1mo ago

Reddit and Youtube Apps Debloat Guide ?

How can i debloat android reddit and youtube app ? The vanilla apps are constantly making bloat connections. (Atleast 8k-10k on adguard app per day).

20 comments

Imo debloating the apps itself is not possible. To do that, you would need to somehow decomplie them, change the code, repackage them and install them as custom applications. This might be possible in theory, but is not feasible in a real-world scenario.
I recommend the following two options:
Use different clients where possible. For youtube F-Droid has some alternatives. For reddit I don't know the current status.
Use a VPN based solution such as AdAway. It can block requests based on target IP or Domain. But keep in mind that blocking certain requests can prevent the app from working.

i fucking love that this exact problem was solved until Reddit unsolved it by charging exorbitant API fees and effectively killed 3rd party apps and forced everyone onto their shitty app.
e n s h i t t i f i c a t i o n
- I read that last word as a melodic ad jingle

They're not really debloatable but you can use alternatives. Newpipe can handle YouTube. Invidious instances in the browser. Something like libredirect can send you to alternate front ends for Reddit.

Use alternatives.
You can also use App Manager to edit receivers, services, etc. But that only gets you this far.
- How do you edit anything with that App Manager app? I can see them listed for each app on their respective tabs, but nothing happens when I tap or hold any of them.
  
  Ah, right, you must be root for it to be anything but a simple info tool.

I find that disabling the youtube app and run youtube.com in Firefox (or whatever fork you prefer, I'm using Fennec) with uBlock Origin active gives the best experience in Android.
edit: For the few times I browse reddit I use https://old.reddit.com/ in Fennec and have used the element picker in uBlock Origin to remove most of the page bloat.

The lack of https://grayjay.app/ being mentioned in this comment section is criminal lol
- People around here don't like to promote software the doesn't meet the OSI definition of FOSS

For Reddit: If you really want to participate, use a third-party app like Infinity but with your own API key. That's easy to setup, you just have to follow this tutorial.
If you don't want to participate and just want to see Reddit posts without using the app or the website, use Redlib (the link I shared uses redlib btw)
For YouTube: Either replace the app with another front-end like Newpipe or only use YouTube in a browser (which would still not be private but it's slightly better than using an app). You can also use Revanced but I don't know much about that one.

Hit the uninstall button, no need for the apps.
Reddit works fine in a browser, especially with Redlib as a frontend.
Youtube also works great in a browser, use Firefox or Ironfox with uBlock Origin.

The vanilla apps are constantly making bloat connections. (Atleast 8k-10k on adguard app per day)
Those connections are not being made. AdGuard is blocking them and then logging them for your review. That's it's job.
The best way to prevent them from even trying to make these connections is to use a 3rd party app. But both companies try to stop you from doing that because they profit off of those connections.

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