P40 Pro debloating guide

H-Emmanuel said:

It's probably a driver problem. Take a look at this guide: https://androidmtk.com/download-minimal-adb-and-fastboot-tool

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H-Emmanuel said:

Hey everyone,

I've spent the last couples days going through all the installed packages, cross-referencing different debloating guides and testing my changes. I'm running the latest EMUI 10.1.0.114 and here's what I debloated so far:
adb shell pm uninstall --user 0 com.huawei.hicloud ****** Huawei cloud features
adb shell pm uninstall --user 0 com.huawei.browser ****** Stock browser, replaced with Mozilla
adb shell pm uninstall --user 0 com.huawei.browserhomepage ****** Stock browser component
adb shell pm uninstall --user 0 com.android.bookmarkprovider ****** Stock bookmark content
adb shell pm uninstall --user 0 com.android.providers.partnerbookmarks ****** Stock bookmark content
adb shell pm uninstall --user 0 com.huawei.wallet ****** Huawei Wallet app
adb shell pm uninstall --user 0 com.huawei.music ****** Stock music application, replaced with PowerAmp (use the APK from their website, it does not rely on Google Services)
adb shell pm uninstall --user 0 com.huawei.phoneservice ****** Huawei customer support, also known as HiCare
adb shell pm uninstall --user 0 com.huawei.hifolder ****** AppAdvisor
adb shell pm uninstall --user 0 com.huawei.parentcontrol ****** Digital balance, parental control features
adb shell pm uninstall --user 0 com.huawei.hicard ****** Huawei Cards, no info but recommended in some guides, no negative consequences
adb shell pm uninstall --user 0 com.huawei.hitouch ****** Allows you to shop for an object that you took a picture of
adb shell pm uninstall --user 0 com.huawei.hiassistantoversea ****** HiVoice. Huawei's voice assistant to replace "Hey Google"
adb shell pm uninstall --user 0 com.huawei.fastapp ****** Quick App Center, another type of app distribution
adb shell pm uninstall --user 0 com.huawei.imedia.sws ****** Histen. Special sound effects found in the sound settings. I only care about my EQ settings in PowerAmp
adb shell pm uninstall --user 0 com.huawei.intelligent ****** Huawei Assistant. Shopping recommendations
adb shell pm uninstall --user 0 com.huawei.magazine ****** Magazine unlock. Downloads wallpapers for your lock screen. I don't need my phone needlessly connecting to remote servers
adb shell pm uninstall --user 0 com.huawei.hwblockchain ****** I don't do anything blockchain related
adb shell pm uninstall --user 0 com.huawei.hwstartupguide ****** A one-time setup app that is no longer needed
adb shell pm uninstall --user 0 com.android.onetimeinitializer ****** A one-time setup app that is no longer needed
adb shell pm uninstall --user 0 com.huawei.android.instantonline ****** No information but recommended in some guides, no negative consequences
adb shell pm uninstall --user 0 com.huawei.hwpanpayservice ****** This is payment related, I don't use my phone as a payment method nor do I use Huawei Wallet
adb shell pm uninstall --user 0 com.bjbyhd.screenreader_huawei ****** An accessibility feature for visually impaired people
adb shell pm uninstall --user 0 com.huawei.search ****** HiSearch. This does not affect the search bar in the Settings
adb shell pm uninstall --user 0 com.huawei.hwdetectrepair ****** Smart Diagnosis app. It diagnoses hardware problems which I could do myself
adb shell pm uninstall --user 0 com.huawei.hiview ****** This supposedly displays details/attributes of pictures. After removing this, I can still access the picture attributes in the stock Gallery so I'm not sure what this is actually about
adb shell pm uninstall --user 0 com.huawei.hiviewtunnel ****** Related to HiView.
adb shell pm uninstall --user 0 com.huawei.hidisk ****** Stock file explorer, replaced with File Manager +
adb shell pm uninstall --user 0 com.huawei.android.chr ****** HwChrService, this collects data about your usage of the cellular network. No thanks
adb shell pm uninstall --user 0 com.huawei.bd ****** Huawei User Experience app
adb shell pm uninstall --user 0 com.huawei.android.karaoke ****** Self explanatory
adb shell pm uninstall --user 0 com.huawei.desktop.explorer ****** I don't need Huawei doing anything on my PC
adb shell pm uninstall --user 0 com.huawei.android.FloatTasks ****** Navigation Dock, I don't care for that UI feature
adb shell pm uninstall --user 0 com.huawei.languagedownloader ****** According to some guides, this is unsafe but I don't need another downloader for something that I'll never use
adb shell pm uninstall --user 0 com.huawei.lbs ****** Location Service. Sounds scary but I am still able to use all my GPS and location services. My location based weather widgets and Waze connect just as fast and accurately as before
adb shell pm uninstall --user 0 com.huawei.featurelayer.sharedfeature.map ****** Huawei Map Service. I removed it and have no issues using Waze
adb shell pm uninstall --user 0 com.hisi.mapcon ****** This is apparently not recommended when using WiFi calling, which I don't
adb shell pm uninstall --user 0 com.huawei.himovie.overseas ****** Stock video application, replaced with VLC. This integrates perfectly with the stock Camera and Gallery apps
adb shell pm uninstall --user 0 com.android.stk ****** SIM Toolkit. Not supported by US SIM cards
adb shell pm uninstall --user 0 com.android.mms ****** Stock SMS application, replaced with Pulse. I can still send/receive SMS & MMS. Textra looks like a good alternative too
adb shell pm uninstall --user 0 com.huawei.HwMultiScreenShot ****** Scrollshot. Basic screenshots still work, I don't use the knock feature
adb shell pm uninstall --user 0 com.huawei.smartshot ****** Smart screenshot. Basic screenshots still work, I don't use the knock feature
adb shell pm uninstall --user 0 com.huawei.bluetooth ****** Allows importing phone contacts via Bluetooth, something I've never done in my life
adb shell pm uninstall --user 0 com.swiftkey.swiftkeyconfigurator ****** Older version of SwiftKey, replaced with the latest SwiftKey APK
adb shell pm uninstall --user 0 com.touchtype.swiftkey ****** Older version of SwiftKey, replaced with the latest SwiftKey APK
adb shell pm uninstall --user 0 com.huawei.pcassistant ****** Used when connecting your phone to your PC using HiSuite
adb shell pm uninstall --user 0 com.android.egg ****** A hidden animation that no one needs to see
adb shell pm uninstall --user 0 com.android.backupconfirm ****** Google Backup, unusable without Google Services. This does not affect Huawei's backup app, I was able to back up all my apps and settings
adb shell pm uninstall --user 0 com.android.calllogbackup ****** Google Call Log Backup/Restore. This does not affect Huawei's backup app, I was able to back up my calls successfully
adb shell pm uninstall --user 0 com.huawei.scanner ****** AI Lens. Shop for objects that you take a picture of. I can't stand these "features" that revolve around shopping. This de-clutters the camera interface by removing the AI Lens button on the top left corner and does not break the AR Measure app.


NOTICE THAT I DO NOT INCLUDE THE -k PARAMETER IN MY COMMANDS, unlike most guides found online. I do not get any error running the commands as such, and it actually clears the data created by those apps. In other words, we're not only debloating your user interface but also your storage!

To restore any app removed via ADB:
adb shell cmd package install-existing <package_name>

I always try to uninstall apps through Android before resorting to ADB. I did not really keep track of apps that I uninstalled through the menu, so it's just easier to tell you which stock apps I kept installed. By stock app, I ONLY MEAN actual apps that you can open from the home screen:
-AppGallery. This requires com.huawei.hwid to work. I needed it to get Snapchat, I might ADB-uninstall it now that Snapchat is installed
-Phone Clone. This could always be useful for porting apps over
-Optimizer
-Themes
-Live wallpaper (com.huawei.livewallpaper.paradise, also known as Brocade)
-Calendar widget/app
-Camera. Obviously. Who in their right mind would get this phone lacking a major component of Android (Play Services), if not for the camera
-Gallery. For pictures and editing
-Contacts. This is also the phone dialer
-Compass. Works great
-Smart Remote. If I ever decide to make use of my IR blaster
-AR Measure. I usually don't care for stuff like this but this actually works great and looks awesome

Here are apps/system processes that actually have an uninstall button but that I DID NOT UNINSTALL:
-com.huawei.game.kitserver (I don't play games but if I ever decide to, I'd like to avoid breaking features)
-Contacts Sync (com.huawei.contacts.sync). I use the stock dialer and I'm not sure whether this can be safely removed
-Storage manager (com.android.storemanager)

My goal is to remove low quality, "spyware" or unnecessary apps without removing or breaking useful features. "Useful" is always a little subjective, so decide for yourself based on my descriptions and comments!

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Thanos88 said:

Thanks for this have you noticed any improvement with battery life after debloating all of these apps?
Any issues after debloating?

Also, can you please tell me the exact command you have to type to debloat? Starting from ADB shell, what is the next command please? And what software /hardware do I need to debloat?

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H-Emmanuel said:

No issues, no crashes and no weird behavior. If you read my comments, I explain what each command does and whether or not it's removing an important feature.

You simply have to copy/paste the commands in bold, these are the full commands.

I pretty much debloated the phone as soon as I got it so I can't really speak about battery life improvement.

A few days ago I even removed the stock Huawei dialer in favor of True Phone (2.0.0.0-hw rev 99 found on the AppGallery).

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H-Emmanuel said:

Do you remember what you uninstalled specifically? There's a chance you could have restored the missing apps using ADB in Fastboot Mode instead of doing a factory reset.

The list of apps in my post is what I personally removed right after a factory reset (to make sure I was starting from scratch).

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H-Emmanuel said:

Alright. If I understand correctly, you also removed things that were not on my list, correct?

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H-Emmanuel said:

Yep that's true! I wrote this guide after doing many reboots, I'll update my post to add some guidelines.

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