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Samsung embeds IronSource spyware app on phones across WANA

(smex.org)
845 points the-anarchist | 2 comments | 21 Jun 25 03:06 UTC | HN request time: 0.548s | source
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grishka ◴[21 Jun 25 03:52 UTC] No.44334337[source]▶
The "unremovable" part is inaccurate. While you can't completely remove it because it resides on the system partition, you most probably can still disable it with an adb command:

    adb shell pm uninstall --user 0 com.package.name
This command is very powerful as it works for any app, even those that have "disable" greyed out in the settings. I disabled the Galaxy Store on my S9 this way for example.
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npteljes ◴[21 Jun 25 10:18 UTC] No.44336280[source]▶
Words don't just have a literal, technical meaning. If the phone itself doesn't allow a straightforward, user friendly happy-path for removal, it might as well be "unremovable" in a sense that it is indeed unremovable for most users. "adb shell etc" implies that one has a PC with this tool correctly installed, and many people don't even have a PC in the first place. Then comes the case of installing adb, setting it up correctly, and having a cable to connect the two, enabling debug mode, and doing the thing. This is much more like a service thing, than a do it yourself at home thing. Not much unlike "chip tuning" for cars.
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1. Zak ◴[21 Jun 25 11:02 UTC] No.44336518[source]▶
The article claims the app can only be removed with root access, which requires more difficult and technical steps to attain than running an adb command. If uninstalling the app with adb works and doesn't result in the app being promptly reinstalled, then the article has a significant factual error.
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2. Concept5116 ◴[21 Jun 25 16:15 UTC] No.44338677[source]▶
Except uninstallining the app does not equal removing it, as you claim. Removing it from list of apps to load is not removal. Not to mention it resets back to installed and you have to rerun the command.