I hate Facebook

d4a2n0k

Senior member
May 6, 2002
375
0
76
Hoping someone can help me out here. I was recently on vacation with the family and my wifes iphone battery died while out. She cannot do anything without updating Facebook every minute so she took my SGSII (AT&T I-777) and installed Facebook so she can continue updating the world....

Since downloading the app, my phone has been bombarded with messages saying that Ive won an Ipad and to try the latest and greatest app (usually something to do with dating). Ive also had some icons that keep re-appearing on my phone for a new app store, not affiliated with Google, that keep re-appearing after I delete them.

For some reason I cannot delete the Facebook app. It shows up in the list of installed apps but will not uninstall no matter what I do. Ive read around and it seems that you cannot unistall Facebook without wiping the phone back to factory settings. Is this true?

My phone is stock, not rooted or anything. It shows its running Gingerbread 2.3.6.

Thanks for any help.
 

alent1234

Diamond Member
Dec 15, 2002
3,915
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i thought all manufacturers install a generic facebook app? the real one from the market is better though. and on HTC part of the set up is to link it to facebook
 

d4a2n0k

Senior member
May 6, 2002
375
0
76
Can you uninstall the FB app updates?

Ive tried that, nothing happens. Ive also tried going into Facebook settings and stop the notifications and that does nothing. Its like its ignoring every setting.
 

d4a2n0k

Senior member
May 6, 2002
375
0
76
i thought all manufacturers install a generic facebook app? the real one from the market is better though. and on HTC part of the set up is to link it to facebook

If there was one on there, I was able to remove it when I got the phone in September right when it was released. This one that she downloaded seems to have full control over my phone. I'm wondering now if something else is going on....

Problem is that I'm a noob with Android and wish I had more time to personalize the phone but with two kids etc....I really havent messed around with the phone and i'm still learning the ins and outs.
 

alent1234

Diamond Member
Dec 15, 2002
3,915
0
0
did she install the real facebook app or some clone app that probably sucked everything into your phone and sent it over the iron curtain?
 

Oyeve

Lifer
Oct 18, 1999
22,025
869
126
Man, if its a rogue copy of FB I would backup what I could and wipe the phone.
 

gorcorps

aka Brandon
Jul 18, 2004
30,739
452
126
The real facebook app definitely does not do this, I have used it for a long time on many devices. She installed a knock-off or that's not the only thing she installed.

Check the market for "AirPush Detector". It's a simple free app that should list any apps that post ads in this way. If you click them it should allow you to uninstall them. If not then post back and we may need to try something a little more advanced.
 

d4a2n0k

Senior member
May 6, 2002
375
0
76
Guys, I appreciate the help. Please bear with me because I'm an idiot with this phone.

I go into "manage applications" and there are a few tabs. It only shows up on the "All" tab so I guess she didnt download it because its not listed on the "Downloaded" tab? In any event, I click on facebook and the only option thats not greyed out is "Clear Data". If I go to the app page that facebook is on, with other apps I hold my finger on the icon and the delete option appears below. If I try the same with Facebook, the trash can appears but the icon will not delete when I drag it to the bin.

Another thing, my battery lasts about 6-8 hours now. I have 3 batteries and they are all the same so its not the battery. I can charge it to 100% and take it off charge at midnight. By 7am the next morning, my phone is sometimes completely dead. If its still on, its got less than 10% battery left.
 

gorcorps

aka Brandon
Jul 18, 2004
30,739
452
126
Guys, I appreciate the help. Please bear with me because I'm an idiot with this phone.

I go into "manage applications" and there are a few tabs. It only shows up on the "All" tab so I guess she didnt download it because its not listed on the "Downloaded" tab? In any event, I click on facebook and the only option thats not greyed out is "Clear Data". If I go to the app page that facebook is on, with other apps I hold my finger on the icon and the delete option appears below. If I try the same with Facebook, the trash can appears but the icon will not delete when I drag it to the bin.

Another thing, my battery lasts about 6-8 hours now. I have 3 batteries and they are all the same so its not the battery. I can charge it to 100% and take it off charge at midnight. By 7am the next morning, my phone is sometimes completely dead. If its still on, its got less than 10% battery left.

:hmm:

That sounds like what happens when the app is installed on the phone by the carrier. Are you sure she didn't just add a widget or something on the homescreen? It sounds like the facebook app that's already on the phone, and by default you can't uninstall it. If you're dead nuts certain that you didn't have this app before it may be worth backing up your contacts and such, then factory restoring your phone... and then from then on tell your wife if she wants to update facebook then bring her own charger.

Also, about the battery. Is that significantly less than you had before? I have the galaxy s 2 and I'll charge it overnight every night because there's no way in hell it'll last more than a single day.
 

d4a2n0k

Senior member
May 6, 2002
375
0
76
Yeh, I really cant remember is it was installed from the beginning or not.

The only "shady" app I've downloaded is Beautiful Widgets but this was downloaded basically right when I got the phone in September and these problems with the spam notifications and battery life only started recently. The battery life has never been great and I did have the charge it every day before but it would have say 50% battery by 7am now its dead or less than 10% left. I use this phone as an alarm clock so you can see the issue here. :)

I think I will take your advice and backup my contacts in Kies and wipe it back to factory settings. If I root this thing, will I be able to delete all the apps that came with the phone that I cannot delete now? It has seriously 10-15 apps I will never use that I cannot delete.

I appreciate everyones help!
 
Feb 19, 2001
20,155
23
81
Beautiful Widgets shouldn't drain that much battery. What's the default refresh time? Like 3 hours? It probably drains VERY little of my battery at least... as long as you don't have some old version of it that goes rogue or whatever...
 

iahk

Senior member
Jan 19, 2002
707
0
76
Yeh, I really cant remember is it was installed from the beginning or not.

The only "shady" app I've downloaded is Beautiful Widgets but this was downloaded basically right when I got the phone in September and these problems with the spam notifications and battery life only started recently. The battery life has never been great and I did have the charge it every day before but it would have say 50% battery by 7am now its dead or less than 10% left. I use this phone as an alarm clock so you can see the issue here. :)

I think I will take your advice and backup my contacts in Kies and wipe it back to factory settings. If I root this thing, will I be able to delete all the apps that came with the phone that I cannot delete now? It has seriously 10-15 apps I will never use that I cannot delete.

I appreciate everyones help!

You might not have to go this far, but that might be the easiest thing to do since you only installed one app since having the phone. Getting it back to where you left off will take no time.

Another thing you can do is just go to the Google Play app and hit menu, My Apps. Scroll down the list of installed apps and look for anything that seems out of place. Also look at the developer names and see if anything looks fishy. You can click on it and hit uninstall from there.
 

Kenmitch

Diamond Member
Oct 10, 1999
8,505
2,250
136
I think I will take your advice and backup my contacts in Kies and wipe it back to factory settings. If I root this thing, will I be able to delete all the apps that came with the phone that I cannot delete now? It has seriously 10-15 apps I will never use that I cannot delete. I appreciate everyones help!

If you root the phone then you can use titanium backup to delete the apps you don't want or need.

Most likely you'd be better off just switching to a modified rom that has been optimized and debloated already.
 

Dulanic

Diamond Member
Oct 27, 2000
9,951
570
136
Download addons detector run the scan and press addons. You want to search for any apps under push notifications. Those are the spam culprits.
 

pandemonium

Golden Member
Mar 17, 2011
1,777
76
91
Since downloading the app, my phone has been bombarded with messages saying that Ive won an Ipad and to try the latest and greatest app (usually something to do with dating). Ive also had some icons that keep re-appearing on my phone for a new app store, not affiliated with Google, that keep re-appearing after I delete them.

Are any of these messages texts? If so, you'll need to make sure your facebook (and/or hers) don't display your phone numbers publicly since that would be a big problem. Although, it's probably too late and you're already on a scam/spam ring and can never, ever get rid of it unless you change your phone number(s).

If these are just messages on facebook or on your wall, change your privacy to not allow 3rd party apps on Facebook to send you that junk. In fact, it sounds like you need to seriously sit down and look through every privacy setting on Facebook and cautiously allow anyone/thing from accessing your page and information. There's a lot of options and they need not be taken lightly.

Good luck! ^_^
 

WelshBloke

Lifer
Jan 12, 2005
32,180
10,212
136
Menu-settings-accounts and sync and see what she's set to sync, remove Facebook.
Menu-settings -applications clear all Facebook data
 

JTDSR

Member
Mar 16, 2012
143
2
81
Thanks for the helper apps, I have a similar problem as the original poster, although my popups are coming from a Live Wallpaper called Magic Xray, and I cannot seem to uninstall it.
 

d4a2n0k

Senior member
May 6, 2002
375
0
76
I'm guessing my problems were something other than Facebook. I was getting the spam via the notifications about 10+ a day. I was getting free Ipad offers, dating apps etc. and an app store icon that kept re-appearing after I was deleting it. It just said apps/games under the icon, definitely wasnt the play store icon.

Ive been on a PC hardware kick recently so never really messed around with the phone. I have to look into the modified ROM, rooting and that titanium backup.

Thanks for the help everybody.