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This morning my Android mobile started asking for permissions for a "Joy Launcher" app that I've never seen (or at least noticed before). This appears to be an official app from the manufacturer.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.tct.launcher

I also found this article indicating that Google recently discontinued their Google Now Launcher, but I'm uncertain as to whether this has any bearing on my situation.

http://www.androidpolice.com/2017/02/03/google-will-discontinue-google-now-launcher-coming-weeks/

My biggest concern is that it's suddenly asking for unneeded permissions. It seems unusual to me. I haven't been able to disable it. Can anyone shed some light on what's happening and/or any insight as to how I can remove or replace it?

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    I'd first start to check whether it's a pre-installed or user-installed app (in the latter case, and being sure you didn't install it, you might have a malware problem – in the former case, it might just have been a "regular update" with the new version requiring additional permissions). To do so, go to Settings › Apps and check whether "Joy Launcher" appears under "Installed". If it's there, it's user-installed. If not, check in "All", where pre-installed apps are listed as well. PS: That's also a place where you can uninstall or at least disable an app.
    – Izzy ♦
    Jun 28, 2017 at 12:52
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    @Izzy I'm pretty sure that it's not preinstalled. I use a startup manager to turn off unneeded applications at startup (e.g. Fedex, etc.). Malware was initially my concern, but I'm reasonably certain that the app is from Alcatel, my mobile's manufacturer, since two other apps that I know came preinstalled on the phone show the same author in the Google Play store. I must admit that my experience with launchers is very limited. At this point I'm mainly interested in finding out if or how I can replace it. I'm not a fan of unsubscribed, forced updates.
    – Jim Fell
    Jun 28, 2017 at 15:41
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    Thanks for all the help, Izzy. In the end, I haven't been able to disable the app via Android's App settings, but after installing a different launcher, I was able to prevent Joy Launcher from being loaded at startup using the Startup Manager (play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=imoblife.startupmanager) app, so in effect it's at least using zero resouces now.
    – Jim Fell
    Jun 30, 2017 at 17:16
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    That's a good first step – and probably a good compromise. Have you tried pm disable? Then its icon would also be removed from the launcher and save you some space there. Btw: Have you considered to answer your own question with a short step-by-step guide? Might be helpful to others (there were already several "me too" posts we had to remove here).
    – Izzy ♦
    Jun 30, 2017 at 18:06
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    Unfortunately, I didn't get around to trying pm disable. Switching launchers was good enough for me. I'll post my workaround below.
    – Jim Fell
    Jul 5, 2017 at 17:21

1 Answer 1

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I ended up disabling Joy Launcher and installing another launcher of my choice. Joy Launcher can be removed from the startup items using any startup manager. I very recently switched to the All-In-One Toolbox app, since the Startup Manager app I mentioned above in the comments has gone flaky lately.

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