What Verizon apps can I remove(ADB)?
d0x360
Enthusiast - Level 3

So Verizon apps... Tisk tisk I've caught them sending information to advertising ip's, analytics firms and China.... China really?  Adguard tells all Verizon.

So what Verizon apps can I remove using adb without losing wifi calling?

Of course everytime I use wifi calling after like 3 min the other person can't hear me and if I can disable wifi before they hang up then I can talk again.  So perhaps I should remove that too and maybe then wifi calling will work properly.

So basically I want to gut this phone of as much as absolutely possible.  No offense Verizon employees who post here, I know it's not your doing and I appreciate the help you offer people.

 

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Re: What Verizon apps can I remove(ADB)?
vzw_customer_support
Customer Service Rep

d0x360, thank you for reaching out to us. We want to make sure your device is functioning correctly. Allow us the opportunity to review the details. Can you please clarify why you are looking to remove any Verizon branded apps? Which specific applications are you referring to?  -Sylvia

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Re: What Verizon apps can I remove(ADB)?
d0x360
Enthusiast - Level 3

Hi Sylvia, how are you doing?

The main reason is I don't trust some them and others I'd never use like dual messenger or My Verizon.  These apps are always running (verifiable with a task manager) which means they are using at least some battery for absolutely no reason. 

Disabling/removing every Verizon app doesn't hurt performance or remove any features from the phone.  Even disabling the hidden Facebook installer (com.facebook.appmanager) doesn't do anything detrimental to Facebook or FB messenger but it does prevent Facebook from being able to install whatever it wants whenever it wants and without the user knowing. It can literally download anything at anytime without the user knowing and it consumes not only battery but also data which is quite expensive on Verizon. Having that ability is a security risk for all Verizon customers with this service installed.

I use an app called Adguard, it blocks ads on a system level, can act like a firewall and also shows every incoming and outbound connection all without root (obviously)..

 

Important---> So there are a couple Verizon services (essentially hidden apps) as well as normal apps that I've seen connecting to tracking servers, ad servers, analytics firms and worst of all some of those servers are in mainland China... 

I honestly can't think of a valid reason for any Verizon app to connect to Chinese servers.   There are also apps that could be exploited remotely to gain full access to the phone due to their permissions... Which you can't change, well you can but somehow they automatically get changed back after rebooting.

Verizon needs to go back to allowing root so advanced users can customize their devices easily.  There's no good reason to block unlocking the bootloader.  None.

So to sum up (and I know I left stuff out because I'm exhausted)

Security
Privacy
Battery life
Resource use
Bloat
Customization

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