One thing about the Android community that I love is the amount of unselfish help that can be obtained via online forums and readers alike. Yesterday I got an email from a new Android user who picked up a Motorola Backflip with AT&T the other day. Unfortunately, he feels the Backflip has been unlovingly killed by AT&T with all the bloatware and lack of ability to remove it. He’s looking for your help. Let’s see what we can do. UPDATED with link to Motorola Backflip Source Code.
Tony writes:
So for the last 3 years i have been using the 2G iPhone and I must say that I was/am a huge fan, however in the name of progress I made a snap decision and purchased a motorola Backflip, its fantastic however ive noticed a few quirks that I am extremly dissatisfied with however I would love to work through them to get to the basis of the problem, the problem is that the phone is a bit slow and a bit clutterd and the root of the problem is ATT they loaded the phone down with applications that run automaticly and all the time devowering the little free space i have left so i need to know how to get rid of the crap that slows me down but i cant figure it out im new to the android but i can tell that im going to be a huge fan if i can just get some help starting out like switching the phone from native yahoo to google and removeing the “bloatware” please help me make my awesome new phone as awesome as it can be i think this could be a fantastic piece of hardware onece the user can get beyond att’s BS
please reply i need all the assistance i can get being new to android im more than a little lost but im sure with a bit of help we can right the ship thanks
Ok Tony, let’s get you started in the right direction. We want to make sure all Android users love their phones as much as the rest of us and I think it’s very unfortunate what AT&T has done. Tony, I hate to have to tell you that as of right now, there is nothing you can do to kill the AT&T loaded apps, however, rest assured that Devs are probably working on getting your Backflip rooted.
It’s not an easy thing, but the general steps would be:
1) Root access to phone. – Not Available as of 3/11/2010
2) Setup ADB (Android Debug Bridge) which is a way of altering your phone via a computer and USB connection.
3) Use ADB to remove unwanted apps. – Requires Root.
The good news is, there is a way to install applications that are not on the Android Market, which normally can be done with Android without using ADB, but was disabled on the Backflip. The following link suggests how.
Anyone else have any suggestions or things that I don’t know or didn’t cover?
