[Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra Guides, News, & Discu] htchd2sucks:
Hi,

Samsung Galaxy note 20 ultra Europe exynos sm-986b debloat/decrapify (Switzerland/Swisscom).

I'm starting my journey to debloat that phone which is entirely unusable for me, due to the unwanted presence of hundred of junk apps.

After realizing that I was not using a data cable but only a charging cable (computer not having usbc, I had to use another cable than the official one). I manage to get my bearings a bit.

So the connection is sorted out (out of topic), now start the actual decrapifying:

1) I used/will use this program, to list all programs:

https://xdaforums.com/android/software-hacking/easy-management-android-applications-t4147837

Note: I could have used adb directly but this seems easier, especially as we talk about hundred of lines.

Note 2: each time I installed "ACBridge" which appears to show nice icons for that program.

2) I have compiled a list of applications currently installed. I did not install anything manually myself yet, not even connected to Android Play:

442 apps by default.

https://gofile.io/d/xGHoff

Note: Are some of these apps only specific to my seller and my region? It's possible, since the phone clearly had some of the FYI operator branded options installed.

3) I'm going to factory reset now. Again, nothing was really installed, just official rom updates done. But I want to start from fresh.

4) After I will reinitiate the phone, I will redo the list of applications capture, and start trimming down.

5) After the factory reset, it seems I had a new screen (unless I skipped it by mistake last time) proposing me to install additional apps like spotify, linked in... I refused this time. Last time I had the apps installed maybe a mistake click, or something new thanks to newer firmware.

6) Use the program again, I now have 429 apps only instead of 442.

7) I tried the list mentioned a starting point, I will look into this user list, allegedely 109 apps removed from a S20 (which is a different phone, I know):

https://xdaforums.com/t/tool-windows-adb-appcontrol-v1-4-5.4147837/post-83980273

First that only has 104 apps over 109.

Second, I found a few items I wanted to keep and a few I wanted to remove.

Customization Work required here...!

Caution: the list of 109 items contains what is described elsewere as dangerous:

com.samsung.android.authfw ; Not Recommended: Used for password autocompletion, can be removed if you don't use it. This app is sometimes called by the system and might cause battery drain if removed

com.serv.android.preloadinstaller : App that install other application, do not remove!

I will check each non-obvious items.

This list seems more pro:

Samsung full apps list

Front LAST UPDATED 01/09/2022,Reinstall an app using pm install-existing [the app package],Enter in shell using adb -d shell before running the command,Enter in shell using adb -d shell before running the command,<a href="https://docs.samsungknox.com/CCMode/G988B_Q.pdf">https://docs.samsungknox....

docs.google.com

I made a custom preset with the 85 items in the list of " Safe to uninstall ". Only 71/86 where showing, some I wanted to keep like Android Auto.

--> I seems to have to choice but start from a bigger list and go through it myself.

After checking each items of that 109 list, vs the spreadsheet and sometimes google, I actually ended up reducing the list, or keeping more items. My final list is currently 68 applications to remove.

I also removed additional things like Netflix.

FINAL LIST:

Samsung SM-N986B_[All]_presetJSDec2020.txt

In the process I learned that this list seems rather personal to do. Yet, some items are marked not to be removed due to battery drain, so the initial list of 109 seems risky. I would say some manual work is mandatory.

8) Moving on, time to uninstall. Done.

9) Time to configure the basics again (basically language, etc...). Done.

10) Time to migrate data from old phone to new phone, I used "Samsung smart switch" app, installed it on both phone, used wifi, and unselected unwanted things. Done after some 1-2 hours (not so much data but it was slow and I interrupted twice).

11) Now the phone looks ok, a few apps had to be manually reinstalled like MCDonald's crapp.

12) Time to recover authenticator, relogin to apps, etc...Some apps I can't do now like RSA token, needs to regenerate a token elsewhere. GoogleAuth was simple, I could easily export from old phone/import new phone..

13) Phone works for now. I see I missed to remove some stuffs like "My files" which was basically simply like file explorer but from Samsung. That was indicated as "not remove" but probably can be ( com.sec.android.app.myfiles ).

Edit: day +1 after the step 13. Phone works properly. No visible impact on battery drain (seems high, as usual and with little usage overnight, same as before any intervention from my side). Unable to continue anything for now, being ill. Everything seems to work, even without the stuffs I removed.

On that note, I got rid of youtube and yt music, and installed YoutubeVance.

I tested the basics (phone, camera...) looks ok.

Note: this is WIP and more sharing the journey, as well as learning. Usually I would unlock bootloader, root, and install a decent ROM from XDA; but not happening this time.