Removing spyware on stock android
Removing spyware on stock android
Is there any way I can remove the spyware samsung and google used to spy on me without installing degogled android? I used the samsung galaxy a13
Theres a tool named Android Universal Debloater. You don't need root, only adb allowed. In the Debloater you will have the recommended appss to disable, but you can go forward.
To install a degoogled Android aka custom ROM is way more efficient than to degoogle native Android aka Stock ROM.
However there are several ways to at least reduce the amount of spyware on Stock ROM:
- seek out all apps, you don't use, and uninstall or deactivate them
- if you can do neither or in addition follow the method described by XDA developers (as stated in the article as well not all apps can be uninstalled without risk - so be careful)
Do you have any kind of tutorial on how to install lineageos on my phone? (Galaxy a13)
You can install LineageOS GSI (generic system image). GSI, as the name implies, is generic; it means that the OS won't know your actual model, so it'll have some little weird things, like the camera location in the UI.
Unfortunately it looks like like your device isn't officially supported.
putting a different rom on a samsung is something they don't allow. not to say it can't be done, but it's above my pay grade. eventually i'll get a different phone.
i disabled a bunch of stuff using
adbandpm uninstall -k --user 0 package. i won't list it all here unless someone asks - everyone's list will be different, and just disabling things willy-nilly can break stuff.i have nextdns (a paid service). this is configured as the phone's private dns provider.
- my router intercepts all unencrypted dns, to any address, and handles it using nextdns.
- my router rejects all traffic to 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4, which are the google servers most commonly used by bad actors to bypass restrictive dns.
i haven't checked lately for suspicious connections to other dns providers. i think cloudflare and quad9 may have similarly obvious ip addresses for dns that should be blocked.
my nextdns config rejects the samsung-related domains below explicitly, and has the 'native samsung tracker' enabled also.
*.gos-gsp.io*.hiyaapi.com*.ospserver.net*.picks.my*.samqaicongen.com*.atlas.samsung.com*.dqa.samsung.com*.mcsvc.samsung.com*.samsungapps.com*.samsungdm.com*.samsungknox.com*.samsungrs.com*.samsungcloud.com*.samsungosp.com*.samsungvisioncloud.com
Start by looking at Hail and Shizuku. Both are FOSS and available to download from FDroid. Hail will allow you to freeze/disable the app. Shizuku will give you the appropriate permissions to do so.
You can use android deblaoter or ADB to disable many of those packages, but not all of them. Be warned, that you can easily cause instability this way.
If there's a custom ROM without gapps and touchwiz or sense or whatever they call it these days, that would be a much preferable solution. Unfortunately, Samsung is determined to be difficult about custom roms, so very few are available on their devices.
When you have the means, I recommend a pixel with graphene or a Linux phone, depending on how serious you are.