I’ve had a Galaxy S22+ for 2 years and still want to use it. When I look up how to maximize privacy on Android, many results say to install custom ROMs which I can’t since its a US model and the bootloader is locked. I just want to minimize tracking and sharing of personal information. I could use a firewall app like RethinkDNS to block trackers, but could I completely block tracking from Google and Samsung? Are there any lists of packages to uninstall to improve privacy? (I’ve used ADB to remove a bunch of bloatware. Ex: pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.samsung.android.arzone)
Use this tool.
That one is old and unmaintained. Use this newer version of it instead: https://github.com/Universal-Debloater-Alliance/universal-android-debloater-next-generation/
Thanks for posting this! Didn’t know the original was not maintained anymore.
disable Google Play Services and the Google Play Store. And that will help a lot. And if you still need apps from the Google Store, you can use the Aurora Store from f-droid
Edit: you may also want to look into controld.com since their free dns blocks known malware, ads, and trackers. They have several options including standard DNS, DNS over HTTPS, and DNS over TLS, and Android supports DNS over TLS. So you can use it directly.
Every time I think about running custom roms or degoogled stuff, I remember that NFC payments will no longer work and then I get sad.
Wdym? Google Wallet won’t work, that’s correct, but if your banking app works and has a built-in nfc payments support, then you’ll be alright.
What I did on my old Oneplus 7t (from a fresh install) was using Shelter to create a work profile and keep anything google related there. On the main profile I didn’t sign in to google or installed any google apps. I also disabled all OEM bloatware and apps I didn’t use. Not ideal, but better than nothing and all I could do before getting a new phone without unlocking the bootloader.
I limit as much as I can through a combination of privacy-respecting apps and fewer apps (if I can reliably use the web browser for something, I will) and then use custom DNS filters (NextDNS) to minimise further leakage. I also disable any pre-installed applications I don’t need (you can remove them with Universal Android Debloater but I don’t need the extra storage space). I also use a VPN at all times.
