Compiled list of safe to Uninstall/Freeze Apps for Galaxy S8

[sn0warmy]

UPDATE: Attached an importable XML file to the OP, which can be used to disable the below services/apps in bulk, within BK Disabler.

Coming from a long list of Nexus and Pixel phones running pure Android, The Galaxy S8 is my first phone with TouchWiz. While I love the phone and Samsung's take on the UI, I've been on a mission to get the Galaxy S8 to run as smoothly and efficiently as possible in order to avoid unnecessary battery drain and RAM usage. I've spent a good amount of time going down the list of preloaded processes on the S8 and researching to see which ones are safe to uninstall/disable without hindering any day-to-day functionality of the phone.

To start, since I have the T-Mobile variant, I uninstalled/disabled every T-Mobile related app/process on my phone. Then, after reading up on all of the below processes to ensure they were not necessary and safe to freeze, I used BK Package Disabler to freeze these:

com.samsung.aasaservice (AASAservice)
com.sec.android.AutoPreconfig (AutoPreconfig)
com.android.providers.partnerbookmarks
com.samsung.android.app.watchmanagerstub *don't freeze if you use Samsung Gear*
com.samsung.android.email.provider *don't freeze if you use the default Samsung Email app*
com.sec.edgtestapp (EpdgTestApp)
com.sec.android.widgetapp.samsungapps (Galaxy Essentials Widget)
com.samsung.android.app.vrsetupwizardstub (Gear VR SetupWizardStub) *don't freeze if you use Samsung Gear*
com.sec.android.service.health (Health Service) *don't freeze if you use Samsung Health*
com.lookout (Lookout) *As explorer-10 pointed out, make sure to disable Lookout as a Device Administrator under "Settings > Lock screen and security > Other security settings > Device Administrators"*
com.android.printspooler (Print Spooler)
com.samsung.android.beaconmanager (Samsung Connect)
com.sec.android.app.sns3 (Samsung Galaxy)
com.samsung.android.app.mirrorlink (Samsung MirrorLink 1.1) * don't freeze if you connect your phone to your car via USB for Android Auto*
com.sec.spp.push (Samsung Push Service)
com.sec.android.app.SecSetupWizard (Samsung setup wizard)
com.samsung.SMT (Samsung text-to-speach engine)
com.samsung.oh (Samsung+)

additional T-Mobile related processes that I froze:
com.tmobile.pr.mytmobile (T-Mobile)
com.tmobile.vvm.application ( T-Mobile Visual Voicemail)
com.tmobile.pr.adapt


Lastly, to make my phone feel a bit snappier, I enabled developer settings (Settings > About Phone > tap "Build number" 7 times) and turned Window animation scale and Transition animation scale both to "0". The end result of all this is a Galaxy S8 that feels just as fast/snappy as my Google Pixel did.

I imagine I missed a few processes that are safe to freeze since my main focus was just on ones that were constantly running and draining battery/RAM usage. So please feel free to comment with any additional processes you've found and I'll update the list.

 

[style99]

Thanks for the list

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

 

[sn0warmy]

Thanks for the list

No problem.

 

[M3ph15t]

you could add these if you want to:

https://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=72013208&postcount=2

 

[sn0warmy]

you could add these if you want to:

https://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=72013208&postcount=2

Wow! That's a huge list. You can confirm that every one of those are safe to uninstall/freeze without hindering any core functionality of the phone?

 

[M3ph15t]

Some things are obviously without functiuon, but nothing elemental like the search engine (I found a list where this was deactivated)
IE: The default Mail app or Google Quick Search are disabled, some menu point within the assistance menu are not working anymore, maximum powersaving isn't working anymore (because the minimalistic launcher which is used by it is also deactivated)
Atm I'm looking for the Speech engine (the Mic icon left of the Space bar), because it seems like I deactivated this and I use it quite often so it's a little anoying

EDIT:

The AOD is one point I disabled because I prefer not to use it, but that is something which could be usefull to someone else

 

[Djapatos]

You the real MVP

 

[bckrupps]

Will freezing this one actually get rid of the forced bookmarks in the samsung browser. i hate that.

com.android.providers.partnerbookmarks

 

[M3ph15t]

I can't tell you that, because i prefer Firefox on all my devices (Bookmark Sync is essential for me)

Regarding the Voice dictation problem: I found the app I deactivated which was responsible for it: the Google App. So if you use this app OR the voice dictation feature, you should let it enabled.

Another problem I ran into: Contacts an Calendar sync (to Google) don't work properly anymore with the Samsung Calendar and Contacts app.
Temporary workaround: use the Google Contacts App (you'll find it on APK Mirror) and Google Calendar, these sync fine

I'll try to find a solution for it, but for now I don't have the time for it and will reset my device to get it working properly again.

I'll keep you and the original Post of mine updated with the new infos

 

[henrybravo]

Will freezing this one actually get rid of the forced bookmarks in the samsung browser. i hate that.

com.android.providers.partnerbookmarks

Yes. It also gets rid of the forced bookmarks in Chrome.

 

[ewokuk]

Its probably the most useful list I have found so far but for anyone to know whether they want to disable each service or not, they all need some sort of brief explanation of what they do. I disabled what i thought were obvious ones on mine (anything with bixby or gear in the name for a start) but there were lots that i left alone as i couldnt find anything on what exactly they did.

 

[bckrupps]

Yes. It also gets rid of the forced bookmarks in Chrome.

i tried it. unfortunately it doesn't delete the stock bookmarks in the samsung browser on att anyway. i was hoping it would. thanks for the help though

 

[texaslittleangel]

Its probably the most useful list I have found so far but for anyone to know whether they want to disable each service or not, they all need some sort of brief explanation of what they do. I disabled what i thought were obvious ones on mine (anything with bixby or gear in the name for a start) but there were lots that i left alone as i couldnt find anything on what exactly they did.

Agreed 100%

A brief explanation would be highly beneficial.

 

[explorer-10]

Would be useful if you could make the first post into an importable xml file.

 

[explorer-10]

Coming from a long list of Nexus and Pixel phones running pure Android, The Galaxy S8 is my first phone with TouchWiz. While I love the phone and Samsung's take on the UI, I've been on a mission to get the Galaxy S8 to run as smoothly and efficiently as possible in order to avoid unnecessary battery drain and RAM usage. I've spent a good amount of time going down the list of preloaded processes on the S8 and researching to see which ones are safe to uninstall/disable without hindering any day-to-day functionality of the phone.

To start, since I have the T-Mobile variant, I uninstalled/disabled every T-Mobile related app/process on my phone. Then, after reading up on all of the below processes to ensure they were not necessary and safe to freeze, I used BK Package Disabler to freeze these:

com.samsung.aasaservice (AASAservice)
com.sec.android.AutoPreconfig (AutoPreconfig)
com.android.providers.partnerbookmarks
com.samsung.android.app.watchmanagerstub *don't freeze if you use Samsung Gear*
com.samsung.android.email.provider *don't freeze if you use the default Samsung Email app*
com.sec.edgtestapp (EpdgTestApp)
com.sec.android.widgetapp.samsungapps (Galaxy Essentials Widget)
com.samsung.android.app.vrsetupwizardstub (Gear VR SetupWizardStub) *don't freeze if you use Samsung Gear*
com.sec.android.service.health (Health Service) *don't freeze if you use Samsung Health*
com.lookout (Lookout)
com.android.printspooler (Print Spooler)
com.samsung.android.beaconmanager (Samsung Connect)
com.sec.android.app.sns3 (Samsung Galaxy)
com.samsung.android.app.mirrorlink (Samsung MirrorLink 1.1) * don't freeze if you connect your phone to your car via USB for Android Auto*
com.sec.spp.push (Samsung Push Service)
com.sec.android.app.SecSetupWizard (Samsung setup wizard)
com.samsung.SMT (Samsung text-to-speach engine)
com.samsung.oh (Samsung+)

additional T-Mobile related processes that I froze:
com.tmobile.pr.mytmobile (T-Mobile)
com.tmobile.vvm.application ( T-Mobile Visual Voicemail)
com.tmobile.pr.adapt


Lastly, to make my phone feel a bit snappier, I enabled developer settings (Settings > About Phone > tap "Build number" 7 times) and turned Window animation scale and Transition animation scale both to "0". The end result of all this is a Galaxy S8 that feels just as fast/snappy as my Google Pixel did.

I imagine I missed a few processes that are safe to freeze since my main focus was just on ones that were constantly running and draining battery/RAM usage. So please feel free to comment with any additional processes you've found and I'll update the list.

How'd you get Lookout to disable via BK? I got a fall message asking to re-enable disabled apps and restart the app. Did that to no avail.

 

[sn0warmy]

Its probably the most useful list I have found so far but for anyone to know whether they want to disable each service or not, they all need some sort of brief explanation of what they do. I disabled what i thought were obvious ones on mine (anything with bixby or gear in the name for a start) but there were lots that i left alone as i couldnt find anything on what exactly they did.

Are you referring to the list I put in the OP? If so, I already put a brief description in parentheses next to each service, wherever possible. Not really sure what else you'd like added to each line.

Would be useful if you could make the first post into an importable xml file.

Great point. I exported my current Disabled Services XML file from BK Disabler and uploaded it to Google Drive. The OP is updated with this XML file.

How'd you get Lookout to disable via BK? I got a fall message asking to re-enable disabled apps and restart the app. Did that to no avail.

It didn't cause any issues for me. I simply installed BK Disabler, ran down the list of apps/services I wanted to disable (including Lookout) and it disabled them all, no problem. I just double checked and can confirm that Lookout is still disabled even after multiple OS updates from T-Mobile.

Maybe try uploading the XML file I just put in the OP to see if that method works.

 

[explorer-10]

Are you referring to the list I put in the OP? If so, I already put a brief description in parentheses next to each service, wherever possible. Not really sure what else you'd like added to each line.



Great point. I exported my current Disabled Services XML file from BK Disabler and uploaded it to Google Drive. The OP is updated with this XML file.



It didn't cause any issues for me. I simply installed BK Disabler, ran down the list of apps/services I wanted to disable (including Lookout) and it disabled them all, no problem. I just double checked and can confirm that Lookout is still disabled even after multiple OS updates from T-Mobile.

Maybe try uploading the XML file I just put in the OP to see if that method works.

Nevermind, I got it to freeze/remove. It was still enabled under device administrator.

 

[sn0warmy]

Nevermind, I got it to freeze/remove. It was still enabled under device administrator.

Weird, Lookout is not an option under Device Administration on my phone. I can't remember if I disabled within Device Administrator prior to disabling it with BK Installer. Nonetheless, I updated the OP with this bullet point for disabling Lookout in case anyone else runs into the same issue.

 

[theprfct10]

UPDATE: Attached an importable XML file to the OP, which can be used to disable the below services/apps in bulk, within BK Disabler.

Coming from a long list of Nexus and Pixel phones running pure Android, The Galaxy S8 is my first phone with TouchWiz. While I love the phone and Samsung's take on the UI, I've been on a mission to get the Galaxy S8 to run as smoothly and efficiently as possible in order to avoid unnecessary battery drain and RAM usage. I've spent a good amount of time going down the list of preloaded processes on the S8 and researching to see which ones are safe to uninstall/disable without hindering any day-to-day functionality of the phone.

To start, since I have the T-Mobile variant, I uninstalled/disabled every T-Mobile related app/process on my phone. Then, after reading up on all of the below processes to ensure they were not necessary and safe to freeze, I used BK Package Disabler to freeze these:

com.samsung.aasaservice (AASAservice)
com.sec.android.AutoPreconfig (AutoPreconfig)
com.android.providers.partnerbookmarks
com.samsung.android.app.watchmanagerstub *don't freeze if you use Samsung Gear*
com.samsung.android.email.provider *don't freeze if you use the default Samsung Email app*
com.sec.edgtestapp (EpdgTestApp)
com.sec.android.widgetapp.samsungapps (Galaxy Essentials Widget)
com.samsung.android.app.vrsetupwizardstub (Gear VR SetupWizardStub) *don't freeze if you use Samsung Gear*
com.sec.android.service.health (Health Service) *don't freeze if you use Samsung Health*
com.lookout (Lookout) *As explorer-10 pointed out, make sure to disable Lookout as a Device Administrator under "Settings > Lock screen and security > Other security settings > Device Administrators"*
com.android.printspooler (Print Spooler)
com.samsung.android.beaconmanager (Samsung Connect)
com.sec.android.app.sns3 (Samsung Galaxy)
com.samsung.android.app.mirrorlink (Samsung MirrorLink 1.1) * don't freeze if you connect your phone to your car via USB for Android Auto*
com.sec.spp.push (Samsung Push Service)
com.sec.android.app.SecSetupWizard (Samsung setup wizard)
com.samsung.SMT (Samsung text-to-speach engine)
com.samsung.oh (Samsung+)

additional T-Mobile related processes that I froze:
com.tmobile.pr.mytmobile (T-Mobile)
com.tmobile.vvm.application ( T-Mobile Visual Voicemail)
com.tmobile.pr.adapt


Lastly, to make my phone feel a bit snappier, I enabled developer settings (Settings > About Phone > tap "Build number" 7 times) and turned Window animation scale and Transition animation scale both to "0". The end result of all this is a Galaxy S8 that feels just as fast/snappy as my Google Pixel did.

I imagine I missed a few processes that are safe to freeze since my main focus was just on ones that were constantly running and draining battery/RAM usage. So please feel free to comment with any additional processes you've found and I'll update the list.

I appreciate this however I'm curious how much difference in battery life does this really make or is it more of a nuisance thing than anything else?

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

 

[GuusFrenken]

I just installed BK Disabler and it fails to activate with an unknown error, there are some troubleshooting steps in broken English which don't work, what a joke...
Did anyone run into a similar problem?