I’m not buying a Pixel because I’m not giving Google any money. I’m in the US so the other OSs will not work for me. I just need this crap off my phone. I can’t uninstall Youtube, and it came with Facebook. It’s just infuriating. Can I just root it and connect it to my Linux laptop and just force uninstalls or something without bricking the device?
Any help appreciated!
Indeed. Samsung’s software can only be stripped down so far, which still means many megabytes sent back home on any given day. From first-hand experience, there is no good way of installing a custom ROM on newer US Samsung phones, let alone get working service on it.
If anyone has qualms about contributing to Google, get a factory-unlocked Pixel second-hand or from a discount reseller.