batch installer, that's what i mean.
Also, i wish i could delete some old apps (that I installed only to test them) from "Other apps in my library". There are lots of apps i never used, only tried them, and this, combined with the inability to sort the apps, make a real mess. I have to mine for every useful app that i need to install.
Or, at least, they should make a "Favorite" option.
The regular Google Play client is very thin on features. Specifically when it comes to automatic update one can either enable or disable it. I'm looking for a way to have my apps automatically updated unless they're on an auto-update blacklist. I basically want mark specific apps to not be auto-updated. This way I can be sure that applications that are important to me only get updated manually, typically after I get a chance to read reviews from early adopters and confirm that the new version is not broken or crippled.
Bumping an old thread.
I am looking for something similar.
I don't like that GP can install and update APKs remotely and without my input, however I cannot find a proper market replacement for Google Play yet.
oren_b said:
The regular Google Play client is very thin on features. Specifically when it comes to automatic update one can either enable or disable it. I'm looking for a way to have my apps automatically updated unless they're on an auto-update blacklist. I basically want mark specific apps to not be auto-updated. This way I can be sure that applications that are important to me only get updated manually, typically after I get a chance to read reviews from early adopters and confirm that the new version is not broken or crippled.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oehr said:
Bumping an old thread.
I am looking for something similar.
I don't like that GP can install and update APKs remotely and without my input, however I cannot find a proper market replacement for Google Play yet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First of all, you can choose specific apps to auto-update, and you a general setting for all apps whether to auto-update on Wifi-Only, anytime, or never. You can then go to each app and press the menu button and you'll find an "Auto update " option with a check mark.
However, if you don't like Google Play, then the best alternative is Aptoide. You can find all apps on it, you can add other stores created by users other than the official Aptoide one and find more apps on them. However, you can't be sure that the version you have is the latest version. It can be the latest but on this store only. You can open Aptoide.com and search for the app you want if you didn't find it on the Aptoide app. It will then get you the latest version on all of the Aptoide stores and you can simply scan a QR code to get the app.
AAbounegm said:
First of all, you can choose specific apps to auto-update, and you a general setting for all apps whether to auto-update on Wifi-Only, anytime, or never. You can then go to each app and press the menu button and you'll find an "Auto update " option with a check mark.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks so much for this tip! Here's what I now do:
1. Make sure WiFi is disabled, then enable the option to Auto Update apps over WiFi only
2. Go through all my apps and uncheck the ones that I don't want to auto update (basically everything critical that I can't afford to break).
3. Enable WiFi
4. Remember to blacklist new apps if they ever become mission critical
That's good, but you don't have to disable your WiFi. And if you check Do not Auto-update apps, it will send a notification every once in while telling you that there are apps that have updates and you can choose which ones to update. I think this way is much easier than going through every app and unchecking auto-update. And I have 2 questions: 1- What is that Blacklist you are talking about? I have no such thing. 2- What version of the Play Store do you have?
AAbounegm said:
That's good, but you don't have to disable your WiFi. And if you check Do not Auto-update apps, it will send a notification every once in while telling you that there are apps that have updates and you can choose which ones to update.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If I don't disable WiFi before enabling this feature and unchecking ("blacklisting") apps, then it'll just start downloading updates for apps which I don't want to update. Disabling WiFi (temporarily) prevent this.
I think this way is much easier than going through every app and unchecking auto-update.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not if I want most of my apps to auto-update and only a handful to require manual approval.
And I have 2 questions: 1- What is that Blacklist you are talking about? I have no such thing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
"Blacklist" is a term used for marking some items where an action which occurs normally should not for selected items. For example blacklisting a sender in an email client would allow most email in but block email from this sender. Similarly, unchecking this Google Play option for specific apps would also auto-update for most apps, except those marked (in other words, those "blacklisted").
2- What version of the Play Store do you have?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm using Play Store 4.6.17 on Android 4.1.2 (Galaxy Note 2).
imo, blacklisting and all the stuff you described just doesnt cut it for me. I am reluctant to give any software su access, especially stuff like google play.
I checked out Aptoide. its okay i guess, but doesnt provide up to date apps...
I wonder why most freeware devs arent providing their APKs on their own websites and open source devs add their software to f-droid or provide a repository to be added there.
Android is so far away from what made linux nowadays...
Some very weird things started happening on my phone earlier today. It's a Nexus 5X, running 8.0 Oreo, with the October security patch. I'm not rooted and I'm careful about what I install. The phone is fairly new, from this summer.
I will begin with describing what I did in the hours before this started. I can think of two things that possibly could have started it:
1) Two of my Facebook contacts sent malicious links to me an hour before. It looked like Youtube videos but was not. I did NOT open any of these links, knowing directly they were harmful (not sure if you can be affected by just receiving them, not clicking on them?). I received them in the Messenger Lite application (an official app from Facebook with scaled-down functionality).
2) A few hours before the Facebook links, I sideloaded an APK containing the new Pixel Launcher. I got the APK from Android Police/APK Mirror.
Can't attach links, but Google for: Hands-on with the updated Pixel Launcher, including the new Pixel 2 features [APK Download]
The APK was working fine and nothing seemed odd with it (I used the launcher for a few hours). As long as Android Police know what they uploaded, this shouldn't be the cause for my problems. I bet on Facebook Messenger instead. (People that click such malware links typically get their Facebook accounts hacked, however my account seems fine and my account didn't spam others with the same link. I did not change password or did anything else to "recover" my account yet).
So what happened after this on my phone?
Here is the first thing I noticed. I open Play Store to install updates. It turns out I have one update pending, it's called BankID. This is a major Swedish app used by nearly every smartphone user in the country, and it's for signing into government websites, bank websites, insurance company websites, and much more. When I click update in Play Store two things happen almost instantly:
1) Six pictures are downloaded from Messenger Lite to my phone. That makes no sense, how could clicking a button in Google Play trigger something to happen in Messenger Lite? In fact I tried it three times, with the same behavior every time. (Well, actually opening the Messenger Lite photo album, there are only photos there I already downloaded, so nothing new seems to be added there - but the photos were probably re-downloaded I believe).
2) The BankID update downloads to 100 % (the downloading takes a little longer than expected), then it halts and does nothing, i.e. it's not installing. No error message, it just stops there. I can choose to abort and try again, which I do three times or more, with exactly the same behavior.
Also, I now notice Play Protect hasn't run for two days, but when I try to run it, it seems to be down. After ~30 seconds of scanning it says "App verification temporarily down". "App verification temporarily down" could very well be connected with the halted update I just described? It still says it hasn't run for two days after this.
When I experiment, I notice other things that are very weird indeed.
1) Notifications in Gmail, Snapchat and possibly other apps aren't coming through. By opening the apps, I can sync manually.
2) When I move a file to a new folder using the Downloads app (Files app, stock one) I get a error message saying the move operation failed. This also triggered the photo notifications from Messenger Lite (same behavior as described above, with six photos). However, after a while the moved pictures are indeed in the right folder, even though the error message saying otherwise.
3) After some time I remove "app data" for the Google Play app. When I open it after that, there are now three app updates pending (e.g. Google Wifi also). But the same behavior occurs, when I try to download one or all of them, I get the Messenger photo notifications and the updates halt at 100 % without installing. So the BankID app - which could be targeted by attackers for obvious reasons - could just be a coincidence. It could have happened with any app I suppose, this was the only one pending right then. But still, why couldn't Play Store detect other pending app updates until I refreshed it the way I did? Was Play Store blocked from connecting to Google (or forced to connect to some other server, perhaps?).
What did I do after all of this?
I uninstalled three apps:
-Facebook Lite
-Facebook Messenger Lite
-Pixel Launcher APK
However the uninstall process was very odd. A process called "Package Installer" had a notification saying "Uninstalling Lite" and "Uninstalling Messenger Lite". It didn't seem to be working, it was stuck after some time. I restarted my phone and the apps seem to be gone now, at least they aren't listed in Settings --> Apps. So the uninstall process was successful I suppose, even though it didn't seem to work.
After I restarted my phone I also noticed:
-When I install Messenger Lite from Play Store now, it's easy to uninstall it the way it should be - in mere seconds.
-When I open Play Store, updates are now installing fine. Play Protect is also scanning fine now.
Everything looks back to normal now. But I'm not trusting my device. I'm gonna factory reset it. Before I do, I wonder:
-Can I feel safe the wipe would erase whatever malware I might have had on the phone?
-Is there something I could do to let us know what caused this? Upload a log here somehow?
The only piece of advice I have received as of now is: "Try restarting in safe mode, installing some AV software, and generally looking for suspicious processes." I haven't done that yet, would it still be a good thing to do? Must I install AV software before rebooting into safe mode, or could I install it directly from safe mode? (App suggestions, AV software?).
Usually I'm very careful and security-minded. I haven't had something like this happen before. So I'm very intrigued and mad about this. I'm gonna change my Google account and Facebook account passwords later on I think (I already have 2-factor authentication enabled).
One last thing: When I install Pixel Launcher on my non-rooted phone, it's not running as a system app if my understanding is correct. (At least it shouldn't be). But none the less, when I wanted to uninstall it I had to go into Settings --> Apps and tap "Show system apps" to find it in the list. Is that normal? Perhaps it doesn't mean anything, I just want to know.
Thanks for your advice in advance. Anything else to add? What should I do know? All you might have to say is appreciated.
Come on now guys, someone must be able to help?
If I factory reset the device, will it be clean? I didn't mess with custom ROMs, root, the bootloader or something else. (I suppose the bootloader is locked).
I have these two different apps(?) that have shown up in my app drawer and I'm not sure what to make of them. One's named "mainline_train_primary" and the other's "trichromelibrary" or something along those line.
I use Ruthless launcher and they're only visible when I enable the option to show apps that are being installed in the app drawer. They're not there when I try other launchers or disable to the option.
They're also not actually installed so it doesn't do anything when I try to uninstall them. They both open up in Play Store when I click on them, but returns the message "To view this content, install and set up a web browsing app". I can manage to open them in a browser when I change the way Play Store opens up supported links. They both lead to market.android.com/details?id=[the name of the app]%[some numbers] but just wind up as 404 pages.
What confuses me is that they're both actually something related to Google, but I'm not super savvy, so I'm not sure if these are legit or are just some viruses mimicking the real thing.
I've already tried several factory resets as well as re-flashing the stock firmware, but either one or the other would eventually show up after a while.
I'm on the Essential Ph-1. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.