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It has become harder and harder to wipe and reflash modern Android smartphones with an Android OS that the user controls. Partly due to bootloader encryption and the like by the hardware manufacturers (in the name of security) but in my estimation mostly due to every new model using slightly different firmware configuration which is additionally never released open source. This constant moving of the goalposts makes it very hard for the volunteer-based Android modding community to keep up, even just considering yesteryear's model line-up.
My personal take on the current Android modding scene is that apart from Google Pixel phones and a select few other models, it has become practically impossible for a technically literate user to reinstall the OS on their phone, because of the nefarious combination of the manufacturer locking the bootloader and no LineageOS mod being available for the user's model even if the bootloader lock can be defeated.
The result? I think I'm far from alone in maintaining a very old device just because I know I can run LineageOS on it. Also, I really dislike the massive size of Pixel phones along with most other recent phone models.
In light of all this, I really appreciate the efforts the community is putting into wrangling some user-control back on Google's increasingly locked down Android platform, but in the long-term (short-term?) Google's Android may be a lost cause.
Shizuku on the Samsung Galaxy S25 FE
As it happens, I find myself required to use an S25 daily. I have of course installed F-Droid, and changed the default launcher to Kvaesitso. But I had resigned any hope on being able to whittle down the massive list of unwanted apps that came preinstalled on the system. All I could do was block some of them, such as Youtube, and simply hide others from the launcher.
Enter Shizuku! (I only heard about it this week).
And yes, getting it up and running was complicated, but it worked! With Shizuku properly configured, I was able to use Canta to uninstall any app on the phone. And by the way, the list of apps is scaringly long.
In short, I followed the installation instructions for a phone without root access (wireless debugging)
But I quickly discovered that the Shizuku process kept terminating within seconds after starting. So as suggested in the Canta README, I tested the forked Shizuku version and it has been rock solid.
Links below:
- https://github.com/thedjchi/Shizuku - forked version of Shizuku, which I installed from APK
- https://github.com/samolego/Canta - installed from APK
- https://github.com/timschneeb/awesome-shizuku
- https://addrom.com/what-is-shizuku
- https://www.androidpolice.com/how-to-use-shizuku-for-adb-rootless-mods-on-any-android-device
- https://www.androidauthority.com/best-shizuku-apps-android-3659353