yeah, kind of defeats the entire purpose, when the thing can simply update itself and keeps acting like a rootkit.

@TheLeadenSea@sh.itjust.works

@baatliwala@lemmy.world

I stumbled upon Canta & Shizuku which when combined can enable removal of (system level) apps on Android devices. I haven’t gone crazy removing stuff however I am following cautiously the lists of recommended and safe apps.

Easily done with ADB. Though quite a few apps won’t work properly afterwards, especially notifications and embedded maps.

Try GrapheneOS or any other similar custom ROM.