iPhone Removing the phone and messaging apps?

[Domanihatu]

After completing my first jailbreak on an old iPhone a few days ago; I will gladly admit that I have a LOT to learn about the newly found abilities and features of the device (iPhone 3gs running iOS 6.1.6, untethered jailbreak <p0sixspwn-v1.0.8> the most recent one I could find). I have experience with both Unix and Linux systems, so I'm not going into this completely blind. One of the first things I did was download a terminal so that I would have full command-line root access.

I intend to use this device as a trial and experimentation platform. It will never be connected to a cellular network of any kind; therefore I have no need for the built-in Phone, messaging or mail apps and would like to remove them so they are not taking up memory that could be better put to use in experimentation.

All the modifications and tweaks I have found so far remove the 'bloatware' apple forces you to have, such as Stocks, weather and newsstand etc. But, presumably everyone who jailbreaks their devices still want to use it as a phone because I cannot find any information on safely removing the phone, messaging and mail apps. Any help, information and advice would be greatly appreciated!

 

[kalirob99]

These attempts always end badly for new users attempting this. Don't bother since iOS doesn't like removal of key parts.

 

[Domanihatu]

I cannot learn anything by making no attempt... As I said, I am experimenting with this device, thus I want to learn as much as I can. If I really mess something up and have to use iTunes to restore it to factory default just to start over from scratch a few times, then so be it. My ultimate goal is to prevent these apps from being memory resident and thus freeing up some ram for other things.

 

[kalirob99]

I cannot learn anything by making no attempt... As I said, I am experimenting with this device, thus I want to learn as much as I can. If I really mess something up and have to use iTunes to restore it to factory default just to start over from scratch a few times, then so be it. My ultimate goal is to prevent these apps from being memory resident and thus freeing up some ram for other things.

Again you aren't the first person to think of trying this or this reasoning but hey if you want to insist it's your time. Fact is iOS throws fits when people try this not knowing what their doing.

 

[aPple nErd]

you can delete mobilemail.app, mobilephone.app, and mobilemessages.app, i believe. this may screw up the software requiring a restore.

 

[Domanihatu]

Again you aren't the first person to think of trying this or this reasoning but hey if you want to insist it's your time. Fact is iOS throws fits when people try this not knowing what their doing.

By using your logic, I would never learn anything... The whole point is to take the time to learn something about the OS and become 'someone who knows what they are doing'. I am OK with taking time (and perhaps many, many attempts) if it ultimately means I have learned something. If all the advice you have is "don't do it" then their is no point to you continuing to repeat yourself.

you can delete mobilemail.app, mobilephone.app, and mobilemessages.app, i believe. this may screw up the software requiring a restore.

Since these apps are memory resident, I presumed that simply deleting the .app files would cause problems. So, I started this thread to get some advice on where to begin and maybe some pointers along the way.

 

[aPple nErd]

By using your logic, I would never learn anything... The whole point is to take the time to learn something about the OS and become 'someone who knows what they are doing'. I am OK with taking time (and perhaps many, many attempts) if it ultimately means I have learned something. If all the advice you have is "don't do it" then their is no point to you continuing to repeat yourself.



Since these apps are memory resident, I presumed that simply deleting the .app files would cause problems. So, I started this thread to get some advice on where to begin and maybe some pointers along the way.

if you don't want any network, its ok to deleted the .app files, and reboot the phone. technically. after you reboot there may be problems though, so its not necessarily worth it.

 

[eyoungren]

I cannot learn anything by making no attempt... As I said, I am experimenting with this device, thus I want to learn as much as I can. If I really mess something up and have to use iTunes to restore it to factory default just to start over from scratch a few times, then so be it. My ultimate goal is to prevent these apps from being memory resident and thus freeing up some ram for other things.

How do I put this…What you may not realize is just how integrated these two apps are in the OS. For instance, if I'm in the camera app and I press the button to send a photo as a text or an email, or if I'm in the contacts app and I press the phone number of a contact…well, if those apps aren't there then I have no idea what may happen.

Sure, because you are trying to remove them you will be unlikely to push buttons or do things like that because it's rather obvious. But I'm citing it as an example of what I think is trying to be explained to you. There is a lot going on under the surface. If you remove these apps you may also be destroying crucial links in the system.

Of course, as you said, that's not a big deal as this is a device you want to learn iOS and jailbreaking on. However, consider that there may not be any way to do what you want without consistently encountering a problem. And as has been suggested most of those problems are likely to require a restore to fix. Which sets you back.

If you spend all your time restoring or working through any problems that are unnecessarily caused by the removal of these apps it reduces the time you are actually learning about and solving the other problems you are likely to encounter.

This I think is why you're being gently told that this is probably not a good idea.

Just my thought on the matter.

 

[Domanihatu]

I appreciate that all of you are hinting/advising that this will ultimately be a waste of time... I know that all of you have more experience working with jailbroken devices than I; but, my curious nature requires me to try.

For my first attempt, I have simply used a file manager to delete the apps from the phone. After reboot, no negative effects can be seen; so far... And, I am fully aware that unknown problems may arise with further use. All system integration for these apps also seems to be gone as well: no icons, no options for them in settings and their is no option to send a picture to email or sms/iMessage. Stability of the OS and remaining apps appear to be unaffected... Clicking on a phone number, or the send message, button in the contacts app simply makes the button blink as if it were attempting to activate the respective app. However, nothing else occurs. Additionally, the available memory after reboot has increased by about 35MB. With no immediate ill effects; only time will tell what, if anything, in the system I 'broke' by removing these apps. So, I Guess I will periodically post updates on how the device is working.

 

[Domanihatu]

So, it has been about two and a half days of intensive use and learning... And, I have not had to reset the phone yet. Any suggestions for apps that may help in pushing it to it's limits or cause some OS software failure due to the loss of these apps would be appreciated. I have been reading up on what I can do with the phone and exploring a ton of apps that were previously unavailable but thanks to Cydia, I can now get. The OS doesn't seem to react at all to the loss of the phone, messaging or email apps. The network carrier tag still says "No Service" but it said that before Jailbreaking. Another question I have is... Aside from "Airplane Mode", is it possible to completely deactivate the cellular, 3g/edge data and Bluetooth antennas; for the purpose of conserving power?

 

[Qaanol]

Aside from "Airplane Mode", is it possible to completely deactivate the cellular, 3g/edge data and Bluetooth antennas; for the purpose of conserving power?

You can use FlipSwitch or other tweaks to toggle those capabilities.

Or, if you just want wifi, you can turn on airplane mode then turn on wifi while still in airplane mode so the other transceivers are disabled.

 

[eyoungren]

You can use FlipSwitch or other tweaks to toggle those capabilities.

Or, if you just want wifi, you can turn on airplane mode then turn on wifi while still in airplane mode so the other transceivers are disabled.

The OP is using an iPhone 3GS on iOS 6. Does Flipswitch really apply?

I ask, because I have it on my iPhone 5 simply because some other tweaks install it, but I'm not on iOS 7. I'm on iOS 6.1. Flipswitch wasn't around until recently and everything worked properly before Flipswitch. I don't see what it's doing now on iOS 6.1 that wasn't being done without it before, except again, that it installs with some recently updated tweaks.

Can you explain this more?

 

[darricksailo]

The OP is using an iPhone 3GS on iOS 6. Does Flipswitch really apply?

I ask, because I have it on my iPhone 5 simply because some other tweaks install it, but I'm not on iOS 7. I'm on iOS 6.1. Flipswitch wasn't around until recently and everything worked properly before Flipswitch. I don't see what it's doing now on iOS 6.1 that wasn't being done without it before, except again, that it installs with some recently updated tweaks.

Can you explain this more?

to my understanding, flipswitch acts as a framework similar to the SBSettings Toggles framework (if there was a framework for SBSettings)

But they aren't interchangeable, so not sure how you would utilize flipcontrolcenter toggles

on 6.1.x, the OP can just use SBSettings in replacement of control center toggle tweaks

 

[eyoungren]

to my understanding, flipswitch acts as a framework similar to the SBSettings Toggles framework (if there was a framework for SBSettings)

But they aren't interchangeable, so not sure how you would utilize flipcontrolcenter toggles

on 6.1.x, the OP can just use SBSettings in replacement of control center toggle tweaks

So, essentially, it's an iOS 7 thing, Flipswitch?

If so, that's what I thought. I allowed it to install because it's a dependency on some tweaks (Activator being one), but I've yet to see an iOS 6 use for it. In any case, it's doubly not needed for me because I use NCSettings and not SBSettings.

 

[darricksailo]

So, essentially, it's an iOS 7 thing, Flipswitch?

If so, that's what I thought. I allowed it to install because it's a dependency on some tweaks (Activator being one), but I've yet to see an iOS 6 use for it. In any case, it's doubly not needed for me because I use NCSettings and not SBSettings.

i think flipswitch works on iOS 6 too

flipswitch adds toggles inside activator. i believe i told you this before but flipswitch (the functionalities of it anyways) was once incorporated into activator but it was separated into two packages through a collab of ryan petrich and a3 tweaks (not entirely sure if i'm correct on this though)

i think flipswitch was created in order to prevent fragmentation and to centralize a method on how to "code" toggles or something

 

[eyoungren]

i think flipswitch works on iOS 6 too

flipswitch adds toggles inside activator. i believe i told you this before but flipswitch (the functionalities of it anyways) was once incorporated into activator but it was separated into two packages through a collab of ryan petrich and a3 tweaks (not entirely sure if i'm correct on this though)

i think flipswitch was created in order to prevent fragmentation and to centralize a method on how to "code" toggles or something

Yes, you're right, you did tell me before. I just couldn't remember everything you had to say on it, so I asked again.

I'm a little slow on the uptake sometimes.

Thanks for telling me again though, I appreciate it.

 

[Domanihatu]

Thank you for all the suggestions... I am currently using SBSettings and the toggles seem to work well for activating and deactivating individual antennas. I will be looking into Flipswitch and NCSettings as well since I want to have as broad a range of experimentation as I can. As for the removal of the core phone/messaging apps, I still have no problems and have had no need to factory reset. iOS doesn't even seem to acknowledge that those apps were even there originally. Apparently, simply deleting the apps is a good way to keep them from auto-running and staying memory resident.