Removing Droid X Preinstalled Apps

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Written by TayPotts | 22 July 2010

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Ever notice all the crapware that Verizon and Motorola like to load your Droid X with? Of course you have! Here is a guide on how to get rid of all of that stuff!


Safe to remove:

  • Amazon Mp3
  • City ID
  • Skype
  • MyVerizon
  • CarDock
  • Kindle
  • Blockbuster
  • Mobile Hotspot
  • Visual Voicemail (if you remove this then it will disable the voicemail button on the dialer)
  • Need for Speed


DO NOT REMOVE:

  • Verizon Backup Assistant
  • Anything that is Blur Related!!! I can not stress this enough!

That's all I know right now, because I'm not sure how other "blur" related apps connect with each other. Don't want to screw anything up without nandroid right now.

How to:

  • Easiest way is to buy "Root Explorer" app from the android market. This app is like astro, but can see all of the system files, and change them.
    1. Open Root Explorer
    2. Find System and open
    3. Find app and open
    4. Click the Mount R/W to change to Mount R/O in the upper right corner
    5. Find the "bloat" app and either delete or change the name to .bak
      • Example: CityID.apk ---> CityID.bak
  • The other way is through ADB Shell on your CMD or Terminal
    1. Connect phone (make sure USB Debugging is turned on)
    2. Open CMD/Terminal
    3. Navigate to your Tools folder (from your Android SDK)
    4. Type in "adb shell" you should see a $ sign
    5. Type in su (this gives you permission)
    6. Type in the command that relates to the app you want to remove
      • Example:
        If you wanted to remove CityID:
        /system/bin/rm /system/app/CityID.apk



  • Some Apps like Myverizon are odd. It's directory is /data/app/com.vzw.hss.myverizon.apk and is also in /system/app/MyVerizon.apk
    • In other words, you may have to just search around until you find it.



Disclaimer: This is at your own risk. I, nor the Calebnance.com staff take no responsibility to any harm this may cause your phone.