How do I disable the stock Gallery app? I just downloaded QuickPic and so far it's all good and fast. It has more features than the stock Gallery including the ability to include / exclude certain folders from view. For this reason, I don't need/want the stock Gallery app to still be open-able. Is there a way to hide it from the list of applications from the grid of icons? I want QuickPic to catch all tasks that Gallery does and at the same time I want to prevent others (namely, friends who borrow my phone from time to time) from opening the Gallery app.

Note:
My phone (Xperia Active) is not rooted and I believe rooting it will void my 1 year warranty with Sony.
You can use an alternative launcher like Launcher Pro / ADW / Go Launcher etc. All of these have options for hiding apps from the app drawer.

Unfortunately, the Gallery app will still appear in SHARE and SEND TO menus in various apps. No way around that. If you would rather certain folders remain invisible to the Gallery app, place a blank file named .nomedia in the folder to keep it from being displayed in the Gallery. Unsure if Quickpic will also have same functionality.