How to Effectively Remove Android Crapware

Whether it’s an unwanted NFL app preloaded on your Verizon phone or AT&T’s unnecessary Navigator service, every Android phone sold by carrier comes festooned with crapware that you can’t uninstall. Even worse, if you check your settings menu, you’ll see that some of these apps are actively running in the background, devouring your system resources.

Unless you’ve rooted your phone — a risky process that voids your warranty — you cannot delete these apps from your storage memory. However, with a few simple steps, on any Android 4.0 or greater device, you can make them disappear from the apps menu and prevent them from loading in the background.

1. Navigate to Settings. You can get to the settings menu either in your apps menu or, on most phones, by pulling down the notification drawer and tapping a button there.
   
2. Select the Apps submenu. On some phones this menu will have a slightly different name such as Application Manager.
   
3. Swipe right to the All apps list. Ignore the lists of Running and Downloaded apps. You want the All apps list.
   
4. Select the app you wish to disable.  A properties screen appears with a button for Force Stop on the upper left and another for either Disable or Uninstall updates on the upper right side.
   
5. Tap Uninstall updates if necessary. If the right button says simply Uninstall, the app is probably not a preload and it can be completely removed simply by tapping that button.
   
6. Tap Disable.