I have an android phone, and every now and again, when I connect to WiFi, I notice it starts automatically downloading updates.

However, it also seems to download/ update a number of default apps, which I never use.

I now find myself running out of space, and don't want to delete the apps I do use (banking, traveling, etc), and don't want to delete photos, videos etc, until I am able to back them up to my computer...

I have tried removing a number of these apps (Flipboard, Google Play Books, Music, etc, Google +), but they all still seem to be there. When I uninstall them/ set back to factory, they just seem to automatically update again when I next connect to WiFi.

I don't anticipate ever having a need for these apps, so how can I permanently remove them, and remove them from the automatic updates, to free up space for messages, photos, etc?