I want as little Google as possible on my Fairphone 4!

So, exemplary lists of packages are being assembled, ways to find out what those packages are or do exist … and a Wiki already exists where this all could be brought together by everybody interested … ✏ How to uninstall and reinstall Android system apps / packages.

Just integrate a list of packages there, or start a new dedicated Wiki for this, and everybody feeling like searching for info on the packages can add the desired info step by step.

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I had the same idea. I’ll create a new dedicated wiki topic with a list of packages in the next few days.

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Found this universal debloater project, the folders list the packages and give information on what the package is doing

Also there are lists around here in the forum for the FP3 and I assume many packages are the same

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That’s the old repo, this is the new one:

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Yes correct and I was referring to the old one, because of the listings of the packages and the correponding explanations, as this was the discussion. I don’t see this information on the new repo…

@rar0 thanks for adding a Fairphone request :slight_smile:

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As you might have already seen, I’ve added a new guide on how to debloat the FP4. Feel free to edit it if you know more.

My request to add Fairphone to universal-android-debloater is still pending but you can already see the changes with infos about the Fairphone apps here:

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Great post and well written with much detail!
Out of curiosity, why would someone not just use /e/OS? Manually removing seemingly core apps can cause stability issues.

Maybe it’s good to point out the existence of /e/OS in your tutorial and maybe also mention the website below.

By the way, the Simple Calendar Pro link refers to a calculator.

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I made your post a wiki and to keep it clean I closed it and moved @UPPERCASE comment back here

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I can only speak for myself why I debloat my phone / pc / tv /anything with an OS, there are multiple factors:

  • There are no custom roms available, the phone is bloated now
  • It’s fun :smiley:
  • You get to know the inner workings of your device, what makes it tick
  • Removing software that annoys me gives me a sense of true ownership over my device
  • I get to purge all those trackers and privacy unfriendly stuff …
  • … and replace them with shiny Open Source Software a beautiful community built for me
  • Every failure teaches you how to fix stuff, empowering you to help others in the future
  • Have I mentioned it’s fun :smirk:
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Hi all,
I am a former embedded system engineer. I tried to “degooglize” partially my Fairphone 4.
In my guide on Tutorial : Install MicroG on Fairphone OS you’ll find more details.

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Points brought up when this question comes along include but are most probably not limited to:

  • microG being included in /e/OS in an unremovable way currently … there are users who don’t like having it if they don’t need it.
    /e/OS of course needs microG to support the claim that you can still run most of your favourite Apps, which will be Google-dependent Apps in case of /e/OS’s main target group of users, and those Apps will need microG to have a chance to run on /e/OS.

  • Bliss Launcher, which is the /e/OS default launcher … being kind of an iOS lookalike and very short on customisation options for the sake of simplicity, which not every user likes.
    Sure, you can install and use a different launcher of your choice, but users have to know that first (which is not a given), and users not liking Bliss see the resources poured into it as a waste and better put to use elsewhere in /e/OS.

  • /e/OS uses its own forks of popular Open Source Apps for crucial tasks like e.g. email and messaging, instead of using the original Apps … which gives control over the default Apps preinstalled with /e/OS to the /e/OS developers, which a project like that would want to have, but there are complaints about patches and new features from the original Apps not being added to the /e/OS forks in a timely manner.
    Sure, you can uninstall preinstalled Apps in the default Android way and use Apps of your choice instead, but again users have to know that first, and it’s not an overly simple process, which is another regular complaint about /e/OS.

  • Lack of clarity in the communication about what /e/OS technically is and which limits it has as a consequence.
    Which leaves a number of users surprised when they learn … No, /e/OS can not guarantee to run Google-dependent Apps reliably, it can only try its best, which might not be enough for this or that particular App. You can not degoogle and still have Google.

  • Making the Exposure Notifications part of microG an optional component to appease vocal Corona tracing critics … which led Corona tracing non-critics to abandon /e/OS because this detour took a lot of time to implement (in which many Corona tracing Apps were not usable with /e/OS) and still might cause problems after OS updates (with the component missing again when it was installed and active before).

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/e/OS is kinda beta state as well.

They are not just launching a de-googled custom rom, which I would think is good. No, they try:

  1. build their own ecosystem → e.cloud
    (don’t need it. don’t want it.)
  2. implement their own app store → cleanpk.org
    (there is no info about where the apps come from. who is behind cleanapk, etc… Not trustworthy)
  3. they fork all possible standard apps
    (which is not necessary and makes the whole thing worse)
  4. microG is always lagging behind

    These are all points that put me off and keep me from looking at /e/ or trying it out.

There are alternatives:

  1. pure LOS
  2. LOS4mg
  3. iodè
    1+2 still takes some work to get the system google-free.
    3 is a good approach. The only thing that can be criticized about iodè is that their iodè app is not open source. But I can live with that, because I know the sources.
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Hello guys, first of all, thank you for your great commitment on this topic, it is really helpful in the waiting of LOS to be officially available!
I follow the simple uninstall process indicated in the current thread by @rar0 and everything runs smoothly so far, except I cannot sync my agenda through CalDav system. DavX⁵ is ok, but Etar won’t open, it closes immediately after opening. Did someone face the same issue by any chance?

Thank you again!

Yes,same problems.
Reinstall:
com.android.keychain
com.android.providers.calendar
worked for me

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Try enabling com.android.providers.calendar again :thinking:
I believe that’s used to let calendar applications talk to something like Davx⁵.

Edit: Too slow :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes:

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Works well indeed! Thank you :+1:

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Do I have the full 5-year-warranty on hardware if I was running some degoogled third-party OS (lineage, /e/ os, sailfish etc.), as long as I install Fairphone OS before sending it to Fairphone for repairs?

In the legal text Fairphone says:

[…] if you modify some Android partitions when you flash a Third Party Operating System, which makes it impossible to go back to the official Software version provided by Fairphone.

How should I read this? As long as it’s possible to install Fairphone OS and having that installed before sending it in, I have the warranty?

Yes.

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@ iodè: and how long will we have to wait for this OS?