this post was submitted on 24 Sep 2023
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Privacy

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I just discovered this amazing app! It lets you remove (or just disable) preinstalled apps like Facebook, Netflix, etc. and system apps like samsung knox apps, diagnostic, bixby, and even One UI (but you must have installed other launcher). You can’t brick your device, worst case it falls into a boot loop and after 5 reboots it will factory reset.

Debloating your device will make it faster, more private and more secure (less atack surface).

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[–] Rustmilian@lemmy.world 49 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

I want to specify for anyone whom doesn't know.
ADB can't actually "remove"/delete system applications from the devices storage. It can only "uninstall" them from the user account; that's why you can't brick the device with this method.
So if you're looking to free up space on the device you'll have to find a different solution.

Thanks for the awesome GUI tool.

[–] NENathaniel@lemmy.ca 9 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Do you suspect there are still benefits to doing this then?

[–] redw0rm@kerala.party 28 points 1 year ago

Yes. Some of them do nothing other than serve ads and /or track information.Disabling them can help thus with better privacy and longer battery life.

[–] Rustmilian@lemmy.world 17 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Ofc. "Uninstalling" say the Facebook shitware that's included in Samsungs from the user account prevents them from running. The apps are still very much in the system partition, but the user account will never run it because to the account it's "uninstalled".

[–] cyclohexane@lemmy.ml 6 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Storage-wise they're there, but they never run or take up memory? Is this correct?

[–] Rustmilian@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago
[–] navi@lemmy.tespia.org 29 points 1 year ago (2 children)

This is awesome.

One of the best decisions Apple ever made was not letting carriers and other OEMs install bloatware on phones out of the box.

[–] UsernameIsTooLon@lemmy.world 24 points 1 year ago (1 children)

The end result is a locked ecosystem though. The open source nature of Android makes this a bit harder to regulate for Google.

Also money money money

[–] izstranger@freeradical.zone 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] navi@lemmy.tespia.org 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Like what? Their office apps?

I do find it annoying to delete them on new phones.

[–] izstranger@freeradical.zone 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

@navi

iTunes
Mail
Safari
Apple maps

Jeez i didn't even know about office apps

😁

[–] insaneduck@lemmy.world 1 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Except safari you can uninstall rest

[–] izstranger@freeradical.zone -1 points 11 months ago (1 children)
[–] insaneduck@lemmy.world 2 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

I used ios, android and windows phone and no you cannot remove all the apps installed by manufacturers. Especially Samsung phones (using Samsung as example cuz it is the most popular in android). They have lot of stuff installed in them that cannot be uninstalled in normal way maybe with adb and special debloater tools but then some apps randomly crash. Everything has two on Samsung like two stores, two email apps, two photo apps etc. on apple this is not an issue. Of course this is not a problem with every manufacturer. I still have oneplus 8 as secondary phone even that has lot of stuff. I have used customs roms since nexus 4 days i know how minimal android images look like with minimal gapps (pico). As far as i know none of the android manufacturers can match minimal android or can be modified to match minimal experience without using custom roms. While ios can be configured to be significantly minimal if you want right after setting it up. I strive to use minimal stuff. I use arch and nixos and configured them to be as minimal as possible so i do know little bit about it. So in my opinion in the current state if i can only select one os then ios is better compared to android (as available in devices available to purchase) i would prefer android in custom rom format but google seems to be making that impossible and moving lot of apps to depend on google play services. You can say lot of shit about apple like not allowing third party engines, shitty app store policies while still allowing sketchy apps on app store, no side-loading, no option of third party stores, vendor lock-in for system backup cloud provider, late to lot of features, heavy repair prices, anti repair using individual component serial number lockin but I don’t think bloatware is one of them. You can remove all but essential minimal apps on ios if you want to but definitely not on android. Sorry for long rant.

[–] Gazumi@lemmy.world 17 points 11 months ago

The gold standard is to flash a new ROM, but a lot of people dont't want to, or cannot because either the phone won't allow (Samsung etc) or it is too daunting. Next we had ADB commands via terminal (hello hours in the terminal). UAD in isolation might seem daunting, but compared to the alternatives, it it is a heaven sent gift, and I'm not even religious.

[–] miss_brainfart@lemmy.ml 16 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

I've always done it manually and never knew there was an app for it, that's so cool!

You can't brick your device

Still, always good to do your research before removing a package that looks unnecessary but is actually integral to your system

[–] b9chomps@beehaw.org 5 points 11 months ago

I used it for the first time on my tablet. I went from LineageOS with unlocked bootloader to debloated Stock OS.

I found it well documented. It has filters to mark apps for removal. You can be conservative or more aggressive. It tells you the purpose of each package and even if it unexpectedly affects functions that shouldn't be linked to them at all.

Having a way to reinstall Stock android is a good precaution though.

[–] ComfortablyGlum@sh.itjust.works 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] miss_brainfart@lemmy.ml 4 points 1 year ago

Looking at the github page, the tool seems to come with certain lists telling you what is safe to delete based on what brand the phone is from or what carrier you're using.

[–] RotatingParts@lemmy.ml 12 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I've used this on my Samsung phone and I've seen better battery life with so much junk running in the background.

[–] 3yiyo3@lemmy.ml 6 points 1 year ago
[–] possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip 11 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] chevy9294@monero.town 9 points 11 months ago (1 children)

That would also work, except for unsupported devices.

[–] possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip 3 points 11 months ago

True, I suppose

[–] JubilantJaguar@lemmy.world 10 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

Is this better, or just quicker, than going thru the apps in Settings>Apps one by one and hitting ~~"Uninstall"~~ "Uninstall" or "Disable" whenever the button is available?

[–] Pantherina@feddit.de 11 points 1 year ago

Not every app is graphical. Not all can be disabled.

Using "package manager" from F-Droid you can list them and simply use adb uninstall --user 0 APP for all apps. Copy paste, appname, thats it.

Just be sure to keep the logs to reinstall when needed?

[–] Rin@lemm.ee 8 points 1 year ago (2 children)

some apps are installed by your system. you can only "disable" them through the settings but not uninstall them.

[–] chevy9294@monero.town 6 points 1 year ago

And some you cant even disable

[–] JubilantJaguar@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Yes yes I understand that. But is this ADB trick anything other than a time-saver? As you say, they cannot be uninstalled either way.

[–] RogueBanana@lemmy.zip 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Adb commands can uninstall them instead of just disabling them, thats why you should try it

[–] JubilantJaguar@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Right. I've even done that in the past. Would be nice to see the evidence that uninstalling is any more useful than disabling.

[–] RogueBanana@lemmy.zip 1 points 1 year ago

As in clearing space and simply off the list? Idk what else you are expecting...

[–] zwekihoyy@lemmy.ml 6 points 1 year ago (1 children)

someone could make this a simple mobile app using shizuku so you don't even need another device.

[–] Cwilliams@beehaw.org 1 points 11 months ago

Seriously this would be sick

[–] bbbhltz@beehaw.org 5 points 1 year ago

Been using this for a long time. Great tool. Great idea.

If for some reason you cannot get this to work on your system, the database on this GitHub is still useful for doing it manually.

[–] Anonymousllama@lemmy.world 5 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Always wondered how deeply these types of de-bloating systems affect the OS overall. I'd be keen to give it a go but phone stability is pretty paramount.

[–] icedterminal@lemmy.world 11 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

Apps that are considered "bloat" are of course installed to the system partition. Which is something you don't have access to. The link to the app is created for your user account during device setup. It's still available to the system. Without root access they're not permanently removed. Removing them from your user means they don't run. If there is an OS update that updates apps for feature or security reasons, they have the potential to come back. You must remove them again. It does actually save battery once they're removed. You can verify this by using debug tools to look at all running services. You also don't need this app to remove bloat. It just makes it easier for those who don't want to use ADB command line.

A majority of apps won't ruin your stability if removed. The only app I know I can't remove is My Verizon Services. If I do, I lose certain functionality. If you're unsure, look up what each app does.

[–] kraniax@lemmy.wtf 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Should be useful for phones with unlockable bootloader.

[–] NateSwift@beehaw.org 11 points 1 year ago

You don’t need to unlock the boot loader for this

[–] authed@lemmy.ml 4 points 1 year ago
[–] kassuro@feddit.de 4 points 1 year ago

Ah that looks awesome. Definitely gonna try that out. Thanks for sharing

[–] LazaroFilm@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Can this clean up my Kindle fire tablet from 2017?

[–] blanketswithsmallpox@kbin.social 5 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Fire Toolbox is the only one that I'm familiar with. It's less cleanup and more hiding a bunch of stuff. Adding a bootloader and disabling some of the Amazon tracking.

I don't think there's any programs that allow you to straight up nuke the Amazon firmware and side?load your own android or tablet OS.

[–] LazaroFilm@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

I see I’m using Amazon toolbox and yeah it just layers a nice launcher and hides Amazon crap. Doesn’t really sets a clean android install. I would love a nuke option for these tablets.

[–] chevy9294@monero.town 5 points 1 year ago

If it runs Android and if you can enable usb debugging in developer settings than yes, otherwise no.

[–] USSEthernet@startrek.website 3 points 1 year ago

For Kindles, the Fire Toolbox will get you sorted if you're below FireOS 7.3.2.2. https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/windows-linux-tool-fire-toolbox-v32-2.3889604/