What pre-installed apps are on the Droid Maxx?

[CascadiaBryan]

I currently use a Droid 2.  One of the issues I face is a number of pre-installed apps which I don't want, yet keep sending me alerts a few times per week looking to update them.  Of course, to update them, I must sign up for services that I don't want or need.

I would like to upgrade to the Droid Maxx.  However, since this issue is really bugging me, I think it would be fair to ask what apps come pre-installed on the phone.  And among those apps, which cannot be deleted if I wish to?  Can someone tell me which apps are pre-installed yet cannot be deleted?  Especially those that will continually bother me about adding unwanted services?

I figure that if I am going to upgrade, it be to a phone that doesn't nag me all the time.

Bryan

[tikibar1]

Pre-installed apps can't be deleted, but they can be disabled and they then don't show up in your app drawer.  You also can turn off automatic updates in the Play Store.

[CascadiaBryan]

Thank you.

[droid_does_life]

I own a Droid MAXX and have yet to receive one single notice of an update alert for any previously-installed stock app for the phone. Most pre-installed apps have automatic updating anyway, so whenever you connect to a WiFi signal, it'll update by itself without asking you. It WILL, however, let you know in the banner that such-and-such app was successfully updated. This alert is hardly noticeable, and goes away before you really even have time to read it. Basically, it's not a nuisance at all.

You can always go into the Play Store and select "My Apps" in the menu section and choose "Automatic Updating" on your downloaded apps. It'll give you the option also to only update over WiFi to avoid any incurred data charges. The Android system is pretty darn helpful in letting you customize exactly how you want your phone to behave. If you're currently receiving notices every time it wants to update something, then you probably have the automatic updating permission turned off.

[CascadiaBryan]

It is helpful to know that on the  Droid MAXX can allow the update alerts to be turned off.  I have not found that feature on my current Droid 2 and was hoping that was a new feature.

However, the point is that I do not want certain apps to auto-update or remind me to do it manually.  There are currently 3 apps on my current phone that I really don't want on there.  One is Verizon Cloud, which appears that if I do let the app (which it refers to as a "replacement" for something else) I will also be purchasing an unwanted service and allowing the phone to track me in certain ways that I really don't want.  Another is "Hangouts-which-replaces-Talk" which (according to the permissions) would allow others to see where I am.  The third is Blockbuster Movie Viewer, which I will never use.  That one simply bothers me that is always asks to be updated.  I can't seem to turn off the updated on my current phone.

I'm trying not to be paranoid or anything, and I do use a lot of technology (and apps) where the phone knows where I am.  I was just a bit worried about the wide swath of permissions that these apps require, and the fact that there is no option to just not have the app.

So I guess my question is more like this:  Will the MAXX have non-critical apps that cannot be removed and will not require me to update them?

[droid_does_life · Accepted solution]

The MAXX came with many pre-installed apps, but not the ones you have mentioned. Cloud is on mine, but I never use it, and it's never bothered me to do anything with it. The pre-installed apps on the MAXX are:

1. Amazon.com

2. Amazon Kindle

3. Amazon MP3

4. Amazon Apps

5. Motorola Assist

6. Audible

7. Calculator

8. Calendar

9. Caller Name and ID (useless app which you can opt out of)

10. Camera

11. Chrome

12. Clock

13. Double Twist (media player)

14. Downloads

15. Email

16. Emergency Alerts

17. G+ Photos

18. Gallery

19. Google

20. Google Settings

21. Google+

22. Hangouts

23. Help

24. IMDb

25. Ingress

26. Local

27. Google Maps

28. Messaging

29. Migrate

30. Mobile Hotspot

31. Movie Studio

32. My Verizon Mobile

33. Navigation

34. NFL Mobile

35. People

36. Phone

37. Play Books

38. Play Magazines

39. Play Movies & TV

40. Play Music (you get All Access free for 6 months for buying a phone from the new Droid lineup)

41. Play Store

42. Setup Wizard

43. Google Translate

44. Verizon Tones

45. Viewdini

46. Voice Search

47. Voicemail

48. VZ Navigator

49. VZ Security

50. YouTube

Out of these 50 pre-installed apps, not one has bugged me yet. You can always "Disable" pre-installed apps by going to Settings / Apps / (choose app) / Disable.

Better than that, if you want to keep the app, but never be updated, Go to Settings / Active Notifications / Manage Notification Types. You can manually select which apps you would like to notify you, and which ones you would rather just sit there and look pretty. You can also hide notification details when using PIN or password lock. You can also select to have the phone sleep at night (silence notifications) so nothing will bother you while you sleep.

If you're worried about your location access, you're kinda out of luck in today's world. All smartphones are GPS-equipped. If you are downloading an app which requires "Full Network Access", decide whether or not this app really DOES need full network access. Say it's Weatherbug, for instance...Weatherbug's developers are trustworthy, and the app uses your location information to give you accurate weather forecasts. Now say you're downloading an app that provides wallpapers. This type of app seriously doesn't need full network access to function, so it would be up to you at that point whether or not you trust the developer.

Hope this helped!

[CascadiaBryan]

Thank you so very much!  I appreciate that.

[droid_does_life]

Of course!

[Nauset]

I have disabled some of the pre-installed apps on my Droid Max but Google+ and Hangouts worry me, I think they are probably connected to every thing else. Can Google+ and Hangouts be disabled without causing problems?

[Nauset]

Reply to my own question. Google+, Hangouts and almost all the others can be disabled with no real problems. But leave the existing up-dates in place when you disable a pre-installed app; if the up-dates are deleted prior to disabling and you later re-enable the first thing that happens is a massive up-date. And there goes your data plan. Up-dates to apps you can not delete should not count as "data" but it does.

[rcschnoor]

If you deselect automatically update apps in the Play Store, this "massive up-date" will not take place unless you initiate it. There is ALSO a selection in the Play Store to ONLY update over wifi. Just sayin....

I don't have apps set to automatically update. I simply go into the Play Store once every couple of weeks and decide whether or not I want to update the 10-20 apps which are awaiting an update. If they are apps I rarely or can't even remember the last time I used them, I simply delete the app. Once I look over the list, I simply click "Update All" and away they go...

[B33]

And may i add there's a bunch of them apps that is)  when I got my Droid Maxx for the first Time Rc the actual night i got it I could not believe the Apps that were on this phone and were updating all at once I kept watching & watching like a like a little cat watches a mouse then when it got done with that it wanted me to update. the OS's  the First OS or obake which was not Kit Kat yet got done and there was some more updating of the apps, then came Kit Kat this were i wished I would've stopped doing updates because that Maxx went back to the store because of OS issues and I got the one i have Now..

I won't update it until I know for sure this Kit Kat thing is stable and is not causing any more issues..

And to add:  as for updating apps and the Question on this thread I won't allow for any Automatic updates, one thing to note and I like to pass on if one's asking can i go into setting and un-check automatic updates to answer this, yes you can but if you have any issues with the P.S. and your clear all the setting or uninstall it, It revert back to original setting and automatic updates will re-in-gauge as it has on my.. so just a heads up..

And last thing to pass on, this is Great Phone. b

[Nauset]

Thanks, the Play Store. I'll try it. It is 28 miles to the nearest wifi from the house but we make the trip every week or so because that's where the groceries are.