pumpcin / android-debloat-list

[WIP] A comprehensive list of apps for debloating Android with suggestions and vulnerabilities, based on but independent of UAD project.

Android Debloat List

A comprehensive list of apps that come preinstalled with many ROMs and how to remove and replace them, intended for backend rather than frontend. This list is kept in synchronised with the Universal Android Debloater (UAD) project.

JSON Schema

Our JSON schema is quite different from the one used in the UAD project.

• id (string) - Name of the package. It has to be unique per entry across all the list.
• label (string) optional - The readable name of the package in English, currently optional as UAD does not have this field.
• dependencies (list of strings) optional - Package names of the apps that this app depends on.
• required_by (list of strings) optional - Package names of the apps that depend on this app.
• tags (list of strings) optional - List of predefined tags/categories.
• description (string) - Description of the package under 200 words.
• web (list of strings) optional - List of websites including Google Play Store, investigation reports, etc.
• removal (string) - How should this app be removed. The values are predefined.
• warning (string) optional - Additional description for the app that require user's attention.
• suggestions (string) optional - Suggestion ID.

Values for removal

name	description
delete	It's safe to just get rid of the app.
replace	Replace the app with something else, preferably, with one of the suggestions.
caution	It might not be safe to get rid of the app.
unsafe	It is unsafe to get rid of the app. warning must be set for this.

Values for tags

Will be added when required.

Suggestions

The filename of the suggestion is its Suggestion ID. The file contains a list of suggested apps. Each suggestion has the following format:

• id (string) - Package name of the app.
• label (string) - The readable name of the app in English.
• reason (string) optional - Why this is suggested, under 100 words. This value must only be filled for cases where no valid alternative exists.
• source (string) optional - Source of the app. This is a predefined value, could be fgas where f stands for F-Droid, g for Google Play Store, a for Amazon Appstore and s for Samsung Galaxy Store.
• repo (string) - Link to the project repository.

Criteria for suggestions

1. There does not already exist a suggestion for the Suggestion ID that offers similar or better features. A new suggestion without a reason is preferable over an existing suggestion with reason.
2. Both source code and software have to be free (libre) and open source having an OSI approved license. Use of non-free assets or resources (that is, non-source code) in a software is permissible. But the reason must be included for such cases.
3. Interface or functions (UI/UX) should be very or nearly similar to the original app or even better. If no such alternative is available right now, reason must be included.
4. For crucial apps, such as instant messaging or password manager apps, only an audited app might be listed. Unaudited yet popular apps should contain sufficient warning in the reason section.
5. The suggested app should not contain any trackers. If it does contain any reasonable tracker such as crash reporting framework, it should be disabled (that is, opt-out) by default. If there exists no such alternatives, the reason section must be updated with sufficient warning.
6. No credits or endorsement is allowed. If a suggested app contain or advertise its inclusion in this list, the app will be removed from the list in immediate effect.

Contributing

See CONTRIBUTING.md.

License

Copyright (C) 2022  Muntashir Al-Islam

This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
it under the terms of the GNU Affero General Public License as published by
the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
(at your option) any later version.

This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
GNU Affero General Public License for more details.

You should have received a copy of the GNU Affero General Public License
along with this program.  If not, see <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.