How can I disable a stock app that has its Disable button greyed out? There is a pesky bloatware app (specificlly VUDU Version 1.0) that came preinstalled on my device.  Whenever I boot my device, it starts up an app process, so every time I boot I have to open up the App Switcher and swipe it away.

I went into the Settings app and tried to Force Stop and then Disable the app, but the Disable button is disabled ("greyed-out") itself.  Some other apps also don't allow me to disable them.  Is there any other way that I can enable the button or disable the app without rooting?  I am running 4.4.2.
On some Android versions you can use adb to disable apps that you would otherwise not be able to deactivate via the UI. The Debloater app linked to above automates and simplifies this process. This answer will explain how to perform the same process manually.

WARNING: Disabling the wrong app or using the wrong commands can leave your device soft-bricked. Please make sure you know what you are doing before proceeding.


Make sure you've got Android debugging set up correctly, then drop into an adb shell:

adb shell

Get a list of all installed packages by using pm

pm list packages -f

Identify the packages you want to disable and make a note of them.
Disable each package individually by running one of the following commands:


if you are on Kitkat: pm block &lt;package_name&gt;, e.g. pm block com.motorola.motocare
if you are on Lollipop: pm hide &lt;package_name&gt;, e.g. pm hide com.motorola.motocare

The app should now be disabled and disappear from your launcher. In case of a background service it will permanently stop running in the background.


To reverse this procedure you can use one of the following commands:


if you are on Kitkat: pm unblock &lt;package_name&gt;, e.g. pm unblock com.motorola.motocare
if you are on Lollipop: pm unhide &lt;package_name&gt;, e.g. pm unhide com.motorola.motocare