Ultimate Samsung (OneUI) Debloat, Privacy, & Customization Guide

[Mnky313]

My goal here is to provide a ton of information regarding stuff like disabling bloatware/apps you don't use, cool/useful settings, ways to customize the look and feel of your phone, etc.

I see a lot of posts about people either complaining about preinstalled apps that they can't remove or asking is there a way to remove them, so I'll start there:

 

Removing Built in Apps/Bloatware

There are 2 main ways to remove apps that can't be disabled from within settings:

1. App Freezer

• + Once set up, you can do everything from the phone
• + More user friendly
• + More reliable
• - Longer, more complicated setup
• - Requires granting DEVICE_OWNER permission & has text in quick settings (that can't be disabled)/lockscreen (that can be disabled) saying 'device belongs to your organization'

2. ADB shell commands

• + Simpler setup
• + Requires no apps to use
• - Everything is done via command line
• - Sometimes disabled packages can still run and cause problems.

 

App Freezer Installation:

1. Download App Freezer onto your phone
2. Follow the ADB Installation Instructions (In this same post)
3. Go to your phone Settings > 'Accounts and Backup' > 'Manage Accounts'
4. Remove ALL accounts listed here. This is temporary, you can add them back once your finished the initial setup of App Freezer.
5. Open an ADB Shell on your PC and run dpm set-device-owner com.wakasoftware.appfreezer/.receiver.DPMReceiver
6. That's it for App Freezer, you should be able to go into the app and tap on packages to freeze them. Check the App Information section of this post to see recommendations on apps that can be disabled.

Removing/Disabling Packages With ADB Shell Instructions:

• First Follow the ADB Installation Instructions (In this same post)
• Whenever a command has *packagename* in it, it means replace it with the package name.
• There are multiple ways to find the package name for apps, you can use an app like Package Name View 2.0 on your phone or you could use the pm list packages command.
  for example if you wanted to find all packages containing facebook you can run the command pm list packages | grep *facebook* and it should return a list of packages, something like:

  package:com.facebook.katana
  package:com.facebook.system
  package:com.facebook.appmanager
  package:com.facebook.services

• Some apps will allow you to globally disable them, but it generally easier to use disable-user, once you know the package name of an app you want to disable just run the command pm disable-user --user 0 *packagename* to disable it.
• If you want to re-enable something you previously disabled you can either do so in settings (Apps > Your Apps section (tap the arrow with 3 lines on the right and toggle 'show system apps' to see system apps)) or run pm enable *packagename*

 

ADB Installation Instructions:

1. Download & Install Minimal ADB & Fastboot on your (Windows) PC. (There are ways of using ADB on Linux and MacOS but I won't go into them here)
2. Open your phone settings and navigate to 'About phone' > 'Software Information', then tap 'Build Number' until you see a prompt for your passcode, enter it.
3. Go back to the main settings page, their should be a new button at the bottom for 'Developer Options', open it and enable 'USB Debugging'.
4. Plug your phone into your PC via a USB cable.
5. Run adb shell in the cmd window opened by Minimal ADB and Fastboot, you should see a prompt on your phone to allow that pc for USB debugging, check 'always allow from this computer' and press allow
6. You should now see something like q2q:/ $ in the cmd window (the q2q part doesn't matter, it's just the codename of your device. q2q is zfold3)
7. That's it for ADB, this is the 'ADB Shell' I refer to when saying to run commands, it should stay connected until you disconnect your phone, all you need to do to get back to it is type adb shell in the Minimal ADB & Fastboot window again.

 

App Information:
You can check the original post about this on reddit (when it gets approved) for a table of apps, I can't really post them here in a readable format. (If someone else who knows the formatting better than be knows of a way feel free to share).
For now you can find debloat lists for your phone online, usually on XDA-Developers.

 

 

Privacy Apps and Settings to Change:

Obviously if you're going for full on privacy your best best bet is something like a Pixel with CalyxOS or GrapheneOS but there are still plenty of things you can do on Samsung phones to improve privacy.

Settings:

• Disable 'Privacy' > 'Send diagnostic data'
• Disable 'Privacy' > 'Android Personalization serivce'
• Disable Google Web & App Activity, Location History, Youtube History, & Ad personalization under 'Privacy' > 'Activity Controls'
• Disable 'Privacy' > 'Usage & diagnostics'
• Feel Free to suggest more options I've missed!

Useful Privacy Apps:

• AppOps
  Allows much more granular permission management as well as the ability to trick apps into thinking they have the permission even when they don't.
  Paid upgrades adds support for templates that get applied to new apps and many other features
  Requires Shizuku
• TrackerControl
  Allows you to block built in app trackers, uses a VPN connection to accomplish this without root.
• Privacy Dashboard (If you're not on Android 12, it has this built in)
  Gives you a log of when apps access camera, mic, and location permission. Also can display dot indicators on your screen when they are being used.
• F-Droid/Aurora Store
  Alternative App stores, F-Droid features only FOSS (Free & Open Source) Apps, Aurora Store allows you to download apps from the play store without a google account/anonymously.

 

Shizuku Setup:

AppOps and some other Apps mentioned later in the Custom Themes section require Shizuku, it's basically a way for apps to run ADB commands locally without needing a PC.

1. Download Shizuku
2. Open Shizuku and select 'Pairing' under 'Start via Wireless Debugging'
3. Tap the developer options link and scroll down to 'Wireless Debugging', enable it (and select always allow on this netowrk), then tap to the left of the toggle to open the settings.
4. Tap 'Pair device with pairing code', shizuku should pop up a notification with a button for 'Enter Pairing code'
5. Tap 'Enter pairing code' on the notification and enter the code provided.
6. Once it says 'Pairing successful', go back to shizuku and select 'Start' under 'Start via Wireless debugging' (If it asks you to enable Wireless debugging, press developer options and toggle wireless debugging off and back on)
7. You should now see 'Shizuku is running' in the top left of the app.
8. That's it. You will need to hit start after every reboot but you won't need to pair the device again, only start it.

Customization:

OneUI has a LOT of customizability, I broke this up into a few sections. I don't cover every setting just some from each module I found useful.

Good Lock:

• If you haven't heard of good lock it's a collection of first party apps that allow you to change a bunch of settings for the look and feel of different aspects of Samsung's apps and software. If Good lock isn't available in your country you can try Nicelock or Fine Lock. They should all function the same.

LockStar:

• Allows you to change a ton of options for your lockscreen. You can create custom layouts for portrait and landscape mode as well as change the timeout.
• BTW if you hide the 'Help Text' item it removes the 'This device belongs to your organization' thing from App Freezer

QuickStar:

• Mainly useful for the ability to change the visibility of indicator icons (like wifi, bluetooth, nfc, etc.). It's a great way to hide all the icons you don't care about to clean up the status bar.
• I don't recommend using it to style the quick panel, I will cover that later in Theme Park/#Hex_

Clockface:

• Pretty simple, allows you to change the look of both your lockscreen and AOD clock, there are a bunch of options or you can 'make your own' which boils down to basically choosing elements from the premade ones & the ability to add text/gifs.

MultiStar:

• A bunch of multitasking related settings, I recommend enabling 'Mutli-Window Screen zoom' for both popup and split screen as well as Multi Focus, these allow you to see more on splitscreen/pop out apps & allow multiple apps to actively run at once.
• There's also an option for foldable to continue all apps on cover screen which is super useful.

NavStar:

• Allows you to customize the navbar buttons and look. I mainly just use it to add the button to quickly hide the navbar and disable custom themes from overriding the icons.
• There's also an option to have a little mini app switcher on foldables.

NotiStar:

• Adds a bunch of options related to notificaitons, I haven't really used it much but it can be useful if you receive a lot of notifications.

RegiStar:

• Lets you customize which settings menus are displayed on the front page of the settings app, even lets you re-arrange them however you like.
• Allows you to view settings change history as well as set an action for tapping the back of the phone and some other minor stuff as well

Home Up:

• Adds the ability to change the grid size to up to 7x7 on OneUI Home as well the ability to change the dock icon count and loop pages.

Keys Café:

• Incredible level of customizations for the Samsung keyboard. You can change the colours, effects, and sounds. But the big thing is the ability to create custom keyboard layouts for both the main keyboard & symbol keyboards.
• Galaxy Foldables can set different layouts for the inner and outer screen as well.
• Seriously if you haven't tried it, it's the only reason I use the Samsung Keyboard.

Pentastic:

• Some simple tweaks to Aircommand and the pen cursor.

Theme Park:

• Allows for a ton of custom theming of the OS, keyboard, icons, and volume panel. I recommend Hex instead of just themepark themes & I go into custom icons more in the Custom Themes section.

Wonderland:

• I haven't used this but it allows you to create custom animated wallpapers.

Nice Catch:

• Allows you to view what apps vibrated your phone, sent notifications, or displayed popups.

One Hand operation +:

• I also haven't used this but it allows for a bunch of customization of the one handed mode.

SoundAssistant:

• Loads of sound related options including the ability to change volumes for individual apps and allow an app to always play sound over any other app (useful for music apps that get paused when opening certain games/apps).

 

Custom Themes

The main application for custom themes is #Hex_ which allows for the creation of custom themes that can change the system colours, buttons, icons, and many other aspects (including the ability to theme certain apps outside of what a normal theme can do.) The app is paid however it's well work it in my opinion for the amount of customizability it offers.

#Hex_ works on most versions of OneUI but Theme park and therefore most of the other stuff talked about after this like custom icons and volume panel might not work as expected on anything except OneUI 4.

#Hex_ Installtion:

1. Download Hex Installer
   (if you're on 1.X, 2.X, or 3.0 skip steps 2 and 3, if you are on OneUI 3.1.X #Hex_ is not supported but there is a workaround, go to Hex OneUI 3.1.X Workaround and follow that), If you're on OneUI 5.1.1 #Hex_ is NOT supported
2. Download Theme Park (from the galaxy store) and create a custom theme by pressing 'Create New' on the theme tab. It doesn't need to be anything specific, it will get replaced by Hex later on. (you also need good lock)
3. Follow the Shizuku Set up if you haven't already (in the privacy section of this post)
4. launch Hex and follow the on screen prompts until you get to where it asks you for ADB setup, tap on 'Hex ADB setup' and hit shizuku, there should be a prompt you need to allow.
5. Tap on personalize and modify to your liking, I recommend going under apps and selecting all of them (except samsung keyboard if you plan to use Keys Café). There are plenty of plugins on the play store but most of them are paid, I recommend AOSP R Dark as a good free option if you like the look of stock android.
6. Once you're done modifying the theme hit build & install.
7. Follow what hex tells you, it's different on different version of OneUI.

Hex OneUI 3.1.X Workaround:

1. Download and install App Freezer, the instructions are back in the debloating section.
2. Follow steps 4-7 of the installation guide, once the Hex theme is applied freeze both Theme Store and Theme Services in app freezer (it HAS to be frozen in app freezer, disabling it via ADB does NOT work.
3. That should be it. You will need to unfreeze it to modify the theme.

 

Custom Icons:

You don't need Adapticons anymore!
In Theme park scroll over to the Icons section and hit create new (or previous work if you have one) and hit the option in the top right (if you have a black theme like mine these buttons are invisible but just tab around the rop right corner and you should see a 'Change Icons' button, in that menu you can tap on an app and select a new icon from Icon parks or the gallery!

Depending on how in depth you want to get custom icons, there are more apps needed.

If you just want to apply a premade Icon Pack from the play store system wide you can do so very easily with just Theme Park, simply download the icon pack, go into Theme park > 'Icons' > 'Create New', tap Icon pack and select the one you want, then press the download button and apply it.

These Icons should show up everywhere, not just the launcher. (settings, app switcher, edge panel, etc.)

Please see the 'Adapticons Keeps Crashing!' section

If you want custom icons, you need 2 more apps:

1. Download Adapticons & Icon Pack Mixer (You will need to pay the $1 for Adapticons if you want to do multiple apps & another $1 if you want to mix over 100 icons in Icon Pack Mixer)
2. Open adapticons and select all the apps you want to modify.
3. Select an Icon Shape (Probably Keep Original)
4. Tap the icon under 'icon settings' and select 'import icon', from here you can either choose to pick an icon from an icon pack or an image from your gallery.
5. Modify the icon until you're happy with it, then tap the next icon near the top to select it.
6. Repeat steps 3-5 for all the icons you want to modify.
7. Once you're done, tap the save icon in the top right & select 'export as icon pack'.
8. Install the exported icon pack
9. Open Icon Pack Mixer and tap mix
10. Go through and select the icon you want for each app, then tap 'lets continue'
11. Select export as icon pack and install it.
12. Go to theme park > 'Icons' > 'Create new' & select the mixed icon pack for the icon pack.
13. That's it, you're custom icon should show up basically everywhere.

Adapticons Keeps Crashing!

Yes, I know. It does this a lot, especially on Android 11+

What I can recommend is this:

• After every icon tap the 3 dots in the top right and 'Save for later' (just save it as the number of icons modified so it's easy to keep track of.)
• When loading a saved pack repeatedly tap in the section that'll change the icon shape when pressing load, for whatever reason this is the only way I've found to successfully load a saved pack that crashes
• I believe the developer abandoned this app but I can't find any alternatives so if you know of one comment below, I've tried basically everything I could find on the play store.
• Avoid throwing your phone across the room after not being able to load a save for 10 minutes, it's just not worth it xD

Answered Questions and Other Stuff:

Wow, this is a long post. I'm tired of typing out instructions a bunch so I just complied them all into one spot.
Yes I know the formatting is eh, and I'm sure there are many misspelled words.

I'd like to add pictures to this post at some point but it's already wayyy too long so for now I'll leave it.

Feel free to ask questions and suggest other things!

I didn't get into it but yes, you can use Shizuku + a terminal app like Termux to disable packages from the phone itself via ADB.

this was initially typed up on reddit so excuse the formatting,  I tried to fix it the best I can.

I attached a JSON for De-Bloater (requires root) and a very long screenshot (in a zip so it doesn't preview in the post) with my disabled apps (Fold3 OneUI 5.1) for anyone interested. My presets are pretty aggressive though.
 

Fold3-OneUI51_33.json

 

AppList.zip

Edited September 1, 2023 by Mnky313
Added RegiStar