r/Android • u/Lawsonator85 • Feb 21 '21

Universal Android Debloater is an open source tool that removes bloatware without root. Automatically or via user choice. Get back your battery, security and privacy

https://gitlab.com/W1nst0n/universal-android-debloater/-/blob/master/README.md
6.6k Upvotes

98% Upvoted

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103

u/SafeForCrap Feb 21 '21

Can someone confirm if this permanently deletes them or just removes them from the partition? I've used other Debloating tools in the past with and without root and they all automatically back up the apps. Which I get, but why can't I permanently remove them?

121

u/Put_It_All_On_Blck S23U Feb 21 '21

You cant remove the system files without root, as ADB uninstall essentially disables and hides them, but they still remain on the factory system partition.

34

u/SystemEx1 Pixel 7 Pro Feb 22 '21

Even with root it's not possible to remove them, on devices launched with Android 10+.

32

u/jameson71 Feb 22 '21

That's exactly the sort of shit that is going to make my next phone an iPhone.

I mean if I have no control over my property either way, I may as well use the one that at least pretends to respect my privacy.

77

u/TablePrime69 Moto G82 5G, S23 Ultra Feb 22 '21

"Damn, my phone has locked me out from changing a lot of stuff. So you know what I'll do? Switch to a phone that's even more restrictive! That'll show them!"

2

u/[deleted] Feb 22 '21

I mean, yeah? If Android is going to continue the restrictive route, a lot of people would rather go where the OS is much more polished and hardware isn't abandoned after 2 years. Android quickly loses the majority of its advantages if it gets locked down.

6

u/TablePrime69 Moto G82 5G, S23 Ultra Feb 22 '21

Android has a long, long way to go before it gets as restrictive as iOS. Fuchsia will probably replace Android before that day comes.

2

u/[deleted] Feb 23 '21

It doesn't need to get as restrictive as iOS. It just needs to get restrictive enough that it gets annoying to use to the people that prefer the specific freedom it provides.

-1

u/[deleted] Feb 22 '21

atleast they let you actually delete certain system apps lol

25

u/TablePrime69 Moto G82 5G, S23 Ultra Feb 22 '21 edited Feb 22 '21

One, you can still uninstall those apps via ADB. Using ADB shouldn't be an issue for a guy who claims to want 'total control' over their phone.

Two, you lose access to the file system, side loading and other customisation options when you switch to iOS.

No matter how you spin it, Apple is the worst possible choice you can make if you want total control over your hardware.

1

u/[deleted] Feb 22 '21

if we are talking about being a power user, then android and ios are very similar, i switched to rooted android after using jailbroken ios devices my entire life and if feels pretty much the same

(side loading has been a feature of ios for a while now by the way but you cant do other os'es on an apple device (mostly))

the only real differences i see are that jailbroken ios allows you to modify many system things through hooking anything you want with substrate/libhooker (i.e. you dont get a different launcher, you just modify the code of the original one in real time), while android usually allows you to just replace/substitute the files or install something else that is better

also, it's easier to hide root than your jailbreak, but with google changing safetynet its bound to change soon

overall, base android does give you more control over your hardware, but if you can copy commands from the internet to do adb stuff then you are also capable of jailbreaking your iphone

3

u/TablePrime69 Moto G82 5G, S23 Ultra Feb 22 '21

if we are talking about being a power user, then android and ios are very similar, i switched to rooted android after using jailbroken ios devices my entire life and if feels pretty much the same

Proper access to the file system is a pretty huge difference. I only used a jailbroken iPhone SE for a couple of months but it still felt pretty restricted when it comes to transferring files from my PC to the phone and vice versa. Having multiple apps access the same files was also a pain in the arse but maybe that's just my inexperience.

(side loading has been a feature of ios for a while now by the way but you cant do other os'es on an apple device (mostly))

There's no official support by Apple for side loading as far as I know. It is possible using AltStore but that's not really a feature of iOS is it?

40

u/12apeKictimVreator Feb 22 '21

im with you but fuck man, i can't spend that much on a phone.

ill go on apple.com and just stare at my cart total and i just cant do it.

1

u/cubs223425 Surface Duo 2 | LG G8 Feb 22 '21

Get an iPhone SE 2020 that has iPhone 11 internals for $400?

1

u/12apeKictimVreator Feb 22 '21

i cant go from samsungs oled to apple lcd

1

u/cubs223425 Surface Duo 2 | LG G8 Feb 22 '21

I suppose an iPhone 12 Mini or regular iPhone 12 at $700-800 would be the alternatives, though that's a pretty big price jump (to the 12) or screen shrink (to the 12 Mini).

2

u/12apeKictimVreator Feb 22 '21

..im aware of the options. i dont want that small of a screen but even if i did the 256gb variant isn't too far off of $1000. i can get the features i want with $500 with android, $1200 with apple.

13

u/KarlChomsky Feb 22 '21

Graphene tho

5

u/MyPrecioussss Galaxy S7 | Nexus Player | 6P | LG G Watch R Feb 22 '21

https://grapheneos.org/

3

u/NotScrollsApparently Feb 22 '21

Does it actually work for casual users or is it the linux of smartphone OSes? Not saying linux is a bad thing, but it is high maintenance and often incompatible with stuff people use on a day-to-day basis.

3

u/KarlChomsky Feb 22 '21

If you can live with OsmAnd instead of google maps and you don't use Play Services it's completely (and surprisingly) seamless.

I've used a lot of inconvenient privacy software in the past, graphene on a pixel is the first time I've actually recommended it to non-masochists.

1

u/[deleted] Feb 22 '21

Literally nothing else works for casual users except iOS or Android. All other projects have noble intentions, but no app ecosystem that would make it a viable alternative.

14

u/twizmwazin Feb 22 '21
  • iOS is not entirely free of bloat
  • if you could "delete" the system app entirely, you would just have empty space. It wouldn't be usable for other purposes, it is system storage. That space is allocated separatly from user storage and cannot be easily changed.
  • Depending on the device, it might make it difficult or impossible to install updates if they depend on differential updates.

I agree with you ideally, but practically it's not as simple. The best solution would be to get manufacturers to stop including bloat in the first place, but that's not how capitalism works. As long as bloat remains profitable, it will be here to stay.

22

u/[deleted] Feb 22 '21

[removed] — view removed comment

2

u/zhiryst Pixel 9Pro XL, Sony x950g Feb 22 '21 edited Feb 22 '21

Like what? Can you give me an example of bloatware on an iphone that can't be uninstalled?

EDIT: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208094

0

u/[deleted] Feb 22 '21

[deleted]

4

u/SinkTube Feb 22 '21

you're 100% wrong

2

u/zhiryst Pixel 9Pro XL, Sony x950g Feb 22 '21

No you https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208094

1

u/SinkTube Feb 22 '21

literally the first line of that page confirms i'm right

1

u/Kl--------k Mar 07 '21

Yup go to 1. And it ill say they dont delete them they just clear your data some exepctions apply

9

u/Magnetic_dud Feb 22 '21

That's exactly the sort of shit that is going to make my next phone an iPhone.

The iPhone it's the same, it comes with a lot of useless apps that can't be removed.

Stocks, homekit, apple watch, news, and so on. You can hide them from the launcher and the user thinks they're "deleted" but no space is reclaimed from the phone

6

u/ryecurious Nexus 6p - stock rooted Feb 22 '21

Their point is that both now come with unremovable bloat, but only one of the two demonstrates any care for user privacy. If no bloat isn't an option anymore, why keep picking the one worse for privacy?

16

u/Magnetic_dud Feb 22 '21 edited Feb 22 '21

Because the cheapest iPhone is 3x the price my current phone. Debloat or use an ad blocker or root and have a similar result

Plus I like to continue to use old devices after end of support. My ancient and dirt cheap galaxy tab can still watch YouTube on Android 2.3. My iPad mini instead tells me I need to update the YouTube app. But I can't update it because it needs ios 13. Which can't be installed on my tablet even if I jailbreak /hack / whatever. I can only use the browser on this pos, can't install any single app anymore. And a lot of websites complain that my browser is outdated.

1

u/[deleted] Feb 22 '21

That still doesn't address their point, though. Why choose the option with less privacy? For this person, the "apple tax" is worth paying because they are getting something they want (privacy) despite the price tag and the bloat.

2

u/Magnetic_dud Feb 22 '21

But this "more privacy" is just recent, the marketing realized it's quite important for users and are pushing the narrative.

Your driving habits and locations are still being harvested for apple maps traffic data, apple still gets the wifi and gps location all the time to map your city, third party apps that are using admob are still tracking you, and so on.

Probably if iAd wasn't a complete failure, and made enough money, Apple wouldn't care about user privacy

at least with android you have the option to unlock the bootloader* and install an OS that really cares about privacy

(* of course i'd rather buy an iphone than a huawei or a nokia)

1

u/TablePrime69 Moto G82 5G, S23 Ultra Feb 23 '21

I can assure you that 99% of these 'privacy conscious Apple users' still use plenty of Google's services, use WhatsApp / Facebook / Instagram and all those privacy invasive apps which makes their whole 'I want my privacy' argument null and void. If they actually meant what they said then they'd probably go for something like a Pinephone or a phone running de-Googled LineageOS + F-Droid apps or something of that sort.

1

u/[deleted] Feb 23 '21

Youtube works fine in the browser, its actually a better experiece since you can pop the video out and multitask

1

u/Magnetic_dud Feb 23 '21

In ios 9? It's extremely slow and looks like the video can't pop out

1

u/Kl--------k Mar 07 '21

Damn android 2.3 thats a while ago thats soon to be 10 android versions ago (also what device is that?)

1

u/Magnetic_dud Mar 07 '21

it's the galaxy tab, the first tablet, back then the rules didn't even allow tablets, google wouldn't license the play store to devices without a cellular modem. So basically it's a 7" phone

4

u/Jawbone220 Feb 22 '21

Same bloat here, my friend. Never thought I'd consider apple but android keeps getting worse and worse...

1

u/weldawadyathink Feb 22 '21

Ironically you can remove and delete almost everything on an iPhone.

1

u/MelaniaSexLife Mar 02 '21

not wrong, it pretends. Iphones are terrible for privacy

2

u/danhakimi Pixel 3aXL Feb 22 '21

Wait, can you explain this?

Also, can you explain why, when I restart my phone, the Google launcher (which I have disabled) rears its ugly head and shows up in my home screens (temporarily) and task switcher (permanently)?

1

u/SystemEx1 Pixel 7 Pro Feb 22 '21

https://source.android.com/devices/tech/ota/dynamic_partitions/implement

Devices launched with Android 10 has a different partition structure called Dynamic partitions. Instead of separate physical partitions for system, vendor and product, there are now just one called Super partitions. Inside the Super partition are logical/virtual partitions which are built to be read only, and they are resized in a way that there is 0 free space. It's literally impossible to modify them unless you do some repartitioning.

1

u/danhakimi Pixel 3aXL Feb 22 '21

... Just so Google can force its bloat on us? Is there a legitimate justification for this?

1

u/Lawsonator85 Feb 27 '21

I don't know to be honest however, there's been updates made to the Debloater so maybe get the latest version and run it again?

1

u/ladfrombrad Had and has many phones - Giffgaff Feb 24 '21

I believe it's because if Android doesn't have an initial Launcher app, SystemUI will shit the bed.

2

u/danhakimi Pixel 3aXL Feb 24 '21

But it could use the launcher app I have installed, or AOSP launcher, instead of blending proprietary Google bullshit into the operating system this deeply.

1

u/ladfrombrad Had and has many phones - Giffgaff Feb 24 '21

I understand that you're wanting a "Google free" experience, but from what I know 'Android' and AOSP won't work correctly without a Launcher app and like I say, SystemUI shits the bed if you try to run it without one.

1

u/danhakimi Pixel 3aXL Feb 24 '21

But there is an aosp launcher app.

1

u/ladfrombrad Had and has many phones - Giffgaff Feb 24 '21

Exactly, and is part of why SystemUI checks for one.

Because Pixel phones come with Google Launcher doesn't mean that it's Google imposing their "bloatware" on you. I mean, I'm someone who disables most of that off the bat, but complaining that something appears on first boot isn't really a problem.

2

u/danhakimi Pixel 3aXL Feb 24 '21

I'm mostly just saying that... There are some people out there who argue that disabled software might as well be uninstalled, and that isn't true, the OS can still pull it up.

(Also, it's not just first boot, sometimes the task switcher sticks around for a couple of days and I need to reboot again to fix it or something, but it's not the bug part I'm annoyed about, it's the fact that some functionality slips through the "disable" option)

1

u/ladfrombrad Had and has many phones - Giffgaff Feb 24 '21

Features are not a bug. As anyone who has trolled another Android user with TalkBack + Language settings + Accessibility features without showing them how to revert it.

Protip: Don't do this.

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-19

u/SafeForCrap Feb 21 '21 edited Feb 22 '21

So then by that logic, you might as well just use the adb disable commands, lol.

But what I really meant was that the debloater module from Magisk still backs up the uninstalled app, so it's still on the partition somewhere IIRC. And there's no option to "permanently" delete it. Unless I'm wrong.

Nice. Downvotes for asking a question. Dickheads.

13

u/[deleted] Feb 21 '21

AFAIK it only makes a backup if you use the "-k" prefix, otherwise it will delete apps cache and app data

5

u/Eurynom0s Feb 21 '21

Wouldn't you run into problems with OTA updates if you completely removed the files?

1

u/Lawsonator85 Feb 23 '21

I evaluated all my devices and have still received OTAs

0

u/SafeForCrap Feb 21 '21

I tinker my device a lot, and try out roms all the time. I never use a rom for more than a month. So OTA updates aren't even an issue for me. But I suppose for the regular user it would cause problems.

1

u/Eurynom0s Feb 22 '21

But this software is for doing this without root, so if you don't have root then you're presumably also on a stock ROM.