[Android Software/Hacking General [Developers Only]] papawiskas:
With the excitement taking place in the Official Huawei Ascend thread regarding the successful nandroid backup process. I felt it might be a good idea to start a thread regarding what apps/bloatware can be SAFELY removed from both the Cricket version and Metro PCS. Which should start us on the path of custom roms/themes, better performance etc. I think this phone is going to be way more capable than what we thought, at least I hope that turns out to be the case.

This way the "Official" thread can stay on topic with the progress of nandroid, clockwork, and Amon-ra procedures. I am willing to make edits to my original post to reflect the removals that can safely be done for each phone.

Tools Needed:

To root this phone I used Z4Root which can be found here:

Z4Root Link

Another method is Unrevoked but I did not try it, not sure why you would need to with this phone since Z4Root worked fine for me at least but here is link to get you there:

Unrevoked Link

A backup tool that is free in the market is Titanium Backup. I highly suggest using this as Wharmaster said it can "Freeze" the apps, essentially disabling the bloatware apps, but not removing them entirely so in the event something goes wrong you can just "defrost" them and put them back. As an original Droid user, I have been using Titanium Backup for a very long time, and this tool is highly valuable, as when you do a backup it not only backs up the app, but the data associated with it as well. Comes in handy when you restore Angry Birds and don't like the thought of loosing all your progress, not that Angry Birds plays well on the Ascend unfortunately, but as a Droid user I was very happy about having my data restored along with the application.

I know some of this may sound redundant to you seasoned veteran Android users, but some people coming here for the first time are entry level Android users and have picked up this economical Huawei Ascend phone. Knowing things like this is important until we get a final working nandroid backup process via Clockwork (Rom Manager) or Amon-Ra. So until we get a custom Rom that can hopefully be customized for the Huawei Ascend and a kernel that we can use to overclock it, anything we do to help speed up this little phone will make your experience that much better.

Wharmaster has also suggested a browser alternative in Miren, I have never used Miren myself but I am going to check it out and see if my son likes it.

Another browser I would suggest is Dophin Mini HD, it is free and has a smaller footprint than the full blown Dolphin HD browser, it seemed pretty snappy on the Ascend for the amount of time I tried it.

Cricket Section:

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Bowling

Uno

***Download another launcher to replace Canvas launcher, I put Launcherpro (can be found in Market, there is a free version) on my sons phone, once new launcher was put on I did the following "Freezes" with Titanium Backup rather than uninstall. Thanks to Wharmaster for the tip***

Documents to go

Mobile Web 3

Mybackup

Poynt

Storefront

Swype

Metro PCS Section:

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my extras

uno

virtual card

mobile banking

boingo wifi

moco space

free games

easy wifi

pocket express

Also bigjoe25ss posted the following, so if you dont use them I guess it is safe to remove them. In his case he uses the following programs so he kept them:

A special Thank You to those who have worked long and hard thus far on the Ascend! As a OG Droid owner, I am hoping to give my son a better experience on his phone.