If you have a Motorola Android smartphone, you can install all sorts of different applications to serve all sorts of different functions. This variety, however, can become a double-edged sword if you allow your phone to become crowded with a lot of applications that you don't really use. The solution to this problem may be simpler than you think. Find out how to uninstall these apps from a Motorola Android phone when you don't need to use them anymore.
How to Remove Apps from the Motorola DROID
Motorola DROID phones work in fundamentally the same way as other Android-based smartphones, including those from Samsung, HTC, LG, and others. As such, the process for removing apps from a DROID phone is basically the same as removing apps from any official Android phone.
Removing applications from a smartphone is not unlike the process for removing software from a computer; you cannot simply delete the files and assume that the application is gone. The full removal process requires a proper uninstallation of the app. There are two ways to do this with an Android device.
Using the Settings Menu
The exact steps taken here may vary slightly based on the version of Android that your smartphone is running, but the fundamental idea is essentially the same.
- Unlock the lock screen as you normally would
- Open up the regular app "drawer" or "menu" where all the different programs are listed, usually as icons
- Navigate to "Settings" and tap to open it
- Choose "Applications" from the available choices
- Select "Manage applications"
- Find the app that you would like to remove and tap on it
- Tap the "Uninstall" button
Using the Android Market App
Another way to uninstall Android applications is through Android Market where you would have downloaded and installed the applications in the first place.
- Unlock the lock screen
- Open up the app "menu" or select the "Market" shortcut if you have it set up on the home screen
- This will open Android Market
- Choose "My apps" or "My Downloads"
- Find the app that you would like to uninstall from the displayed list and tap on it
- Tap the "Uninstall" button
Both of the methods described above perform the same operation. They allow you to uninstall applications from your Motorola Android smartphone and these are the exact same steps you would take if you wanted to remove apps from an Android tablet device too.
What About Pre-Installed Applications?
You can only choose to remove applications that you have downloaded and installed yourself. Any of the pre-installed applications that came with your device cannot be uninstalled. Examples of this include the Browser, Gmail app, and Google Maps. These cannot be removed. Using either method described above, however, will allow you to uninstall any updates that you may have downloaded and installed for these pre-installed applications.
Google may provide this kind of functionality in a future Android release or there may be an unauthorized solution that is available by "rooting" your Android device, but until then, it is essentially not possible to uninstall pre-installed apps.
