On non-rooted Android 17, ADB uninstall of system apps fails • Hacker News Board

Re: On non-rooted Android 17, ADB uninstall of system apps fails

#101

Post by stevefan1999 » Thu, Aug 06, 2026, 2:16 PM UTC

dainiusse wrote: post #87

_imnothere wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I know it is easy to just take and hack No you don't, otherwise we wouldn't have banking apps on it.

It is a bit different. My app doesn't rely on 3rd party services at all. It just provides functionality. It is not about breaking into someones account. I just know that the app can just be cracked - there are plenty of sites that do that for android. Because you can't just load your app on iOS - this is just not possible (well perhaps there are a few percent of some jailbroken iPhones, but that is neglibile). On And…

> On Android though, you can soon see such app stolen and on some of the apk warez sites. It just breaks the model.

Think about Windows and software privacy

Re: On non-rooted Android 17, ADB uninstall of system apps fails

#102

Post by stevefan1999 » Thu, Aug 06, 2026, 2:17 PM UTC

Xirdus wrote: post #60

skinfaxi wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is that not possible with ios applications?

You can't sideload iOS applications. Meaning there's no point to doing any of the listed things.

You technically can sideload. For 7 days or on TestFlight

Re: On non-rooted Android 17, ADB uninstall of system apps fails

#103

Post by okanat » Thu, Aug 06, 2026, 2:17 PM UTC

develoopest wrote: post #5

I don't understand why ensuring general-purpose computing is not a priority of the European Union. All that talk about sovereignty, and we are giving full control of our digital lives to 2 American companies.

There is actually a law being made called Digital Fairness Act at the moment. However the working group hasn't finalized it yet.

Note that there are competing political groups and MEPs in the EU from far right neo-fascists, to corporate lobbyist right-wingers, to Greens and even digital privacy maximalist Pirates.

Lobbyist right-wingers are now the biggest group and they pass laws like Chat Control because it gives the impression that they do something and it makes corporations money. EU has been founded as a maximally neo-liberal union. The broad human rights are remnants of the Soviet scare and world-war trauma.

Re: On non-rooted Android 17, ADB uninstall of system apps fails

#104

Post by throw-the-towel » Thu, Aug 06, 2026, 2:20 PM UTC

inigyou wrote: post #68

mosura wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You need to parse the word mentality in context. The root problem here is the EU is culturally broken, and until some grand disaster will simply decline ever further with everyone involved wondering why no one else is doing anything about it.

Why don't we export some better culture to Europe then? That would be a good place and now would be a good time for Americans to flee to.

  Take up the White Man's burden— 
      Send forth the best ye breed— 
  Go bind your sons to exile
      To serve your captives' need;
  To wait in heavy harness
      On fluttered folk and wild—
  Your new-caught sullen peoples,
      Half devil and half child.

Re: On non-rooted Android 17, ADB uninstall of system apps fails

#105

Post by RobotToaster » Thu, Aug 06, 2026, 2:21 PM UTC

zb3 wrote: post #66

yorwba wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is no shortage of general-purpose computing hardware in the EU. If you need some general-purpose compute to make a car, an oven, or a phone, you can get it. That consumers mostly buy special-purpose devices that don't always allow them to make full use of the possibilities of the hardware is hardly a sovereignity challenge.

Show me where I can get a general-purpose computing hardware with 8GB+ of RAM that fits in my pocket and has a touchscreen.

and a 5g radiotelephony MODEM.

Re: On non-rooted Android 17, ADB uninstall of system apps fails

#106

Post by 999900000999 » Thu, Aug 06, 2026, 2:21 PM UTC

jackdoe wrote: post #88

In the next decade open hardware will win, any machine that exposes itself to be programmed by its user will be infinitely better than a machine that doesn't. From keyboards to phones to tractors. The appstore will die, and the walled gardens will die. Unless they use 'for the children' to make open machines illegal.

Most people don't care. Microsoft themselves are even moving Windows towards a more closed model. Apple's in the same camp. If you don't use their official magical stores or get something that has a certificate validating who actually compiled the code, all the sudden you're using scary binaries that might do weird things to your box.

The six or seven percent of us that know how to use Linux will complain, but eventually I can even imagine bootloaders being locked down so much that you need to spend significantly more to buy a computer that actually lets you install what you want.

Re: On non-rooted Android 17, ADB uninstall of system apps fails

#107

Post by zzril » Thu, Aug 06, 2026, 2:22 PM UTC

K0balt wrote: post #55

Seriously question; why is the answer to this not a phone that can just run GNU/Linux? Is it just the lack of application support? I mean, you’ll have blobs, but at least at the os level you’ll have options? Can’t you run an android sandbox in Linux? Docker phone? I’m sure I’m missing something here, but what?

There is the PinePhone. It has 3GB of RAM and needs to be charged daily. It's barely enough for my use case, which is essentially "I need a browser and a shell".

Haven't tried an emulator yet. Don't think I will - they're slow enough on my laptop, and I'm not interested in spending my time on reversing anti-emulator checks all day. And I don't like being forced into having a Google account, so anything that goes beyond a calculator app won't run anyway.

Re: On non-rooted Android 17, ADB uninstall of system apps fails

#108

Post by littlecranky67 » Thu, Aug 06, 2026, 2:23 PM UTC

pbasista wrote: post #97

littlecranky67 wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because the EU wants attestation for age verification, digital surveillance and censorship, not free software platforms that wont implement any of those.

EU does not want that. Only a few politicians, some of whom happen to be currently in power, in the EU or elsewhere, are pushing for those agendas. But fortunately, they do not represent the majority.

Bank account register, EUDI Wallet, Chat Control, digital Euro… They might not be the majority but they manage to go through with all of this.

Re: On non-rooted Android 17, ADB uninstall of system apps fails

#109

Post by hparadiz » Thu, Aug 06, 2026, 2:23 PM UTC

jfyi wrote: post #79

hparadiz wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My professional opinion is that APKs can be de-compiled regardless and that has nothing to do with tokenized payments themselves which are like you said handled through server-server communications at the payment processor level. Your phone simply sends a one time use token to authorize the transaction.

You were the one that brought up payments though. Nobody else specified. They just said it could be hacked, which you seem to agree with.

I don't agree that your example makes sense. Don't feel like writing a wall of text. Zero justification for a locked down system.

Re: On non-rooted Android 17, ADB uninstall of system apps fails

#110

Post by dingaling » Thu, Aug 06, 2026, 2:24 PM UTC

hparadiz wrote: post #50

Elfener wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

GrapheneOS or other custom ROMs don't solve the actual problem that you can't just buy a smartphone and install any operating system like you can with an actual computer, despite technically being one. Also, GrapheneOS supports device attestation (the non-google kind at least), which is still ridiculous as such systems have no benefit to people, only to technofeudalist corporations.

Device attestation is how you can use private keys you don't actually have access to. It has a lot of value to literally anyone who wants to store tokens or use one time authentication codes. Linux folks need to implement the full stack and offer an open alternative to payments, secrets, and tokens. In the age of LLMs there is no excuse. It is annoying as hell that I can't buy a System76 or Framework laptop with a fi…

"Device attestation is how you can use private keys you don't actually have access to."

Read that phrase back and then ask "is this the future of computing that we wanted?"

The likes of passkeys, essentially user-hostile ssh keys that live on your device but aren't accessible by you, would have been an unbelievable dystopia to us in the 90s.

"Linux folks need to implement the full stack"

Nah it's fine thanks, I'd rather opt out of corporate serfdom than compromise my principles.