I see that this system app has just appeared in the Update list on my
phone (it stood out because I didn't recognise the icon. Oddly, it uses
a different icon in the app list), although it seems to have been around
for some time under another name. Looks like it's another Google app I
almost certainly don't need - especially as it wants to access my
location. I've stopped some permissions, but that's all I can do other
than stop the app. No option to disable or uninstall simply (no doubt
adb would deal with it). So far nothing obvious is "misbehaving".

--

Jeff

Jeff Layman <Jeff@invalid.invalid> wrote

> I see that this system app has just appeared in the Update list on my
> phone (it stood out because I didn't recognise the icon. Oddly, it uses
> a different icon in the app list), although it seems to have been around
> for some time under another name. Looks like it's another Google app I
> almost certainly don't need - especially as it wants to access my
> location. I've stopped some permissions, but that's all I can do other
> than stop the app. No option to disable or uninstall simply (no doubt
> adb would deal with it). So far nothing obvious is "misbehaving".

Hi Jeff,
Here's what I found out for you on your question above.
Let me know if I can be of further assistance in your quest.

"For starters, ASI requires access to much of your device.
You'll need to give it permission to access contacts, messages,
and calendars, for example. Only then can it work wonders on your phone."
<https://www.androidpolice.com/android-system-intelligence/>

You're correct adb will easily uninstall it even on unrooted phones.
C:\> adb shell pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.google.android.as
<https://alliancex.org/shield/apps.html>

Mine has been uninstalled for a very long time without known issues.
<https://i.postimg.cc/DfMpKn97/android-system-intelligence01.jpg>

The reason, of course, is that it does stuff I don't want done.
"Android System Intelligence learns about you as you use
your Android device. It tracks everything you do,
when you do it, and where you are when you do it.
Some people may have privacy concerns surrounding
this level of tracking. Android System Intelligence
collects device identifiers and diagnostics to function properly.
It also collects crash logs to help it improve.
On-device machine learning is only as good as its connection
to the cloud. ASI uses secure private cloud relays to
Google's greater AI to function."

The question, of course, is what does it do for the average user.
<https://duckduckgo.com/&q=what+does+com.google.android.as+do>

Here's one result (which was published just today in fact).
*What is Android System Intelligence?*
<https://www.androidpolice.com/android-system-intelligence/>
"Android System Intelligence is the brain of your smartphone.
Here's everything it does"
"There was once an app on every Android phone called
Device Personalization Services. It handled basic smart services
such as storing clipboard information and managing notifications.
In 2021, Google rebranded the app and updated it
with machine learning capabilities, giving it more core tasks
and a massive role in how your Android works.
They renamed it Android System Intelligence."

Despite this supposedly "massive role" ASI has in handling "smart
services", my phone is working just fine without it being there.
a. My notifications are working just fine
b. My screen rotation is working just fine
c. My voice-to-text is working just fine
d. My clipboard is working just fine
e. My app-opening search & launch process is working just fine
etc.

This is why...
"Do you need Android System Intelligence?
You don't need ASI to use your Android device.
Your core functions, such as your phone, messages, and cameras,
don't depend on it. Your apps work independently of ASI,
so nothing stops working if you turn off Android System Intelligence."

See also
*Google Pixel phones may offer to translate apps for you on Android 12*
<https://www.xda-developers.com/google-pixel-ui-translation-android-12/>
"Google Pixel phones will likely support the undocumented UI translation
feature in Android 12 which seems to translate text in apps."

Which says
"Specifically, config_defaultTranslationService is set to
com.google.android.as/com.google.android.apps.miphone.aiai.translate.services.TranslationService
where "com.google.android.as" is the package name for
Device Personalization Services and
"com.google.android.apps.miphone.aiai.translate.services.TranslationService"
is the name of the translation service provided by the app."

Also mentioned here for the same reasons.
*Android 12 Beta 2 hints at a new Google "Live Translate" feature*
<https://www.xda-developers.com/android-12-beta-2-google-live-translate-feature/>
--
My goal on Usenet is to learn from others and to help them were I can.

On 29/09/2023 16:19, Wally J wrote:
> Jeff Layman <Jeff@invalid.invalid> wrote
>
>> I see that this system app has just appeared in the Update list on my
>> phone (it stood out because I didn't recognise the icon. Oddly, it uses
>> a different icon in the app list), although it seems to have been around
>> for some time under another name. Looks like it's another Google app I
>> almost certainly don't need - especially as it wants to access my
>> location. I've stopped some permissions, but that's all I can do other
>> than stop the app. No option to disable or uninstall simply (no doubt
>> adb would deal with it). So far nothing obvious is "misbehaving".
>
> Hi Jeff,
> Here's what I found out for you on your question above.
> Let me know if I can be of further assistance in your quest.
>
> "For starters, ASI requires access to much of your device.
> You'll need to give it permission to access contacts, messages,
> and calendars, for example. Only then can it work wonders on your phone."
> <https://www.androidpolice.com/android-system-intelligence/>

Thanks for that. I'd seen the 25th August page at
<https://www.androidpolice.com/what-is-android-system-intelligence/>,
but didn't know it had been updated

> You're correct adb will easily uninstall it even on unrooted phones.
> C:\> adb shell pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.google.android.as
> <https://alliancex.org/shield/apps.html>

That's a very useful page. It just shows what can be uninstalled without
issue.

> Mine has been uninstalled for a very long time without known issues.
> <https://i.postimg.cc/DfMpKn97/android-system-intelligence01.jpg>

Good to know. Google loves to give scary pop-up messages to suggest your
phone will self-destruct if you attempt to stop them data-collecting. ;-)

> The reason, of course, is that it does stuff I don't want done.
> "Android System Intelligence learns about you as you use
> your Android device. It tracks everything you do,
> when you do it, and where you are when you do it.
> Some people may have privacy concerns surrounding
> this level of tracking. Android System Intelligence
> collects device identifiers and diagnostics to function properly.
> It also collects crash logs to help it improve.
> On-device machine learning is only as good as its connection
> to the cloud. ASI uses secure private cloud relays to
> Google's greater AI to function."
>
> The question, of course, is what does it do for the average user.
> <https://duckduckgo.com/&q=what+does+com.google.android.as+do>
>
> Here's one result (which was published just today in fact).
> *What is Android System Intelligence?*
> <https://www.androidpolice.com/android-system-intelligence/>
> "Android System Intelligence is the brain of your smartphone.
> Here's everything it does"
>
> "There was once an app on every Android phone called
> Device Personalization Services. It handled basic smart services
> such as storing clipboard information and managing notifications.
> In 2021, Google rebranded the app and updated it
> with machine learning capabilities, giving it more core tasks
> and a massive role in how your Android works.
> They renamed it Android System Intelligence."
>
> Despite this supposedly "massive role" ASI has in handling "smart
> services", my phone is working just fine without it being there.
> a. My notifications are working just fine
> b. My screen rotation is working just fine
> c. My voice-to-text is working just fine
> d. My clipboard is working just fine
> e. My app-opening search & launch process is working just fine
> etc.
>
> This is why...
> "Do you need Android System Intelligence?
> You don't need ASI to use your Android device.
> Your core functions, such as your phone, messages, and cameras,
> don't depend on it. Your apps work independently of ASI,
> so nothing stops working if you turn off Android System Intelligence."

Exactly. I wonder what the next fabulous app Google will foist on us as
part of its data-collecting exercise.

> See also
> *Google Pixel phones may offer to translate apps for you on Android 12*
> <https://www.xda-developers.com/google-pixel-ui-translation-android-12/>
> "Google Pixel phones will likely support the undocumented UI translation
> feature in Android 12 which seems to translate text in apps."
>
> Which says
> "Specifically, config_defaultTranslationService is set to
> com.google.android.as/com.google.android.apps.miphone.aiai.translate.services.TranslationService
> where "com.google.android.as" is the package name for
> Device Personalization Services and
> "com.google.android.apps.miphone.aiai.translate.services.TranslationService"
> is the name of the translation service provided by the app."
>
> Also mentioned here for the same reasons.
> *Android 12 Beta 2 hints at a new Google "Live Translate" feature*
> <https://www.xda-developers.com/android-12-beta-2-google-live-translate-feature/>

Very helpful post WJ. I'll keep an eye out for apps which suddenly
appear without warning.

--

Jeff

Jeff Layman <Jeff@invalid.invalid> wrote

>> "For starters, ASI requires access to much of your device.
>> You'll need to give it permission to access contacts, messages,
>> and calendars, for example. Only then can it work wonders on your phone."
>> <https://www.androidpolice.com/android-system-intelligence/>
>
> Thanks for that. I'd seen the 25th August page at
> <https://www.androidpolice.com/what-is-android-system-intelligence/>,
> but didn't know it had been updated

What's odd is that reference says that you need Android System Intelligence
to do "voice typing" which... um... er... I do all the time without it.
<https://www.androidpolice.com/what-is-android-system-intelligence/>

It's almost as if Google is desperate to get us to use this Android
Personalization Service so that they can gather data - so what Google does
is feed the Android Police editors a whole pile of total BS to scare us
into keeping it on our system in the default = on configuration.

It's almost like the scare tactics used for global warming wacknuts who
pervert science by claiming every weather event is due to this bullshit.

Same here it seems.
The articles are complete bullshit.
Fed to the editors by Google almost certainly.

Everything that the article said Android System Intelligence does I do
already or (like "live captions") I don't ever want to even think about.

In my humblest of opinions, not only does Android System Intelligence do
nothing useful but it clearly says it phones home frequently to Google.

The entire reason for being on this newsgroup is to learn from these
discussions where I hadn't specifically thought about this package.

Of course, I had already long ago uninstalled it - but that was via a
mechanism where I uninstalled _every_ package with Google in the name.

Then, one by one, I re-enabled any removal that subsequently broke stuff.
That's how I "cleaned" my unrootable Android phone of much Google garbage.

Most people don't take those kinds of risks - but I do it all the time.
What's the worst thing that can happen? A factory reset, right? Big deal.
>> You're correct adb will easily uninstall it even on unrooted phones.
>> C:\> adb shell pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.google.android.as
>> <https://alliancex.org/shield/apps.html>
>
> That's a very useful page. It just shows what can be uninstalled without
> issue.

Thanks for appreciating the additional link as I had googled for the
package name of "com.google.android.as" to find more information about it
and that's how that specific page showed up outlining how to remove it.
pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.google.android.as

Each time you ask a question - I learn from your question.
Each time I try to help you - I learn from trying to help you.

Every thread. Every post. We learn more, together, about how Android works.
In the case of that table, the author didn't test the removal.
But I did.

There were no negative effects from removing "Android Personalization
Service" (aka "Android System Intelligence" that I had ever noticed.

>> Mine has been uninstalled for a very long time without known issues.
>> <https://i.postimg.cc/DfMpKn97/android-system-intelligence01.jpg>
>
> Good to know. Google loves to give scary pop-up messages to suggest your
> phone will self-destruct if you attempt to stop them data-collecting. ;-)

I have to admit, the articles you and I found about the Android
Personalization Service and the Android System Intelligence package make it
sound like the phone will become radioactive if we uninstall the app.

After reading about it, I still can't tell what it does that I care about.
Can you?

I mean, I care about screen rotation - but mine works just fine without
Android System Intelligence. So does my voice to text typing work fine.

>> This is why...
>> "Do you need Android System Intelligence?
>> You don't need ASI to use your Android device.
>> Your core functions, such as your phone, messages, and cameras,
>> don't depend on it. Your apps work independently of ASI,
>> so nothing stops working if you turn off Android System Intelligence."
>
> Exactly. I wonder what the next fabulous app Google will foist on us as
> part of its data-collecting exercise.

Just like you have to exercise adult critical thought processes whenever
someone screams at you that every weather event is proof of global warming,
it seems that "Google doth protest too much" in the case of this pernicious
Android System Intelligence package being on our system & on by default.

A. It seems, to me, that it does nothing I care about it doing.
B. Worse, it seems to me it does things that I care that it does NOT do!
C. And, when I disabled it - nothing bad happened.

Given those observations, I'd recommend nuking it.
1. You can neuter it in the Android settings
2. Or you can nuke it with adb (which requires a PC)
3. Or you can nuke it with local adb (which doesn't require a PC)

>> Also mentioned here for the same reasons.
>> *Android 12 Beta 2 hints at a new Google "Live Translate" feature*
>> <https://www.xda-developers.com/android-12-beta-2-google-live-translate-feature/>
>
> Very helpful post WJ. I'll keep an eye out for apps which suddenly
> appear without warning.

I'm happy to have helped you.
Answering your questions in the past has taught me a lot.

I hope our conversation has helped many others who are reading these posts.
That's the whole point of this discussion group about Android.

We all learn by listening to each other and helping where we can.

Jeff Layman <Jeff@invalid.invalid> wrote:

> I see that this system app has just appeared in the Update list on my
> phone (it stood out because I didn't recognise the icon. Oddly, it uses
> a different icon in the app list), although it seems to have been around
> for some time under another name. Looks like it's another Google app I
> almost certainly don't need - especially as it wants to access my
> location. I've stopped some permissions, but that's all I can do other
> than stop the app. No option to disable or uninstall simply (no doubt
> adb would deal with it). So far nothing obvious is "misbehaving".

Guess my old smartphone (released 2016, running Oreo 8.0 c.2017) is too
old for all this hoopla. Not a choice in Apps (under new or old name)
to disable.

When did Device Personalization Services (DPS), rebranded to Android
System Intelligence in 2021, show up in which Android version? From
what I can find online, DPS showed up late in 2017 (after Oreo), may not
have been released until Aug 2018, and bundled in Android 9 (Pie), and
up.

A case of "newer is better" is untrue. More often it is "newer is
different". Programmers have to qualify their pay somehow, and
marketers must have something new, er, different to sell.

On 9/29/2023 5:42 PM, VanguardLH wrote:
> Guess my old smartphone (released 2016, running Oreo 8.0 c.2017) is too
> old for all this hoopla. Not a choice in Apps (under new or old name)
> to disable.

Best way to tell is to run a _good_ App Manager such as this one.
https://github.com/MuntashirAkon/AppManager

If you think you already have an app manager which you think is showing you
all the installed packages, think again (as it's likely missing some apps.
https://f-droid.org/packages/io.github.muntashirakon.AppManager/

Bradley <bradley@nospam.com> wrote:

> VanguardLH wrote:
>
>> Guess my old smartphone (released 2016, running Oreo 8.0 c.2017) is too
>> old for all this hoopla. Not a choice in Apps (under new or old name)
>> to disable.
>
> Best way to tell is to run a _good_ App Manager such as this one.
> https://github.com/MuntashirAkon/AppManager
>
> If you think you already have an app manager which you think is
> showing you all the installed packages, think again (as it's likely
> missing some apps. https://f-droid.org/packages/io.github.muntashirakon.AppManager/

Rather than go through setting up the adb shell to run list packages,
and since I'm not interested in using the adb shell to remove packages
for which there no uninstall option in the Apps list, I could use:

Package Name Viewer
(play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.csdroid.pkg)

App Inspector
(https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ubqsoft.sec01)

or your suggestion of AppManager on F-Droid.

However, since Android System Intelligence (previously Device
Personalization Service) was not available before Android 9, and I have
Android 8, I don't see the point in trying to display a package name for
an app that was not available for my OS version.

Tis looking for a needle in haystack, but there was no needle in an old
haystack. Also, many of the features touted for ASI aren't available in
my phone.

Thanks, though, for the offer of mentioning a better way to see all apps
on a phone.

On 9/29/23 15:35, Wally J wrote:
> It's almost as if Google is desperate to get us to use this Android
> Personalization Service so that they can gather data - so what Google does
> is feed the Android Police editors a whole pile of total BS to scare us
> into keeping it on our system in the default = on configuration.
>
> It's almost like the scare tactics used for global warming wacknuts who
> pervert science by claiming every weather event is due to this bullshit.
>
> Same here it seems.
> The articles are complete bullshit.
> Fed to the editors by Google almost certainly.
>
> Everything that the article said Android System Intelligence does I do
> already or (like "live captions") I don't ever want to even think about.
>

Definitely a bold move to claim to lock basic system features behind
data collection.

> I hope our conversation has helped many others who are reading these posts.
> That's the whole point of this discussion group about Android.
>
> We all learn by listening to each other and helping where we can.

Yay
--
user <candycane> is generated from /dev/urandom

On 9/29/23 16:42, VanguardLH wrote:
> A case of "newer is better" is untrue. More often it is "newer is
> different". Programmers have to qualify their pay somehow, and
> marketers must have something new, er, different to sell.

This time, it seems to be AI..
--
user <candycane> is generated from /dev/urandom

On 29/09/2023 21:35, Wally J wrote:
> Jeff Layman <Jeff@invalid.invalid> wrote

>>> You're correct adb will easily uninstall it even on unrooted phones.
>>> C:\> adb shell pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.google.android.as
>>> <https://alliancex.org/shield/apps.html>
>>
>> That's a very useful page. It just shows what can be uninstalled without
>> issue.
>
> Thanks for appreciating the additional link as I had googled for the
> package name of "com.google.android.as" to find more information about it
> and that's how that specific page showed up outlining how to remove it.
> pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.google.android.as
>
> Each time you ask a question - I learn from your question.
> Each time I try to help you - I learn from trying to help you.
>
> Every thread. Every post. We learn more, together, about how Android works.
> In the case of that table, the author didn't test the removal.
> But I did.

That's the idea. I don't have the knowledge or experience to deal in
depth with Android headaches. I do, however, seem to be able to notice
changes which others might not, and have a bearing on our privacy - or
lack of it - where Google is concerned.
>
> There were no negative effects from removing "Android Personalization
> Service" (aka "Android System Intelligence" that I had ever noticed.
>
>>> Mine has been uninstalled for a very long time without known issues.
>>> <https://i.postimg.cc/DfMpKn97/android-system-intelligence01.jpg>
>>
>> Good to know. Google loves to give scary pop-up messages to suggest your
>> phone will self-destruct if you attempt to stop them data-collecting. ;-)
>
> I have to admit, the articles you and I found about the Android
> Personalization Service and the Android System Intelligence package make it
> sound like the phone will become radioactive if we uninstall the app.
>
> After reading about it, I still can't tell what it does that I care about.
> Can you?

Well, no. It seems to be another of those ideas where people can't be
bothered to do things themselves, so Google "helps" them out by making
it very simple. But, of course, there's always a price to pay, and in
this case it's more data gathering.

> I mean, I care about screen rotation - but mine works just fine without
> Android System Intelligence. So does my voice to text typing work fine.
>
>>> This is why...
>>> "Do you need Android System Intelligence?
>>> You don't need ASI to use your Android device.
>>> Your core functions, such as your phone, messages, and cameras,
>>> don't depend on it. Your apps work independently of ASI,
>>> so nothing stops working if you turn off Android System Intelligence."
>>
>> Exactly. I wonder what the next fabulous app Google will foist on us as
>> part of its data-collecting exercise.
>
> Just like you have to exercise adult critical thought processes whenever
> someone screams at you that every weather event is proof of global warming,
> it seems that "Google doth protest too much" in the case of this pernicious
> Android System Intelligence package being on our system & on by default.
>
> A. It seems, to me, that it does nothing I care about it doing.
> B. Worse, it seems to me it does things that I care that it does NOT do!
> C. And, when I disabled it - nothing bad happened.
>
> Given those observations, I'd recommend nuking it.
> 1. You can neuter it in the Android settings
> 2. Or you can nuke it with adb (which requires a PC)
> 3. Or you can nuke it with local adb (which doesn't require a PC)

That reminds me. Until I get round to nuking it, I can simply "stop" it,
but then it just restarts the next time I switch the phone off and then
on. With adb, does the app get reinstalled with any update, only a major
update, or does it not get reinstalled at ll?

>> Very helpful post WJ. I'll keep an eye out for apps which suddenly
>> appear without warning.
>
> I'm happy to have helped you.
> Answering your questions in the past has taught me a lot.
>
> I hope our conversation has helped many others who are reading these posts.
> That's the whole point of this discussion group about Android.
>
> We all learn by listening to each other and helping where we can.

+1

--

Jeff

candycanearter07 <no@thanks.net> wrote

>> Everything that the article said Android System Intelligence does I do
>> already or (like "live captions") I don't ever want to even think about.
>>
>
> Definitely a bold move to claim to lock basic system features behind
> data collection.

You said it succinctly & far better than I ever could summarize it!
Thanks for understanding.

Thanks to the OP for asking the original question which clued us into this.
Had he not asked the question, most of us likely wouldn't have known this.
--
I'm on this newsgroup to learn from others and to teach them what they
haven't yet learned on their own (and to show iKooks for what they are).

Jeff Layman <Jeff@invalid.invalid> wrote

>> 1. You can neuter it in the Android settings
>> 2. Or you can nuke it with adb (which requires a PC)
>> 3. Or you can nuke it with local adb (which doesn't require a PC)
>
> That reminds me. Until I get round to nuking it, I can simply "stop" it,
> but then it just restarts the next time I switch the phone off and then
> on.

I think every app "can" be different but my (informal) experience has been
when you "force stop" and/or "disable" and app, it stays that way.

Even after a reboot.

However... I'd have to formally test this specific app to be sure of that,
but the articles I pointed you to clearly showed how to prevent the app
from running so I'd do that if you're scared of the consequences.

Me?
I wipe out every Google app when I get a new phone, and then I turn back on
only the apps that screw things up. But everyone has different tolerances.

> With adb, does the app get reinstalled with any update, only a major
> update, or does it not get reinstalled at ll?

You've noticed that some apps, even when you "uninstall" them to the
earliest original versions - later can get "updated" to later versions?

That happens - but as far as I can informally remember, that only happens
when you use the Android settings GUI to "uninstall" those apps.

When you use adb to uninstall an app, it seems to disappear from the user
partition - but - as we've covered in the past many times - it remains in
the admin partition (that's why you can always use adb to reinstall it!).

That's probably too much information for you - so I will summarize (less
accurately perhaps) by answering that question with a "no", it does not get
re-installed unless you explicitly run the re-installation using adb.

I've explained this many times on this newsgroup, so I'll just succinctly
summarize that these two commands work - even when done in this sequence:
C:\> adb shell pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.google.android.as
C:\> adb shell cmd package install-existing com.google.android.as

The reason it works is that the APK is _always_ saved on Android for
_every_ app (which is why the Android APK archivers work).

On 9/30/23 16:26, Wally J wrote:
> candycanearter07 <no@thanks.net> wrote
>
>>> Everything that the article said Android System Intelligence does I do
>>> already or (like "live captions") I don't ever want to even think about.
>>>
>>
>> Definitely a bold move to claim to lock basic system features behind
>> data collection.
>
> You said it succinctly & far better than I ever could summarize it!
> Thanks for understanding.

Thanks
--
user <candycane> is generated from /dev/urandom