After rolling out Universal Android Debloater v0.4.0 in February, XDA Member w1nst0n_fr has now released a fresh update for the shell script. The latest update (v0.5) brings a major debloat list update, a few new features, and several minor UI changes and improvements.
For the unaware, Universal Android Debloater is a shell script that utilizes community-maintained OEM and carrier-specific bloatware lists for seamless debloating. It’s a handy tool for those who wish to purge their Android phones of all OEM and carrier-specific bloatware with a single click.
With its latest update, Universal Android Debloater’s debloat list has received support for a bunch of new packages. The update also brings some minor UI changes, new Unselect all and Reboot buttons, and remote download support for debloat lists. Check out the section below for the full Universal Android Debloater v0.5 changelog.
Universal Android Debloater v0.5 changelog
- Apps:
- Added com.tblenovo.lenovotips to the recommended list.
- Move Google keyboard to Advanced list (Default keyboards should not be in the Recommended list)
- Move com.android.htmlviewer to the Expert list. Removing it bootloop the device on MIUI 12.5.4+.
- Debloat list update:
- Added a bunch of new packages
- A lot of description updates and fixes
- Big revision of the recommendations according to more consistent criteria
- Added:
- Unselect all button: Let’s you unselect all the packages you see on screen (i.e in the current filtered list).
- Reboot button: Let’s you quickly reboot the currently selected device.
- Remote uad_lists.json download: The debloat list is now directly fetched from the main branch of this repo when you launch UAD. This means there is no longer the need to release a new version of UAD for updating the debloat lists!
- UAD self-update: UAD will now check at launch if there is a new version of itself and enable you to perform the update directly from the app!
- Changed:
- UAD now tries every 500ms (for 1min) to initiate an ADB connection until a device is found during FindingPhonesthe loading state.
- All the init process was reworked and a status message is displayed at each stage (DownloadingList, FindingPhones,LoadingPackages,UpdatingUad Ready) so you know what is happening.
- Minor UI changes
- Packaging:
- Add a no-self-update build for MacOS and Linux. Useful if UAD is distributed into repositories. The update process will then be managed by a package manager.
- MacOS builds are now also be released as a compressed tarball (like for Linux). You won’t need to manually add the executable permission anymore.
If you’ve just got yourself a new phone and want to free it from all preinstalled bloatware, you can try the Universal Android Debloater script by following the instructions provided in the XDA forum thread linked below. Even though the script gives you the option to remove all bloatware from your device with a single click, we recommend exercising discretion while removing packages using the script or you might run into some unwanted issues.
Universal Android Debloater XDA Thread
If you’re not comfortable using the script, you can follow the instructions provided in our guide to uninstall carrier/OEM bloatware without root access to remove preinstalled apps from your phone.
