this post was submitted on 11 Aug 2023

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Debloat Samsung for Pixel like experience? (self.android)

submitted 1 year ago by SteWi to c/[email protected]

8 comments fedilink hide all child comments

So, there's been ample discussion in the corresponding community threads and Samsung has gotten a lot of hate there.

Sadly the S23 looks rather tempting to me, since the pixel 7a I replaced my 5 with is too big for my liking.

How much Pixel-like experience can I achieve if I uninstall all the Samsung bloatware? What will I miss out on? Do I have to expect it running sluggish or unstable? Or will I get any errors due to missing samsung software components? Will all the apps reinstall on updates?

And since OneUI6 is around the corner: Will the ADB-debloat also work with the newer version?

Thanks!

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[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I think missing out is the wrong wording. The samsung has way more to offer, but it is a privacy nightmare. You can, however, remove a lot of bloatware and go with rethinkdns and their firewall by blocking most system apps you leave. Another approach would be combining the firewall with decloudus. I used nextdns for years and tried adguard as well, but decloudus get samsung and google pretty much eliminated.

You won't have the GrapheneOS privacy setup and will never be able to come close to that. Yet, it's not the worth way to get a samsung phone behave and not calling home ;)

[–] SteWi 2 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Thanks for the tipps! I love how on lemmy privacy is a big concern. Seems I'll have to spend some time getting to know the tools mentioned.

Given that I'm not at all interested in creating a Samsung account and use any of their cloud services what are the the additional featues I would get?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

You don't need a Samsung account at all to use any of the addition features.

Some of the useful features off the top of my head:

Long-press power button for torch (customisable)
Edge panel, which allows quick launching of apps and shortcuts
Ability to directly record the screen, or a portion of a screen, as a GIF
Video out over USB-C, and DeX mode which provides a desktop-like experience (although I believe Google will be finally introducing video out with Pixel 8)
Various multitasking enhancements such as: open any app in a popup window, change its transparency levels, enable no-pause multitasking so your split-window/popup apps continue running even if they're not in focus.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Depends, the ultra has the spen. Modes and routines are also pretty neat.. most of the stuff comes with samsung can be used without a samsung account. Sadly, secure folders need a samsung account.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago (1 children)

On my S23u, S10, and Tab 7l I changed the UI to Nova Prime and used "ADB App Control" or straight ADB commands(S10) to remove anything I didn't want there.

I haven't seen anything reinstall and there has been no problems removing unnecessary things on any of those devices.

[–] SteWi 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

good to know!

As much as I like tinkering with stuff I really don't want my phone be something that needs constant attention...

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

Yeah, same boat. I was dreading switching to the S23U from the S10 because it took so long to setup the S10. With ADB App Control, it was pretty painless. ADBAC shows you everything and you just check boxes and hit uninstall. You can also have a backup of the removed apps, just in case you remove something that breaks something important.

With most third-party UI replacers, you can backup your changes. So my refined Nova Launcher settings transferred my clean UI over flawlessly.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago

I limit things to swapping the launcher to Lawnchair, disabling most of the Samsung apps and loading Google equivalents (including gBoard). With the exception of notifications and settings, it's a reasonable experience. Most recently I did this to a Galaxy tab S8. It's close enough to my Pixel that it's not irritating.