Page 2: Video transcript | heise online

You’re frustrated with your new Android smartphone, you start it up for the first time and – there are already tons of apps on the device that you didn’t want and will probably never need.

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This is called bloatware. This is also software that is already pre-installed on the phone and unnecessarily eats up memory and performance. Unfortunately, you cannot simply uninstall many of these apps. An example:

• “The Internet app?” I’d rather use a different browser.
• “AR Zone?” I don’t need it.

But I can’t uninstall either.

But it’s not impossible. We’ll now show you how to remove unnecessary apps from your Android smartphone.

Before we get started: If you are unsure whether you can remove a program, it is better not to do it. When removing bloatware, there is always a certain risk that an error will creep in and cause problems. So back up all important data beforehand so that you don’t lose anything if you have to reset the device. Otherwise, you will end up accidentally deleting the call app on your phone and will no longer be able to make calls.

There are different approaches to removing bloatware. We will show you a simple way to remove bloatware. To do this, you need a computer to which you connect your phone and a suitable USB cable.

We will now demonstrate the process using a two-year-old Samsung Galaxy S22+. Individual menu items may have different names on your phone model. In the fall, simply check with the manufacturer to see where you can find the relevant items.

We use a computer with Windows 11 Pro.

Step-by-step instructions

Step 1: Activate developer mode. For most Android devices, go to the settings and click on device information. There, click on the software information and tap your “build number” several times. Lo and behold – developer mode is activated. This allows us to make the changes. Open the developer options and activate the switch for “USB debugging”. This allows you to get extended access to your smartphone via a computer. Now connect your phone to your computer or notebook via USB.

Step 2: For the process you need the two software tools ADB and Universal Android Debloater, which you can download to your computer for free. Both tools are available for Windows, Mac and Linux. You can download the software here:

The first is “ADB”. This stands for “Android Debug Bridge” and is – put simply – a communication bridge between the computer and the Android device. To install ADB, you need to extract the downloaded ZIP file. Open the folder to find the “adb” file. Copy the path of this folder.

Now open your system properties via “This PC” and then “Advanced system settings”. There you click on “Environment variables”. Select the variable “Path” and click on “Edit”. Go to “New” and paste the copied folder path here. ADB is now set up.

Step 3: The second tool is the “Universal Android Debloater”. This allows you to find your installed apps on your Android device and uninstall them if necessary. You can open the debloater by simply double-clicking on the file.

Step 4: Open the console on your computer and type in the following command: “adb devices”. A request will then appear on your smartphone asking if you want to allow debugging using this computer. Confirm this and open the Universal Android Debloater. And voilá – you will see an overview of the apps installed on your phone. Here you can select what you want to remove, click on “Uninstall” and the app will be removed from the device.

There is also a pre-selection of “recommended” apps that you can remove. This makes your work easier. But just to be on the safe side, check again what exactly the tool wants to remove here.

Notes

Are you unsure what kind of app is behind a name and what it does? For many applications, you will find an explanation in the box below in the Universal Android Debloater about what the selected app does and whether you can remove it without any problems.

If you can’t find any information in the tool and are unsure, a quick Google search will usually help you find out what the app is about. For example, we came across an app called “com.samsung.android.visualars” that had no explanation. We quickly found the result online: it was Samsung’s “Smart Touch Call”. A service for calling call centers. Not important to us – the app can go.

Also consider the following: If your smartphone receives a major system update, some of the removed apps may be reinstalled on the device. You would then have to uninstall them again using this method. Such major updates only occur once or twice a year, which keeps the effort to a minimum.

(Dan)