Huzzah!

what I deleted:
- bloatware, aka apps I never use, like the Hancom Office suite (I use Google Sheets and Docs, so /SHRUG?)
- the Google search app which was hidden under /system/priv-app/Velvet of all places?? all the other apps are named versions of their name, like "Music2" and stuff

Google itself MUNCHES STORAGE SPACE like holy WHAT and has the Assistant app baked into it, which I keep trying to murder and can never quite manage? WELL IT'S DEAD NOW.

and I don't mean "oh, I uninstalled a bunch of stuff"

no, I mean

I used a custom recovery to go dig into the normally-read-only /system partition to excise these apps from that

thing is, when you go into the system settings and tell the device to do a factory reset? what it does is, it wipes the /data partition, which is where all the apps you install, all the files, the photos you took, the music, etc (unless it's on an SD card) all is. the /system area is always untouched. it's like putting the map for your tabletop game

under the glass tabletop, so that you and your players can draw directly onto it (well, onto the glass) and cover it up with stuff until it's a wreck... but then when you reset it, it just wipes it all off clean, and you start out with a fresh map.

why am I so giddy over this? because I added some things, too, and updated others.

so because /system can't (normally) be touched, it doesn't matter if you update system apps before you reset the device; those updates are installed to /data and get wiped too. that's why if you go into system settings and try to uninstall Google or something, it'll

just put it back to the "factory version". because you can't get rid of the copy of the app that's in /system

WELL THAT'S WHAT I DID

Google Drives is now permanently updated.

so is Google Play Services (it'll keep updating because it keeps getting new versions, but at least now it won't scream at me every time the device might get reset; it just quietly does its thing!)

Oh genius!

this tablet is running droid OS 5, which is seriously outdated now, and a lot of apps' current versions won't install on it... so if I go to the Play Store, Discord, for example, says it isn't even compatible with my device.

...so I perma-installed an old version of Discord that does work on it.

also perma-installed a good handful of tiny apps, big QoL improvements, really, that do things like tell me the battery level of the connected bluetooth device, and allow for per-app notification sounds (that didn't become a baked-into-the-OS thing until OS 8, see), a nicer clock widget, a battery/charging-info widget, Nova Launcher and its premium status,

Google Keyboard (it's a Samsung tablet, so it only came with Samsung keyboard installed)

OH, GET THIS. because before, Gboard had to be installed separately, as it wasn't preinstalled, it was the Samsung keyboard that couldn't ever be actually disabled... so I was often enough accidentally swapping back to it. well, perma-installing Gboard means I CAN

disable the Samsung keyboard now!

....I need to figure out what I'm doing wrong with the emoji font, but I've got in mind to update that, too. because the color emojis font that came with this tablet isn't cutting it - a lot of things that were only added in the last few years just show up as little rectangular boxes. but if I install a newer font onto it, then it'll have the missing bits.

I think I'm just missing something stupid, like forgetting to set the permissions....

but omg this whole process has been fiddly AF and mind-numbingly tedious

but the kicker?

this is an 8GB tablet

and between Google eating up all the space, and the other system apps that needed updating, and... /handwave handwave ....you know, all that.... I usually only had 500 to 100 MB free, which is about when the system stops being able to inform me in a timely way of email notifs and such.

now? after perma-updating Gmail and half the other things I always use, and getting rid of so many things I never do?

1.69 GB FREE SPACE

1.69 GB

/swoon

this is after I installed a handful of little puzzle games and such

guys

I am freakin' giddy right now

XD

even perma-installed the version of VLC that I love so much

now if the Play Store pulls something and updates it behind my back, I don't have to fully uninstall it, which'll lose me my playlists and stuff, just so I can reinstall the old version I favor. nope, I can just hit the "uninstall updates" button, and presto! back to how I like it!

To Do list:
- perma-install Alarmdroid
- fix the emojis font
- find the Google Play Music and Google Play Movies apps, and put them out of their misery too