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You Should Know How to Turn Off Built-in Apps on Your Galaxy S9

Mar 13, 2018 12:49 AM

Mobile phone placed on a vintage telephone with a compass.

The Galaxy S9 is a great phone powered by the Android ecosystem. This includes Google's family of apps — many of which overlap with Samsung's in functionality. This can lead to redundant apps that siphon resources from your phone, but fortunately, there's a way to dull some of the noise and disable built-in apps.

While Samsung probably means well with their myriad of branded apps, they usually feel conflicting with Google's own apps, which generally feel cleaner and more functional. Or maybe you prefer Samsung's apps and you want to disable Google's — hey, no judgement here. All I mean to do is tell you that, if you're new to Android, you should know it's possible to disable bloatware and other built-in apps.

Go to 'Apps' Inside Your Settings

First, go to your Settings by finding the app inside the app drawer, or by swiping down to reveal the notification panel and tapping the gear icon in the top-right corner. From here, hit the sub-header "Apps."

Smartphone notification panel displaying app notifications and quick settings.

Settings menu options on a smartphone, including connections, sounds, notifications, display, advanced features, device maintenance, and lock screen security.

Screenshot of smartphone app list with app names and sizes.

Disable System Apps

Inside the "Apps" section, a list of all your applications will appear in front of you. Scroll until you find the one you want to disable and tap on it. If it instead says "Uninstall," then you're in luck — you can completely get rid of the app by hitting that button.

Mobile data and storage settings on a smartphone screen.

You Should Know How to Turn Off Built-in Apps on Your Galaxy S9

If it says "Disable" (and the button isn't grayed out), then tap that to remove the app from your app drawer and clear away any associated data that may be taking up your storage. A warning will appear that says "Disabling built-in apps may cause errors in other apps." Tap "Disable" to turn off the app, or "Cancel" if you decide against it. You know you've done so successfully if the app says "Enable" where it once said "Disable."

Mobile data settings screen with storage and memory information.

Mobile app settings interface displaying data usage and storage information.

Safely Disable Bloatware Apps

While you're in here, you'll probably notice that a few preinstalled system apps have the "Disable" option grayed out — these are colloquially referred to as bloatware. While you can't remove them quite as easily, it's still doable.

If you run into any apps that can't be disabled or uninstalled through the Settings menu on your Galaxy S9, there's an app that will get rid of them all. It takes a little setup, but we've got a step-by-step guide waiting on you at the link below.

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Cover image and screenshots by Brian Lang/Gadget Hacks

The next big software update for iPhone is coming sometime in April and will include a Food section in Apple News+, an easy-to-miss new Ambient Music app, Priority Notifications thanks to Apple Intelligence, and updates to apps like Mail, Photos, Podcasts, and Safari. See what else is coming to your iPhone with the iOS 18.4 update.