How to Remove Telstra (or Other Telco) Stock Applications from a Galaxy S2 (i9100/i9100T)

So you followed my guide on how to root your Telstra Galaxy S2 (i9100T)? One of the easiest things to do next is to remove the (mostly) useless applications bundled on your phone. This can be achieved in numerous ways but I will show you the method which I believe is the easiest.

This process can equally be used on any Samsung Galaxy S2 (or sII), whether on Optus, Vodafone or non-Australian carriers, or indeed on any phone which runs the Android O/S. Just be aware that some of the applications I mention below are specific to the Telstra stock ROM.

What you need

Since your phone is already rooted, the remaining ingredient is to download Titanium Backup * root from the Android Market onto your phone. This application comes in two versions – a free one and a paid one. If all you want to do is remove some installed apps as I am about to describe, the free version does everything you need; conversely, if you plan to do multiple flashes/wipes, it will pay off to buy the full version as it allows rapid backup/restore and many other useful additional functions.

Titanium Backup is a powerful tool which can wreck your software if used incorrectly and result in you needing to wipe your data and start over (or worse). Please ensure you are 100% comfortable with what you are doing and keep backups. Following these instructions is entirely at your own risk.

With the disclaimer out of the way, here is how I went about removing the stock Telstra applications from my Samsung Galaxy S2:

Backup your System Data & Applications.

• Open Titanium Backup
• One the home screen, hit the menu button and select Batch.

• Once on the Batch Backup/Restore – ALL screen, press RUN on the option Backup all user apps + system data. This might take a few minutes.

• Once the backup is complete, hit the back button to return to the overview screen.

Start removing Applications

• Tap the Backup/Restore button at the top of the screen. You should be taken to a list of all the applications on your phone.

• Scroll through the list until you find an application you want to remove.
• Tap on the application name and you will see the following popup:

• Tap Un-install ! and let Titanium Backup do its thing.
• Rinse and repeat for all of the applications you wish to remove. Some of the default applications you might want to remove (depending on your use) include:
  • AccuWeather.com
  • AllShare
  • Ap Mobile
  • Buddies now
  • Days
  • Digital clock
  • Dual clock
  • Factory test
  • Game hub
  • GFG 2011
  • Helv Neue S
  • IM
  • Kies air
  • Kies via Wi-Fi
  • Let’s try, panning
  • Kobo
  • Memo
  • Microbes
  • Mini diary
  • Mini paper
  • Mobile tracker
  • My files (if you use another file explorer)
  • Photo editor
  • Polaris Office
  • Ocean weather
  • Press reader
  • Program monitor
  • Readers Hub
  • Samsung account
  • Samsung Apps
  • SNSAccountMs (who would need that any more?)
  • Social Hub
  • Telstra Launcher
  • Telstra One
  • TrimApp
  • Video Maker
  • Windy weather
  • wipeoutreceiver
  • WlanTest
  • Yahoo Finance
  • Zinio Reader

This is what part of your list might look like at the end:

I ended up keeping some of the applications such as Accuweather, Kies and Digital clock. There are also others installed which I didn’t list which you may also remove depending on how clean you want your ROM to be. YMMV.

Anyway, good luck with your super improved phone. Leave me a comment if this helped.