How to Make Samsung Android Devices Closer to Stock Android : Guide

Bringing Samsung Android Devices Closer To Stock

It is undeniable that Samsung make some of the best Android devices around. The biggest failure is that they come bloated with many Samsung apps for everything. This guide will go through the process of making Samsung devices on Android 7.0 closer to stock Android.

1. Removing Samsung Apps

As mentioned above Samsung Phones come loaded with lots of unneeded apps. You no doubt want to use Chrome, Gmail, Google contacts etc. Usually if you try to do this you will have a bloated apps draw full of Samsung apps you dont want or need.

To get rid of them you need to navigate over to the play store and install "BK Disabler" The app comes in at £2.29 GBP and is well worth it.



When you fist have the app fully installed it comes with a notification letting you know that you can disable all apps that are marked up as bloatware.I chose not to and to only remove the apps I did not want.

Using the search function at the top it allows you to locate all the unwanted applications. Once the app is located tap on the check box and the app will be disabled. Repeat until all apps that are not needed are removed. Be careful and do one at a time in case you are unsure what will happen.

2.  Changing the Launcher And all the other Default apps

 

To replace the standard launcher with another one that you prefer head over to the play store and download the one you like. My preference is the "Google Now Launcher" Once installed head over to"  Settings/ Apps / Top Right Menu/ Default apps.



Once In Default Apps tap home screen and set the launcher of choice, as you can see I chose "Google Now Launcher"



As you can see from the screen shot you can follow this to change all the default apps such as : Browser,Calling (Dialer), Messaging etc.

3.Replacing the dialer

The Dialer brought some difficulty initially and required some research. Google does not make the dialer available via the play store so you must find the correct apk. Finding the right apk is a little tricky as some work and some dont work with non nexus / Pixel devices. The apk you want is 2.05.07 - unlike some of the other dialers this one seems to work perfectly.

Once downloaded, you will need to side load it. To do this tap on the app you just downloaded, it will prompt you that the app has been blocked.



 

Tap settings



Then, go to Unknown sources and tap ''OK''



 

Head over to the play store and install the contacts app of your choice staying with the theame of Google apps I chose "Contacts"

Now the new dialer and Contacts have been installed, we now need to disable  the Samsung dialer. Head over to "BK Disabler" as mentioned in section one and locate the (Samsung) 'Contacts' app and select disable.The Samsung Contacts app has the orange Icon.



The Phone dialer is integrated into the contacts app on the S7. Finally you will want to set the Dialer as default. Do this by going into apps and setting the default app as described in section 2.

4. Getting the Do not Disturb scheduler back

So as default Samsung only allows you to set one rule for do not Disturb.



This is annoying as the Default scheduler in android gives alot more flexibility. And it is possible to enable it again. To achieve this Go to the playstore and install 'Activity Launcher' Once installed open the app and tap 'Recent Activities' this will then open the menu and you need to choose 'All Activities'



It is a little hard to see as the text is black.. but the app does work well and is free so cannot complain. It will take a few seconds to load as it has to find all packages.



Once loaded scroll down to 'Settings'



Once in settings Scroll down to 

Now that you have found automatic rules you need to select one that specify "AutomationSettingsActivity" this will open the original automatic rules screen.



If you press and hold it you can create a shortcut on the home screen.



From the Shortcut you will be take straight into the "automatic Rules"



Inside the Automatic Rules screen the interface is quite self explanatory.

4) What about the rest

Some of the other additional things you can do to make your Samsung Device more like android is by:

1. Installing a more vanilla theme from the Galaxy App Store


2. Changing the Lock Screen - GoodLock seems to be the one people advise to use.

Neither of these really interested me and I had gained the extra functionality desired without adding unnecessary overhead to the phone.

 

If you would like to get in touch or have any questions then please do not hesitate to get in contact. Or take a look at  previous post about my thoughts on Samsung Android devices.