One thing in particular that can be a hassle about the Android operating system, involves uninstalling apps that you no longer use or want. With the system itself, you can only uninstall one app at a time. If you’re plagued with OCD like me, then you probably clear the associated data before uninstalling apps too. The process isn’t too difficult, but it can be a bit tedious if you have more than one app to uninstall. Luckily, apps like Titanium Backup and Clean Master allow you to batch uninstall apps. Batch Uninstaller is a free Android application that offers similar features, but the focus with this app is solely removing unwanted software. It doesn’t include any additional tools for managing the source device.

What is it and what does it do

Main Functionality

Batch Uninstaller is a management tool for Android that allows you to bulk uninstall apps from your device. It also allows you to remove system apps and bloatware, however it requires root access to do so. Don’t fret, root access is only required for removing system apps and that’s it — if you don’t have root access, you can still make use of the other features of this app. The free version does include ads, and the developers claim that the premium version is optimized to consume less power.

Pros

• Batch app uninstall tool for Android
• Can remove user installed and system apps, although the latter requires root access
• Simple UI, apps are separated into three different tabs
• Includes batch install tool for locally stored apk packages

Cons

• Uses nearly 32MB of RAM while running, but isn’t an “always-on” app so you don’t really need to worry about this hogging system resources
• No backup tool of any kind
• Removing system apps requires root access
• Free version is ad-supported
• Requires Android 4.0 and higher

Discussion

The apps I mentioned in the into, Titanium Backup and Clean Master, are bundled with a whole slew of tools and utilities and the batch uninstaller is simply one of them. Batch Uninstaller on the other hand, doesn’t offer any other tools. It’s just an uninstall tool and that’s it. There’s nothing wrong with that, especially since it is straightforward and to the point.

The UI is incredibly simple, all you will see is a list of installed apps organized into separate tabs. The first tab is dedicated to user installed apps, while the second tab is dedicated to system apps. There’s a third and final tab dedicated to installing apk packages. Essentially, what the latter tool does is scan your device for any apk packages stored locally, and then it shows them all in a list so you can batch install if you so desire. Obviously, the last tool is hardly necessary, but it’s a welcome addition for anyone looking to install multiple apk packages at once.

One tool in particular that I don’t see, which is a little disheartening, is a backup tool. It appears there’s no way to backup any installed apps before installing or uninstalling. Most similar tools do include backup support, so you’ll have to look elsewhere if it’s something you need.

In the list of installed apps, you can choose a single item which brings you to the stock Android app management menu. All the stock options are available like clear data, uninstall and clear cache. If you want to batch uninstall a group of apps all at once, you just mark a checkbox next to each item in the list. In the top menu bar two options will appear: a trash bin icon and a “done” icon. Tapping on the trashbin will remove the selected applications from your device, there is a warning prompt to click through before the deed is processed, so performing an accidental uninstall is difficult to do (note that it’s still possible if you’re not paying attention). If you tap on the “done” button it will close the subsequent top menu and return you to the app category tabs.

If you navigate to the “system” tab and try to remove a system app, the app will request Superuser permissions. As I mentioned earlier, you need root access to remove any system apps from the device. Without it, you can only remove user installed apps.

At the bottom of each list is a small banner advertisement. You can purchase the premium version of the app ($1.99) to remove them. The developer also claims that the paid version is optimized to consume less power, although I cannot confirm such because I have not tested the premium version.

For reference, Batch Uninstaller uses about 32MB of RAM while running. That’s not lightweight at all for an app of this caliber, but it’s likely you won’t leave this tool running indefinitely, so it shouldn’t be a serious issue on most accounts.

Conclusion and download link

Batch Uninstaller is an app management utility that allows you to uninstall apps in batch instead of one at a time. Plus, if you have root access, you can uninstall system apps, too.

That said, the features offered by Batch Uninstaller aren’t really unique. Tools like Clean Master, Titanium Backup and several others already include support for such operations. Batch Uninstaller is, however straightforward and to the point.

Overall, if you already have a tool that does batch uninstall of user/system apps, there is no need to grab Batch Uninstaller. However, if you don’t, then check this app out.

Price: Free

Version reviewed: 1.3

Requires: Android 4.0 and up

Download size: 486KB

Batch Uninstaller on Play Store