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Debloat non-rooted Android devices

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Re: Debloat non-rooted Android devices

#161

Post by HenryBemis »

autoexec wrote: post #23
morsch wrote: post #18

I bought -- full price, retail -- a midrange Samsung phone for a relative recently. The amount of bloatware was incredible. Various social networks and shopping apps were preinstalled. In addition to all the Samsung apps that more or less duplicate the Google stack, poorly. The entire setup process was full of dark patterns designed to extract as much data from you as possible. No way a regular person gets through th…

The first time I had a samsung phone I noticed after about two weeks that every single word I typed into any application was being collected and sent to a third party whose privacy policy said it was used to collect data about my interests, my social life, to make guesses about my intelligence level and education, and that the data would be sold for "market research" among other things. No user would ever suspect tha…

NoRoot Firewall app (I'm not affiliated). I must have brought it up in every Android security related post in HN that I've came across.

I use it on all my Android devices. I block all traffic in most apps.

Some Android phones allow you to allow/block Data and/or WiFi separately. My Samsung 4G tablet doesn't allow me to switch off Data or WiFi for some apps, especially the system ones.

This is where NoRoot Firewall does all its good work. It has Global Block list (all ads/trackers go there) and for each app I individually block or allow certain IPs.

So if "Samsung Keyboard" app wants to send your typing home, you block Data/WiFi and leave it trying :)

Re: Debloat non-rooted Android devices

#162

Post by naasking »

TeMPOraL wrote: post #159
resource_waste wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a user/psychology problem. No one in their right mind is suggesting Samsung. Heck, similar to Apple, you have swaths of people warning you about Samsung. Samsung lives and dies off their huge marketing budget. Buying their phone is more of a psychology thing, than 'I did lots of research and I bought a high quality phone'.

> Buying their phone is more of a psychology thing, than 'I did lots of research and I bought a high quality phone'. For me it's more of "I'm no longer a kid so I don't have time to do lots of research". Samsung gets my money because their flagships are reliably good.

You can't spend a couple of days researching an essential, expensive device you're going to use for at least the next 2-3 years?

Re: Debloat non-rooted Android devices

#163

Post by geraldhh »

TeMPOraL wrote: post #159
resource_waste wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a user/psychology problem. No one in their right mind is suggesting Samsung. Heck, similar to Apple, you have swaths of people warning you about Samsung. Samsung lives and dies off their huge marketing budget. Buying their phone is more of a psychology thing, than 'I did lots of research and I bought a high quality phone'.

> Buying their phone is more of a psychology thing, than 'I did lots of research and I bought a high quality phone'. For me it's more of "I'm no longer a kid so I don't have time to do lots of research". Samsung gets my money because their flagships are reliably good.

supposedly there will come a time after "no longer a kid" where due diligence is the among the top things worth doing

Re: Debloat non-rooted Android devices

#164

Post by geraldhh »

rchaud wrote: post #139
resource_waste wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a user/psychology problem. No one in their right mind is suggesting Samsung. Heck, similar to Apple, you have swaths of people warning you about Samsung. Samsung lives and dies off their huge marketing budget. Buying their phone is more of a psychology thing, than 'I did lots of research and I bought a high quality phone'.

> Samsung lives and dies off their huge marketing budget. This is a ridiculous take. Samsung is the entire reason Android didn't go the way of WebOS and Windows Phone. Samsung had pressure-sensitive pen support on Android 5 years before iOS. Samsung DEX desktop environment can turn my phone into a proper work machine with just a USB-C display cable and a lapdock. They've also had folding phones that can turn your pho…

is dex actually useful?

it sounds fantastic hence i suppose there is a catch

Re: Debloat non-rooted Android devices

#165

Post by isametry »

mFixman wrote: post #118
robin_reala wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What apps can’t be uninstalled on iOS?

Back when I used a iPhone for work, I remember having Safari, Apple Music, Apple Rock Band, Apple Podcasts, Apple News and a lot of built-in apps being un-uninstallable and unremovable from my home screen. Safari was the most egregious, since all other browsers had to use it as a backend.

In current iOS, all apps can be deleted except seven: Settings, Phone, Messages, Camera, Photos, Safari and App Store. All apps can be removed from the home screen.

Re: Debloat non-rooted Android devices

#166

Post by geraldhh »

resource_waste wrote: post #24
morsch wrote: post #18

I bought -- full price, retail -- a midrange Samsung phone for a relative recently. The amount of bloatware was incredible. Various social networks and shopping apps were preinstalled. In addition to all the Samsung apps that more or less duplicate the Google stack, poorly. The entire setup process was full of dark patterns designed to extract as much data from you as possible. No way a regular person gets through th…

I'm amazed people buy Samsung anything. I only had 1 poor quality phone that cost $400, 10 years ago, and I was traumatized. Occasionally I get a work Samsung phone and they really are the Apple of Android.

imho the galaxy s4 mini was peak smartphone and thou the specs got better, the devices became increasingly bigger, heavier and less useful

Re: Debloat non-rooted Android devices

#167

Post by nanoxide »

lysp wrote: post #82
Symbiote wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some banking apps detect this, or might detect it in the future, and refuse to work. In some countries (Scandinavia...) not having the banking app is inconvenient, as it's used for authentication with many other services.

Magisk (the main rooting method) allows you to hide root from such apps. Most apps I use (ie. banking) are bypassed simply by adding them to a hide-list. The only apps that require a bit more work / expertise are apps that require integrity checks (ie. google wallet).

This doesn't match my experience. Banking apps in Germany often required screwing around with additional Magisk modules, and would often break again after an update. Just not worth the effort.

Re: Debloat non-rooted Android devices

#168

Post by gjm11 »

resource_waste wrote: post #24
morsch wrote: post #18

I bought -- full price, retail -- a midrange Samsung phone for a relative recently. The amount of bloatware was incredible. Various social networks and shopping apps were preinstalled. In addition to all the Samsung apps that more or less duplicate the Google stack, poorly. The entire setup process was full of dark patterns designed to extract as much data from you as possible. No way a regular person gets through th…

I'm amazed people buy Samsung anything. I only had 1 poor quality phone that cost $400, 10 years ago, and I was traumatized. Occasionally I get a work Samsung phone and they really are the Apple of Android.

"the Apple of Android" doesn't communicate anything to me other than that you dislike both Samsung and Apple; there are any number of things someone might dislike about Apple and so far as I know there isn't the sort of general consensus that would make such a phrase meaningful.

(I get the impression from your comments in this thread that maybe you're trying to create such a consensus or the illusion thereof, to get people used to seeing Apple casually referred to as an exemplar of some unstated kind of badness, or something like that. That sort of thing never works.)

Re: Debloat non-rooted Android devices

#169

Post by daghamm »

Charlie_32 wrote: post #70
MaxBarraclough wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I noticed after about two weeks that every single word I typed into any application was being collected and sent to a third party How did you discover this? Has it been written about? Seems pretty scandalous.

He goes on to explain it was in the keyboards About menu

But there is no "privacy policy" on the Samsung keyboard about page.

The Samsungs privacy policy on the web states this:

Samsung Keyboard information: The words that you type when you enable “Predictive text”. This feature may be offered in connection with your Samsung account to synchronise the data for use on your other Samsung mobile devices. You can clear the data by going to the “Predictive text” settings.

Source: https://privacy.samsung.com/privacy/samsung

Re: Debloat non-rooted Android devices

#170

Post by 1oooqooq »

TeMPOraL wrote: post #159
resource_waste wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a user/psychology problem. No one in their right mind is suggesting Samsung. Heck, similar to Apple, you have swaths of people warning you about Samsung. Samsung lives and dies off their huge marketing budget. Buying their phone is more of a psychology thing, than 'I did lots of research and I bought a high quality phone'.

> Buying their phone is more of a psychology thing, than 'I did lots of research and I bought a high quality phone'. For me it's more of "I'm no longer a kid so I don't have time to do lots of research". Samsung gets my money because their flagships are reliably good.

"I'm no longer a kid. i just buy the one from the louder advertisement"

riiigth.

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