The Sony Xperia Z3 is easily one of the best Android smartphones released in the second half of 2014. It packs in top-notch internals with a battery life that is unrivalled by any other smartphone in the market currently. 

The handset, however, does have a few niggling issues that can get on the nerve of seasoned Android users. One such issue on the Xperia Z3 and the Z3 Compact, and just about any other recent Android device from Sony, is the What’s New application. For some unexplainable reason, Sony has put a shortcut of the What’s New application right beside Google Now in the swipe-up from the Home button to open Google Now gesture.

This leads to an incredibly frustrating experience, especially if you are a frequent user of Google Now. Worse, the app cannot be completely disabled, which would have otherwise stopped it from being displayed in the swipe up gesture.

Thankfully, there is another way to disable the What’s New application on the Xperia Z3, Z3 Compact and even the Z2 that does not require root. You will, however, need to make use of ADB for this so make sure to download it from here: Mac | Windows (USB Drivers).

Step 1: Enable USB Debugging on your Xperia Z3 by going into Settings -> Developer Options. If you have not already enabled Developer options, you can so by tapping on ‘Build Number’ in Settings -> About Phone seven times.

Step 2: Connect the device to your PC and open a new command prompt or Terminal window. Then, navigate to the folder where you had extracted the ADB file downloaded above using the “cd” command (Eg. cd desktop/android).

Step 3: Make sure that your device is detected by your computer by entering the following command:

adb devices

Step 4: If you get a proper reply from ADB, copy-paste the following commands one by one.

adb shell

pm block com.sonymobile.advancedwidget.entrance

exit

adb reboot

Once your Xperia reboots, you will notice that the What’s New app is missing from the app drawer and the swipe-up gesture only contains a shortcut to Google Now.