One of the key features of Samsung’s TouchWiz software for Android 3.0 and later is the inclusion of Mini Apps. These are simple apps that pop up in small windows on top of whatever app you’re viewing. They include a calculator, calendar, and music control widget.

You can view the Mini Apps by hitting a little arrow key in the center of the taskbar. But if you don’t actually use the Mini Apps, they’re just taking up system resources on your tablet and you run the risk of accidentally opening the Mini App tray when you swipe the bottom of your screen.

Xda-developers forum member miketoasty discovered it’s fairly easy to remove all of the Mini Apps from a Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 (7.0). The steps will probably work on other Samsung tablets running Android 4.0 with TouchWiz as well.

Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 (7.0) without Mini Apps

If your tablet is already rooted, all you need to do is open a file manager with root privileges such as Root Explorer or ES File Explorer, navigate to the System/app directory, and delete every app with the word “mini” in it. Then delete the System/framework/minimode.jar file and reboot your tablet.

Once Android loads, you should have a Galaxy  Tab with TouchWiz… but without Mini Apps or the Mini App tray.

In case it wasn’t obvious, this will permanently delete the apps, so if you think you might want them back one day, it might be a good idea to backup your device using ClockworkMod Recovery or TWRP before getting started.

 

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7 replies on “How to remove Mini Apps from Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 (7.0)”

  1. All the apps in the window are grayed-out; this indicates that all the Mini Apps are available in the Mini Apps menu bar. Remove a Mini App from the menu bar by tapping the Mini App within the menu bar. The associated Mini App image in the window is brighter and the Mini App disappears from the menu bar, as shown with the Calculator app in Figure 9.

    You can add the removed Mini App back to the menu bar by tapping the Mini App in the window. For example, if you tap the Calculator Mini App you removed in the window, the Mini App appears at the far right of the menu bar. When you’re finished making changes to the Mini Apps menu bar, tap Done in the upper-right corner of the window.

  2. Just rename it minimode.jar.old it will stay there deactivated, no need to backup…

  3. How do I move widgets from screen to screen, I’ve tried swiping them across after press & hold but I know I’m doing something wrong, cos it doesn’t work for me, I’m a bit of a dinosaur!

    1. Settings -> Display ->Quick Launch -> None(or Any other option as you feel!)

  4. The biggest problem I have with the mini apps is that it’s a locked little set, with no way to add apps.  If it functioned as a drawer for normal apps, it would be fine.

    I’d like to get rid of the Mini Apps button, along with the screen capture button.  Now there’s a stupid ‘feature,’ put in by the marketing group.  Turning Wifi on/off takes a swipe/press/swipe sequence, but screen capture is a single press 1/4 inch from the frequently used ‘change application’ button.  Stupid.

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