I want to disable some of the stock apps that I don't use (e.g. Drive, Keep). These are stock Android/Google apps, not third-party apps. When I attempt to disable them:
- I get a warning that disabling them may break things (I accept)
- I get a request asking if I want to install the factory version (I accept, because if I don't, they are not disabled)
- they are removed from the apps menu
- when I restart the device, the newer version is downloaded and the app is no longer disabled
As a side note, other users on the same device (with their own accounts) may want use some of these apps. Can I disable them for my account only?
If it matters, I'm running KitKat on a Nexus 7 (2012).
Disambiguation: I have not found a duplicate of this question because it is:
a) about stock Android apps, not so-called stock apps from a third-party vendor
b) about disabling these apps, which the system at first permits me to do, not uninstalling them
Answer
There is no way to disable an app for some users of a device but not others; it's possible to freeze an app using a third party program (ie, disable it by changing it's permissions so it can't run) but that will disable it for all users. Android apps and services don't distinguish between physical users of a device - they all run using a single logical device user account.
That being said, depending on what exactly you're looking for it may be sufficient to disable data synchronization for a specific Google account in the settings. In Android 4.4.0, this would be under Settings->General->Accounts->Google->[account name], which will bring up a checklist of services for which data syncing can be disabled.
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