Bloatware a.k.a all the pre-installed OEM and carrier apps on Android devices have been a source of constant headache for many. Not only do they affect performance and battery life, but sometime they pop out of nowhere to promote a service you don’t care about. Thankfully, Google decided to take matters in its own hand and has included the ability to disable system apps starting with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. 

How to disable system apps

While disabling apps will not free up the space occupied by them, it will at least prevent them from wasting precious resources. Read below to know how you can disable system apps on Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich or higher:

Step 1: Head over to Application Manager. Depending on your device, the option can be known as Apps or App Manager and is usually located under the Settings menu.

Step 2: Swipe to the All tab where you will find a list of all the pre-installed and downloaded apps on your device.

Step 3: Scroll up/down, find and tap the app that you want to disable and select Disable.

And that’s it! By following the three simple steps above you can disable all the bloatware on your device. However, make sure that you don’t disable core system apps, which might affect usability and system stability. Also, it is not possible to disable certain carrier apps, even though they fall under the bloatware category.

How to remove system apps

The only way to remove system apps — even those that can not be disabled — is to root your Android device and use Titanium Backup or delete the APK file using any file explorer. Follow the guide below if your Android device is already rooted:

Step 1: Make sure to install the free — or paid — version of Titanium Backup from the Play Store.

Step 2: Start the app, grant it root access and wait for a few seconds so that it can make sure all your system settings are correct.

Step 3: Switch over to the Backup/Restore tab where you will find a list of all the pre-installed and user-installed apps. Tap the app name that you want to remove, followed by Uninstall on the dialog box that pops up. You will then be prompted to create a backup of the app, which you can either skip or approve, depending on how confident you are about completely removing that software from your device.

Since you can also uninstall core system apps using Titanium Backup, it is better that you make a backup of them in case things go wrong. You can always delete them later on if you don’t notice any system instability.

Do you remove or disable any pre-installed apps on your device? Drop in a comment and let us know!