I’ve not yet completed this how-to, but this guide here is fantastic (web achieve backup).
revanced/revanced-cli: 💻 Command line application as an alternative to the ReVanced Manager
https://github.com/revanced/revanced-cli
Download YouTube APKs for Android – APKMirror
https://www.apkmirror.com/apk/google-inc/youtube/
In order to uninstall system apps, you generally need root access, optionally you can do this via ADB shell (Android Debug Bridge) shell = command line.
You can install ADB automatically or manually, the manual process consists of downloading the SDK platform tools:
SDK Platform Tools release notes | Android Studio | Android Developers
https://developer.android.com/tools/releases/platform-tools
Or if you’ve already got Android Studio downloaded, over SDK Manager > SDK Tools installed the package.
To connect:
adb shellThen to list all the installed apps:
pm list packages
To narrow down or search for packages containing certain words:
pm list package | grep "youtube"To uninstall:
pm uninstall --user 0 package-name
pm uninstall --user 0 com.google.android.youtube
pm uninstall --user 0 com.google.android.apps.youtube.musicTo disable:
pm disable --user 0 package-nameHow to uninstall carrier/OEM bloatware without root access
https://www.xda-developers.com/uninstall-carrier-oem-bloatware-without-root-access/
The –user flag in the above command is important because it tells the system to uninstall the app for the current user only (and 0 is the default/main user of the phone). There is no way you can uninstall the app from all users unless you root the phone.
-k option to keep the packages data and cache.
pm uninstall -k | XDA Forums
https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/pm-uninstall-k.4427021/
How To Disable Any System App Bloatware On Android Without Root
https://www.xda-developers.com/disable-system-app-bloatware-android/
[Q] “pm disable” – Where’s it store the list? | XDA Forums
https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/q-pm-disable-wheres-it-store-the-list.2379517/
Package Names – Android Apps on Google Play
https://play.google.com/store/search?q=Package%20Names&c=apps&hl=en&gl=US
0x192/universal-android-debloater: Cross-platform GUI written in Rust using ADB to debloat non-rooted android devices. Improve your privacy, the security and battery life of your device.
https://github.com/0x192/universal-android-debloater
[TOOL] ADB AppControl 1.8.0 🚀 Ultimate App Manager & Debloat Tool + Tweaks | XDA Forums
https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/tool-adb-appcontrol-1-8-0-ultimate-app-manager-debloat-tool-tweaks.4147837/
Create a folder on your device, upload or download all files to this folder, this is just so you can reference it later if needed.
Go to the directory where you’ve downloaded Vanced MicroG with your preferred file manager. Run the APK file and install Vanced MicroG first.
After Vanced MicroG is installed, ReVanaged Manager should be next, run it and give it the permissions it needs. Then select Patcher tab (at the very bottom), select YouTube and you should see current and suggested versions. It’s important to download the suggested version, to avoid bugging the patching process, you could try it, if not you’ll need to continue to Step 4.
You can find it via the link Download YouTube APKs for Android – APKMirror. Download nodpi versions if you’re unsure. Upload to your device / select the file from storage and allow it to patch the installer. You may find you need to uninstall the newer version of YouTube for it to install, follow the next step in that case.
Download Spotify APK – Latest Version 2024
https://apkcombo.com/spotify/com.spotify.music/download/apk
In all honesty I tend to just start from the below Step 5 and then Step 4 then continue the whole process.
If you get an error such as “App not installed as package conflicts with an existing package.” then you’ll need to make sure everything is completely uninstalled and trying again. As this will get pretty long I’ve created a different post, click the links below.
Go to the YouTube app and under “set as default” – turn it off. Under YouTube ReVanced, make sure “Open supported links” is enabled and make sure within ‘supported web addresses” you’ve toggled all on.
Let’s fix YouTube links! – Hokora Yinphine
https://hokorayinphinempp.github.io/obsidian-git-sync/Revanced/5%20Extras/Fix%20Links/
> I installed Vanced MicroG! – Hokora Yinphine
https://hokorayinphinempp.github.io/obsidian-git-sync/Revanced/2B%20Unrooted/MicroG%20Installed/
Guide For Installing YT Music ReVanced : r/revancedapp
https://www.reddit.com/r/revancedapp/comments/131beri/guide_for_installing_yt_music_revanced/
Nice and simple camera if you’re not interested in paying any subscription and just need a simple, but private one camera to work properly setup. No HD quality with the free version, but can do the job.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.cawice.android
https://cawice.com/
https://alternativeto.net/software/cawice/about/
Loads of features and most importantly all features included in the free version, and if you want to support or commit to it, just subscribe to remove the ads, it also seems to be the cheapest of them all.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=cz.scamera.securitycamera
https://securitycamera.cz/en/
https://alternativeto.net/software/security-camera-cz/
Quite expensive and app is very limited without subscribing. I would say if the other apps don’t work for you, only then would I suggest giving this a go.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ivuu
https://alfred.camera/
https://alternativeto.net/software/alfred-camera/about/
Expensive, subscription based.
Motion detection (untested)
Nice website that regularly posts about internet privacy and cybersecurity, which equates to open source projects and recommendations.
One of the prerequisites to get scrcpy to work is to activate developer mode and enable USB debugging, of course giving authorization for the device – in this case your PC – access to your Android. Without doing this in advance you’ll not be able to get this to work.
GitHub – Genymobile/scrcpy: Display and control your Android device
https://github.com/Genymobile/scrcpy
There’s no installer, just download the latest version, extract it somewhere and that’s it, no need to install adb seperately, as that’s packaged inside the folder. Of course have a look at the steps, as you’ll need to enable USB debugging.
Recording needs to be manually turned on, so instead of running the .exe in the folder, you should see a .bat file named “open_a_terminal_here.bat”, run that and the terminal for you to input command-line arguments should appear.
Have a look on the github page for the full list.
Looking for an open source, trustworthy (in terms of knowing exactly what it does and what it’s capable of) QR scanner, then check out ‘Privacy Friendly QR-Scanner App’.
It’s quite sad of the amount of downloads for QR/bar code scanners on the Google Play store filled with ads, trackers and potentially malicious background activates, some of them are downloaded in the millions.
Some people though know that it does not have to be that way. You can download it via their website or via their F-Droid page (if you want to know more about F-Droid, you can read it here) or even Google Play.
I was looking for open source Android apps to possibly replace some of my standard apps that are filled with adware or oddly very large with too many extra permissions which makes me assume there’s something happening in the background that it shouldn’t.
F-Droid is basically the same as the Google Play store, but for free and open source apps. You can download it via their website at https://f-droid.org/en/, in fact you can use any QR code scanner to get the link, and install it using your system file viewer/manager.
Wanted a Chromium browser, free from the hands of Google and their ads and tracking. I could not find an ungoogled-chrome for android, but this is an equal equivalent. I was using Brave, but found this to be a bit too pushy with its features.
Bromite is open source, free and you can download it via their website.
It’s very odd that Android does not have this simple feature installed on its OS. Nevertheless we can still do it ourselves until they come around by using a simple application someone (Cilenco) has kindly developed.
If you know what you’re doing then here’s the link.
If you’re not sure, continue reading. It’s not hard, but it’s not as simple as install and go. You’ll first need to do a few things.
Download the application installer here. Once you install it will ask you to run a command line on adb (Android Debug Bridge). Before you can successfully execute the command, you’ll need to enable developer and debugging modes on your device. Your device needs to be connected to your USB for this entire process. You can transfer over the application installer this way anyway.
On your computer, download Android Studio here. You can either download the whole package or simply download the platform-tools to use adb. You’ll only need adb, but I had trouble finding it so I downloaded the entire thing and via the configuration went to SDK Manager > SDK Tools installed the package.
If you managed to install platform-tools one way or another. Press start and type “cmd”, which should auto search for Command Prompt. Run it.
You will need to navigate to the folder, so type “cd <location of platform-tools folder>”. If like me you installed on a different drive, you will need to type “d:” or whatever drive letter your folder is at. Then the cd part above.
Next you’ll want to test the connection to your device. Type:
adb devices
If you see a device in the list then you’re good to go with executing the final command.
adb shell pm grant com.cilenco.skiptrack android.permission.SET_VOLUME_KEY_LONG_PRESS_LISTENER
Start the application on your phone and you’re done. Follow any necessary permission steps on the app.
If you did not see your device in the list, you’ll need to track back and make sure you’ve enabled developer mode, USB debugging mode and your computer sees your phone. Install USB/device drivers if necessary.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/android/apps-games/app-skip-track-volume-keys-t3914337/
https://developer.android.com/studio#downloads
https://github.com/Cilenco/skipTrackLongPressVolume/releases
https://www.howtogeek.com/125769/how-to-install-and-use-abd-the-android-debug-bridge-utility/