If I only wanted to degoogle and disable other manufacturer’s bloatware from my Android device, is using adb to “uninstall” the system apps from user 0 pretty much as effective as rooting and using something like debloat terminal while rooted or are there bypasses that make rooting the better option? I’m not concerned about reclaiming the space used by these disabled system apps in this case.
Adb is just as effective as root for just disabling the apps for one user. As you said this won’t free the space fully. Keep in mind you might softbrick your phone by uninstalling something unsafe.
@GravityAce You can also use the #UniversalAndroidDebloater. This makes it easier to get rid of the bloatware: github.com/0x192/universal-and…
Just beware to not delete every single thing on your phone. Learn from my mistake that I accidently uninstall google play services. 90% of my apps didnt work
@JerukPurut404 Yes, if you want to use Google apps, you should leave it on. With the #UniversalAndroidDebloater, there are different levels of how much you want to delete/deactivate. With the first two, it only affects apps that you can easily reinstall if necessary.
the ADB method only removes the app for the current user. if for some reason you add another user on the device, all the apps will still be there for them.
adb uninstall will cover your needs and if you are using a banking app they won’t let you use them if you root the device. So even if you choose the root way, it’s recomended to relock root once you’re done.
Also not sure about stock ROMs but be careful with core apps. For example, in LineageOS if you remove file manager that way you bork the system because any other file manager use the initial file manager.
The first thing to consider is what you want to archive. Security and privacy are not the same thing, however go hand in hand. With rooting you can go deeply into your systems setup, however it also opens potential threats against you. Adb is more secure. When it comes to privacy consider also rethinkdns or any other firewall. You can block internet access to specific apps and even system apps.