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[-] Fredselfish@lemmy.world 11 points 2 weeks ago

How do we uninstall or block the download?

[-] livligkinkajou@slrpnk.net 76 points 2 weeks ago
[-] leoj@piefed.social 13 points 2 weeks ago

Can you even uninstall chrome on an android phone? I only get the option to disable.

[-] zerozaku@lemmy.world 10 points 2 weeks ago

Use Shizuku and Canta to uninstall any uninstallable app. Or if you don't want to bother, just disabling works fine too as long as you are not worried about the storage.

[-] ArchEngel@lemmy.ca 2 points 2 weeks ago

Learned about this the other day and gave it a whirl, worked great, felt reminiscent of old school iPod jailbreaking shenanigans, but I had no issues. Easier (in a way) than adb!

[-] ropatrick@lemmy.world 2 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

Thank you for the excellent suggestion. Worked perfectly. Managed to uninstall about 50 pieces of bloatware from my phone, starting with Chrome.

Props to you @zerozaku

[-] zerozaku@lemmy.world 2 points 2 weeks ago

Happy to help! Real props to the devs of these amazing apps.

[-] ropatrick@lemmy.world 2 points 2 weeks ago

Hear hear. 📢

[-] frischkaesbagett@feddit.org 7 points 2 weeks ago

That depends on the ROM you are using.

The one i am using (https://iode.tech/) is using a firefox based browser that you can actually uninstall.

[-] frongt@lemmy.zip 2 points 2 weeks ago

Probably not stock Android. I'm on GrapheneOS and it doesn't come with Chrome at all. But I don't think the article is claiming it happens on Android.

[-] FE80@lemmy.world 1 points 2 weeks ago

Vanadium is Chrome derived; but I'm sure Graphene de-enshittifies it to the maximum possible extent.

[-] Attacker94@lemmy.world 8 points 2 weeks ago

Technically speaking, it is chromium derived which does make the difference in this instance.

[-] jtrek@startrek.website 1 points 2 weeks ago

Is this happening on android, too?

[-] leoj@piefed.social 2 points 2 weeks ago

I don't think so... yet... So not as disconcerting tbf, but curious to if it will come out of nowhere at some point, just like this.

[-] turboSnail@piefed.europe.pub 8 points 2 weeks ago

And install Firefox or one of its many forks.

[-] Fredselfish@lemmy.world 1 points 2 weeks ago

So it just to the Chrome app?

[-] livligkinkajou@slrpnk.net 15 points 2 weeks ago

The article actually gives 3 options:

The only ways to make the deletion stick are to disable Chrome's AI features through chrome://flags or enterprise policy tooling that home users do not generally have, or to uninstall Chrome entirely

  1. It can probably be reverted at their whim at any time
  2. You probably don't have access to it
  3. It is the most realistic option, just use another non chromium browser
[-] frongt@lemmy.zip 3 points 2 weeks ago

Even Chromium should be fine. I doubt it has the branded Google AI features.

[-] tomatolung@lemmy.world 23 points 2 weeks ago

More difficult to remove than install. Adding the file took zero clicks. Removing it requires (a) discovering the file exists, (b) understanding what it is, (c) navigating into a hidden user profile path, (d) deleting it (and on Windows, also clearing the read-only attribute first), and (e) accepting that Chrome will silently re-download it on next eligible window unless the user also navigates chrome://flags, enterprise policy, or platform-specific configuration tooling to disable the underlying Chrome AI feature [5]. None of those steps is documented in the place a normal user looks - none of them is even hinted at in default Chrome.

This is 5: https://pureinfotech.com/stop-chrome-gemini-nano-download-windows-11/

Obviously only windows focused, so how other platforms stop would require more searching.

[-] Fredselfish@lemmy.world 8 points 2 weeks ago

I don't have Windows 11. Still on 10 until October then switching to Linux.

[-] TachyonTele@piefed.social 4 points 2 weeks ago

Don't even bother with 11. At all.
I bought a win11 laptop, didn't create any accounts just installed the os... Then microsoft locked me out of the laptop with thier new bitlocker bs. It won't even let me factory reset the effing thing.

Switched to linux and im happy. It's just a steam deck, but it's still a better pc than the bit brick.

[-] atomicbocks@sh.itjust.works 0 points 2 weeks ago

Were you able to get your bitlocker key from your Microsoft account or save it when bitlocker activated? IIRC you can use that key to access the drive from a live Linux USB, get all your files off, then just install said Linux over the encrypted Windows install (which you should be able to do even if you don’t have the key).

[-] TachyonTele@piefed.social 2 points 2 weeks ago

There is no key. There's no bitlocker account and theres no Microsoft account.

[-] atomicbocks@sh.itjust.works 1 points 2 weeks ago

The key is created when bitlocker activates, if bitlocker is on then there is a key. It’s the same as the password you create when you encrypt your Linux disk, it just creates a stupid long one for you so you will be inclined to make an account to save it rather than just remembering it like a password.

[-] TachyonTele@piefed.social 1 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

Well theres no MS account, and there's no way past the bitlocker screen, so... Its a bit-brick

[-] atomicbocks@sh.itjust.works 2 points 2 weeks ago

That sucks. But like I said before, you should still be able to use the drive/machine. You will just need to reinstall Windows or, preferably, install another OS. I recommend Mint or Fedora if you are new to installing OSes and KDE over Gnome if you are used to Windows.

[-] TachyonTele@piefed.social 2 points 2 weeks ago

It won't let me. It even blocks factory resetting. I literally mean it's a brick. I tried for three months to fix it.

[-] atomicbocks@sh.itjust.works 4 points 2 weeks ago

I’m confused by what you mean when you say it won’t let you. Windows itself shouldn’t have any say over what’s going on as far as booting like a USB drive goes. Assuming this isn’t an ARM device and even then you should still be able to install Linux, have you turned off Secure Boot or tried resetting the BIOS altogether?

[-] TachyonTele@piefed.social 0 points 2 weeks ago

Rebooting, resetting, turning it on, etc, it all goes to the same exact bitlocker screen.

Yes. As ive said ive attempted to reset it for theee months.

[-] atomicbocks@sh.itjust.works 2 points 2 weeks ago

What kind of machine is it? Typically you will need to tell it to boot to the USB by hitting F1, or F2, or F12, or Del, etc. immediately after you hit the power button.

[-] TachyonTele@piefed.social 1 points 2 weeks ago

That is correct. I know your trying to help. But after multiple months I'm over it.

[-] atomicbocks@sh.itjust.works 2 points 2 weeks ago

Fair enough. Best of luck to you!

[-] TachyonTele@piefed.social 2 points 2 weeks ago
this post was submitted on 05 May 2026
1009 points (97.9% liked)

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