My phone is a Samsung Galaxy S2 flashed with stock ROM - ICS v4.0.3, carrier is Virgin Mobile (model #GT-I9100M). There is some bloatware installed by Samsung, which causes minor problems, such as
- being listed in the apps list, so it takes more time to find the app I need
- asking for updates every now and then.
I've read on the internet - there are several ways to solve the problem with bloatware, but I am not sure which one addresses both of my concerns. All of them require rooting - so I booted into recovery mode and tried to proceed according to this article: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1501719. I got the error "failed to mount /sdcard", googling for it resulted in some vague answers. I believe this is showstopper - so I cannot do anything about bloatware without rooting - please correct me if I am wrong.
Supposing I managed to root the phone somehow, there are couple options:
- remove bloatware (many apps on the market can do it, even for free).
- freeze bloatware (something I can do, for example, using Titanium Backup).
What's freezing? Does it remove the app from everywhere, like it never existed? How stable is it, i.e. can any action cause them to accidently unfreeze? What are the risks associated with going along each path? Will I be able to upgrade my ROM, when the new version comes out (ICS 4.0.4 and then Jelly Bean - 4.1.1)?
Do I need to backup my phone and what are best ways to do it? Just so I can restore if something happens, without paying for the fancy features I don't need. There are a lot of backup solutions out there, my main concern is reliability and, for some of them, it suffered in the latest versions and people started complaining in the reviews.