I updated my Xperia Active to Android 4.0.4 (firmware 4.1.B.0.431) a couple of weeks ago. I really like it, especially the feature that lets me to disable unneeded built-in applications. I prefer to dumb down my phone so that it does not ‘phone home’ too much. I am not on Twitter or Facebook, and I do not have a 3G data contract. I mainly use the phone as an offline calendar and navigator (with OsmAnd offline vector maps), non-DRM media player, alarm clock, FM receiver, flashlight, etc.
Occasionally I do use gtalk, gmail and the web browser. I could live without gtalk, gmail and the Google Play store, but the web browser would be nice.
I do understand that Sony does not want some apps to be disabled, such as the PlayNow store and TrackID and the DRM stuff. But I would like to disable as much as possible.
I have two problems after disabling some apps and deleting setting data:
- I cannot view contact details or contact call log in the dialer application
- Calendar sometimes loses all events (and says ‘Calendar has stopped’ in my local language) until next reboot
I probably do not really need all of the built-in apps that I left enablde for now, such as the live wallpapers or some of the sync services, but I was guessing that the above problems could be due to some phone-home plugin missing. Another possibility is that I deleted some crucial setting data.
I guess that I will have to reset my phone to factory defaults and disable plugins one by one. I am OK with that, but I would first like to understand which built-in apps are needed for the proper operation of the Calendar and the Contacts list when not syncing any data to any cloud services. Is there some description of all the built-in apps?
I have left the following built-in apps enabled (names partially translated from Finnish):
- 3D camera
- Accessory Key Dispatcher
- Adobe Reader (upgraded to newer version)
- Android system
- ANT Radio Service
- ANT Wireless State Notifier
- AntHalService
- Settings
- Settings store
- AudioEffectService
- Black Hole (live wallpaper)
- Bluetooth share
- Bubbles (live wallpaper)
- Camera extension
- CdfInfo Accessor Service
- com.android.wallpaper.holospiral
- com.sonyericsson.provider.voipcalllog
- com.sonyericsson.tetherentitlementcheck
- com.sonyericsson.wapicustomization
- Contacts import
- CrashMonitor
- CrashMonitorHelper
- CredentialManagerService_1_5
- CustomizationProvider
- Customized App Installer
- Data traffic
- Default themes
- DownloadAgent
- DRM-protected content storage
- DrmDialogs
- Fast Dormancy Manager
- FM Radio
- FmRxService
- Gallery
- GenericAppInstaller
- Gmail
- Google Backup Transport
- Google One Time Init
- Google Partner Setup
- Google Play Store
- Google Services Framework
- Google Calendar Sync
- Google Bookmark Sync
- Google Contacts Sync
- App provider search
- HTML Reader
- System UI
- Calendar (544kB)
- Calendar (36kB)
- CalendarStore
- Camera
- Clock
- Key Chain
- Home Screen Hints
- User directory
- Calculator
- Downloads
- Download manager
- Learning Client 2.1
- Gadgets (104kB)
- Live wallpaper chooser
- LiveWare
- World Clock
- Market Updater
- Media Store
- Media Accelerators (shortcuts)
- MTP extension service
- Customized settings
- Music
- Music player
- NeoReader
- Phone keypad
- Setup Wizard
- OMA Client Provisioning
- OmaV1AgentDownloadServices
- Package installer
- Package use helper
- Phase Beam (live wallpaper)
- Pico TTS
- Gadgets on/off
- PlayNow
- POBox Touch
- ProtectedMediaScanner
- ProtectedMediaScannerTrigger
- Phone contact (12kB)
- Phone/message store
- Call log extension
- QC SEMC Service
- Quadrapop (preloaded game, I do not really need it)
- Sakura (what is this? how to access it?)
- SecureClockService
- Browser
- semc-cnap-provider
- Service Menu (accessible from the phone dialer)
- Shutdown Animation
- SIM Toolkit
- SIM Contacts
- Smart Search
- Snp Platform Utility
- Sound Recorder (how to access this?)
- App settings
- Storage Capability
- Performance helper
- Synchronization
- Talk
- Flashlight
- Theme manager
- Status switch
- Account something (400kB)
- TrackID
- Support
- Unsupported Headset Notifier
- Update center
- Update service
- USB connectivity
- UserAgentProvider
- Photos and Videos
- Certificate Installer
- VerifyCertificatesDummyApp (4 times)
- Network location
- Video editor (how to access this?)
- Video player
- Message transport (SMS)
- Message transport extension
- WalkMate (why can this not be disabled?)
- WapPush
- Woody (live wallpaper?)
- Xperia Gallery
- Xperia Home
- Xperia Sync (needed for calendar?)
- Xperia keyboard
- Xperia wallpapers
- Contacts
- Contacts storage
- YouTube
- Sound selector/dialer (64kB)
- Sound dialer (32kB)
I have disabled the following built-in apps:
- Countdown timer (egg clock; could sometimes be useful)
- Analog clock (24kB)
- Analog clock (20kB)
- Setup Instructions
- Digital clock
- Exchange Services
- Facebook*, FBiX*
- Fun&downloads
- Google search
- Google lyrics extension
- Chinese keyboard
- Compass
- Maps
- Market Feedback Agent
- My Uploads
- OfficeSuite
- Voice search
- R2R client
- Retail Demo (how to access this anyway?)
- Street View
- Email (IMAP client)
- Weather widget (cannot choose the local provider in the settings)
- TalkBack
- Timescape (3 apps)
- Playback in device
- Twitter extension (for Timescape)
- News and weather
- Wikipedia extension (for music player)
- YouTube karaoke extension (for music player)
- YouTube extension
- Friends’ music and videos
- Friends’ games and apps
- Infinite View
