How to reset default apps on Android

When Android fans talk about the freedom that Google’s mobile operating system offers them, iOS users most often think about customizing flashing and file system transformations. In fact, this is not nearly so. Customization and flashing remain the lot of geeks, and freedom is expressed by the absence of most of the prohibitions on interaction with the system, typical for Apple’s mobile operating system. For example, on Android, you can easily replace all stock software with third-party software by selecting it as default applications . But what if you want to return everything as it was originally?

First of all, I propose to understand what the default applications are . Many people are mistaken in thinking that these are just the programs that they begin to voluntarily use instead of the standard ones. Well, let’s say you don’t like Google Chrome and start using Yandex Browser instead. In general, this is true.

How to change the default app

But the “default” prefix embodies a special mechanism that replaces the native application with a third-party one in the system itself, so that it begins to perceive it as a standard one. Then the smartphone will launch it on its own when required. For example, if you click on a link, it will open in the default browser, and if you get a call, the call will go to the default phone application.

Installing the default app is a snap:

• Download the application you want to choose as the default;
• Go to “Settings” and select “Applications”;
• In the window that opens, select “Default Applications”;
• Open the tab of the type of application that you want to replace;
• Select a new application from the drop-down menu and save your changes.

Android allows you to replace a fairly wide range of applications, choosing the default applications for the ones you like. It can be a camera, a keyboard, a phone, and applications for receiving messages, and a caller ID, and a voice assistant. In general, the choice is quite wide. But, since all these applications are of a different nature, then they will have to be installed separately.

But if it becomes necessary to reset all applications and return the entire set of standard software by default, this can be done in just a few steps. Android has a special mechanism that allows you to roll back all the settings for applications and restore the original composition of the standard software installed as native. And most importantly, there is nothing complicated here either.

How to remove default apps

• Go to “Settings” and select “Applications”;
• In the window that opens, select “Applications” again;

• In the upper right corner, click on the three vertical dots;
• Select “Reset settings” and confirm the reset.

Resetting application preferences is a complex procedure. It provides for the following actions: restores disabled applications, removes privilege restriction, restores background software, rolls back notification settings to factory settings, and finally resets all applications to default.

However, before you agree to reset application settings , think carefully, do you need it? If you are going to sell a smartphone, then this is clearly not enough. You will need to reset all settings in general and delete all accumulated data. And, if you want to replace a couple of default programs with others, then, perhaps, it would be more logical to just do it pointwise rather than massively.

You just need to install the desired application , uninstall the old one and select the new one as the default application. Moreover, in some cases it is not even necessary to install default applications. For example, in the case of a browser, you can use absolutely anything, just like in the case of a voice assistant. Just make a shortcut on the desktop and use what you need at the moment.