Android System SafetyCore: uninstall this right now.

[Moonchild]

So, I was made aware of an app that was smuggled onto my Android-based smartphones in a system update end of last year. It's called "Android System SafetyCore" and according to the official google page, it "provides common infrastructure that apps can use to protect users from unwanted content."
i.e. it will scan your (private) content on your device, allegedly for things like nude photos so it can "screen them" or warn about them before displaying... But who knows what it really does with the data. They do assure it's all device-local, but I'm not convinced there isn't some meta data being transmitted or what not. the whole silent install indicates to me it's not entirely above board.
It was stealth-installed, doesn't have an icon and doesn't show up in your launcher otherwise. I definitely didn't install it myself and was unaware it was running before I was pointed to it.
It runs as a system application and bypasses the normal permissions system for apps. There's no information what exactly it does if it does find content that is flagged as "unwanted" but I don't really care. It shouldn't have been installed "on the quiet" without my permission, action or consent. Of note, Apple wanted to do something similar for users to "keep users safe from unwanted content" before, but got backlash when it was announced, so I guess Google decided to just do it silently so it went unnoticed.

Needless to say, I'm an adult and if I want to have smut on my phone I don't need a digital nanny to go through my things and try to "protect" me from my own damn files.

It's easy to remove and you should do so right away if you value your private content not being scanned by a Google app.
Settings -> Apps & Notifications -> See all apps (or a similar route, depending on Android version) and do a regular uninstall of the "Android System SafetyCore" App.

[Blacklab]

IIRC Apple was threatening to implement very similar 'scanning' of all private photos uploaded to your iCloud account last year...

[Moonchild]

Yes, they got backlash and decided against it in the end, I think. But Google apparently just went ahead and did it unannounced for Android. You can call me non-plussed about that.
And this is much more invasive because it's on your actual phone, not stuff you decided to upload to the cloud.

[suzyne]

It's easy to remove and you should do so right away if you value your private content not being scanned by a Google app.
Settings -> Apps & Notifications -> See all apps (or a similar route, depending on Android version) and do a regular uninstall of the "Android System SafetyCore" App.

Found on my phone and deleted without hesitation. Thank you for the tip.

[_yuyu_]

If you have root access on your phone:
https://github.com/Astoritin/AntiSafetyCore

[frostknight]

If you have a google pixel and know a little bit about jailbreaking and have a carrier like verizon, I recommend installing grapheneOS. As long as it you know your pixel is supported. I currently use it on my pixel 7. Works nice and I won't have any obnoxious unneeded tentacles entering my phone from google and likely other sources as well.

Google pixel devices are almost all supported if google still gives official support for them still.

The 10 hasn't been released but I am not sure if it will be supported or not, there have been rumors about Google making it harder for 10 to be de-googled.

Only warning is that the way you look at all your open files is a bit annoying but beyond that, I have had no problems. Its worked better than android has on it.

Needless to say, I'm an adult and if I want to have smut on my phone I don't need a digital nanny to go through my things and try to "protect" me from my own damn files.

I agree completely... that is just so ironic and absurd.

[UCyborg]

Won't it just re-install if you uninstall it? I've had Play Store disabled for a long time, also helps with usability of older phones. Very obnoxious piece of software.

Off-topic:
I use Aurora Store if I want to update some app or find a new one. Until February of this year, my main phone was still a Sony Xperia E3. Letting Play Store update Google Play Services would just make it run out of storage space, slow it down and make less RAM usable for apps.

I have a Unihertz Jelly Max now and things are more convoluted to say at least. First, internal memory storage is huge (256 GB vs 4 GB) and internal partitions are encrypted, so quick backups of internal storage are no longer practical. This was handy for experimenting with software mods. TBH, I don't know how the backup / restore procedure would even go here. I know it would be slow, I took a backup with SP Flash Tool when it was new and it took hours. Plus, it didn't work properly on my Windows install, had to run an older version on Linux (because newest version was only for Windows). With old phone, I could go to recovery and pull partition images with ADB, these were normal unencrypted ext4 formatted file system images, only needed couple of minutes.

Anyway, I thought about switching to microG at some point, but was concerned about app compatibility since some useful apps want the freaking Play Services. Well, I didn't get to around to it on an older phone, which was easier to tinker with and attempting with new one is less appealing.

One financial app stopped working in recent months, doesn't like modifications done to the phone. One of alternative Zygisk implementations I tried to use instead of Magisk's Zygisk, it made the screen blank after boot! Luckily, I have ADB permissions granted on my computer and the phone was reachable through it, so could disable the module using adb shell.

Ironically, the thing that made me buy new phone, my stupid bank dropped support for Android 7 little over half-year ago with newer versions. But currently, the old version is still functional on the old phone. This one I can't migrate/activate on new phone without calling the bank, uses the darned Android Keystore, data that is stored in it is either difficult or impossible to migrate, especially between Android versions. I decided I'll use the old version until wheels fall off. The other financial app, I could migrate, took backup with TitaniumBackup on old phone, restored with App Manager on new one. It worked until they forced the update...

Soon, there won't be much difference between Android and Apple, things are getting more restricted with newer versions.

I figured I could update mine to Android 15, but do I want to? The only broken thing I noticed so far is that USB functions just stop working not long after initial boot, they work few days at most, but then you plug it to computer and nothing, just charges.

Then there's a bug inherited from one of older Android versions that was driving me nuts 'till I found the cause. Basically, if you have eg. Wallpaper Changer to have home screen background image change periodically, by default, it will also change colors of UI from the background picture. That change terminates apps' activities that you have running that aren't in focus! I initially thought it was sneaky mechanism to kill background apps when loaded tabs Via web browser were always unloaded if I left it running (normal use case for me) and left the phone for a while. I've had problem with Windows and its accent color changing in the past as well...I like the color changing, how come no one gets it right?

And no custom ROMs for this one because Unihertz...I didn't find any other phone that isn't a clumsy brick. While it's unusually thick and heavier than the old Xperia, it's still easier to handle than other phones.

It was stealth-installed, doesn't have an icon and doesn't show up in your launcher otherwise. I definitely didn't install it myself and was unaware it was running before I was pointed to it.
It runs as a system application and bypasses the normal permissions system for apps. There's no information what exactly it does if it does find content that is flagged as "unwanted" but I don't really care.

Have you noticed how Google does changelogs for their other apps? "With this update, we made it even easier to find your favorite places." Scumbags...

[frostknight]

Have you noticed how Google does changelogs for their other apps? "With this update, we made it even easier to find your favorite places." Scumbags...

Their pixel devices are actually decent... if you put GrapheneOS on them. But you need a chromium web browser to do this. I did and now my phone has GrapheneOS on it. I prefer this because less dialing back and forth to 3 letter agencies and google tentacles and android's problems are mostly gone.

Its like android without google's wickedness. I am stunned Google pixel devices don't suck like they do.

They probably made these as a gift to their developers though to be honest. I heard someone say something like that.

Anywho, even without GrapheneOS I noticed they have a lot less bloatware in general. Google actually made something worthwhile... who would have thought!

Off-topic:
This is more than I can say for microsoft and apple at least post windows 2000. That's when their UI started looking too "modern"

Microsoft's idea of modern is awful yucky.

Then again apple and google too. So there's that.

I realize now, Google cares about security somewhat, but privacy obviously I knew they never cared about. In fact they love to invade it! :/

In any case, if you guys want to have an android-like phone minus google's tentacles, google pixel devices are nice. Just need it to have OEM unlocked not grayed out.

I got mine on amazon. I recommend getting one unlocked with or without a carrier. Just make sure its unlocked and you will not have Google's hand-holding nanny crap and constant snooping. To warn you though, Google Pixel 10 is not supported by GrapheneOS yet. So be wary of that one for now.

[moonbat]

I did and now my phone has GrapheneOS on it

Does it work fine with banking apps and contactless payments (assuming you use those)?

[UCyborg]

Does it work fine with banking apps and contactless payments (assuming you use those)?

Depends.

The only sure hassle free way for these things to work is stock phone, no root / unlocked bootloader. Can't even use virtual machine on PC for these things. It's nuts. 10 years ago, things were saner, you could access bank with certificate in the browser, which I much prefer over today's bullshit of having to use smartphone to do anything financial on the web...

Their pixel devices are actually decent...

They're still clunky...is it really too much to ask for a compact phone? I also miss notification LED. Then your typical modern smartphone uses flickering OLED for display. I spend too much time in front of screens to risk poor tech messing with my eyes. I also dislike modern bezel-less design, but I didn't find any with older design. After spinning in circles for two weeks if not more, I bit the bullet and went with Unihertz, being prepared for the possibility for my money to go down the drain. The backup plan was a Motorola I don't recall the exact model, it's still a brick, but at least has IPS screen. I also wouldn't be able to buy that one locally.

It has its flaws. Unihertz doesn't publish sources for their OS, outside, it's similar to Pixel phones, only little extras. So no chance for custom OS development. The old Xperia was fine for 6 years without OS upgrades, this one, who knows. While it has notification LED, the placement is unusual. There are two of them at the back. I'd rather have some bezel with LED at front. Or LED instead of front camera that I'll never need. Speaking of which, which moron came up with the idea of drilling hole in the screen to make space for camera?! It's easy to make the screen react unintentionally just picking the phone up.

It has IPS screen that unlike most phones doesn't use crazy resolution, most phones' resolution exceeds my computer's full HD screen's resolution, which is nonsense IMO. Colors are a bit less lively than on old Xperia (which also has IPS screen).

I've seen this model does really well in games, especially for this price range. I don't care for gaming on phone, but it translates to responsive GUI, because GPU doesn't have to work with excessive amount of pixels. Unlike the Samsung brick at work that is on the laggier side.

[Gemmaugr]

They're still clunky...is it really too much to ask for a compact phone? I also miss notification LED. Then your typical modern smartphone uses flickering OLED for display. I spend too much time in front of screens to risk poor tech messing with my eyes. I also dislike modern bezel-less design, but I didn't find any with older design. After spinning in circles for two weeks if not more, I bit the bullet and went with Unihertz, being prepared for the possibility for my money to go down the drain. The backup plan was a Motorola I don't recall the exact model, it's still a brick, but at least has IPS screen. I also wouldn't be able to buy that one locally.

It has its flaws. Unihertz doesn't publish sources for their OS, outside, it's similar to Pixel phones, only little extras. So no chance for custom OS development. The old Xperia was fine for 6 years without OS upgrades, this one, who knows. While it has notification LED, the placement is unusual. There are two of them at the back. I'd rather have some bezel with LED at front. Or LED instead of front camera that I'll never need. Speaking of which, which moron came up with the idea of drilling hole in the screen to make space for camera?! It's easy to make the screen react unintentionally just picking the phone up.

It has IPS screen that unlike most phones doesn't use crazy resolution, most phones' resolution exceeds my computer's full HD screen's resolution, which is nonsense IMO. Colors are a bit less lively than on old Xperia (which also has IPS screen).

I've seen this model does really well in games, especially for this price range. I don't care for gaming on phone, but it translates to responsive GUI, because GPU doesn't have to work with excessive amount of pixels. Unlike the Samsung brick at work that is on the laggier side.

I recently had to bite the bullet on buying two new cellphones (because 2G & 3G are being shut down and now only 4G & 5G will work). I absolutely don't want to support google or apple, and it was a pain to find a phone that doesn't use android, but I finally did. I present to you the Nokia 105 (https://www.gsmarena.com/nokia_105_4g_2 ... -13583.php) and the HMD 2660 Flip (https://www.gsmarena.com/hmd_2660_flip-13690.php). I'm still sad to say goodbye to my https://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_e1080t-2941.php and my https://www.gsmarena.com/sony_ericsson_w995-2682.php (not sure why they say they're using Mini-SIM's when they're in fact using Macro-SIM's.. I had to change my SIM's too, so I learned about Original credit-card size SIM, "Standard"/Macro-SIM, Mini-Sim,and current Nano-Sim. Also, sadly, future e-SIM..look it up).

[moonbat]

it was a pain to find a phone that doesn't use android

Why? Any feature phone will do. Now if you want to find a smartphone that doesn't run on Android or iOS or their derivatives that's a different matter.

[frostknight]

They're still clunky...is it really too much to ask for a compact phone?

In what way?

Btw, isn't getting away from the googleisms enough? GrapheneOS is available for that phone at least.

Most aren't.

Also, excellent battery life and 5+ years of updates. I recommend the pixel 9 though for this and obviously make sure its unlocked.

Btw, red moon exists and makes your eyes hurt less when using pixel 9. Its an fdroid app btw.

I recommend fdroid for any phone but especially good ones.

I have it for my pixel 7 and it helps my eyes.

[moonbat]

Btw, red moon exists and makes your eyes hurt less when using pixel 9.

Redundant, Android has had blue light filter support built in for years now. You can automatically have it activate from sunset to sunrise, under display settings.

[frostknight]

Redundant, Android has had blue light filter support built in for years now. You can automatically have it activate from sunset to sunrise, under display settings.

Not redundant, as it requires certain settings on to use. I forget which settings it is. I remembered not wanting to use the built in version because it required something annoying to be enabled.

But anywho yeah thats all I know. Perhaps bluetooth, location? I forget what.

[moonbat]

I remembered not wanting to use the built in version because it required something annoying to be enabled.

That would be location, in case you want to use sunrise/sunset times, which depend on latitude/longitude coordinates. Or you can just set it by time (6 pm to 6 am or similar)

[back2themoon]

...an app that was smuggled onto my Android-based smartphones in a system update...

Thanks for the tip. This is bullshit, of course. I am on Android 12, on a device abandoned by its manufacturer. Haven't had any Android/system update for years, security or otherwise.

This is probably coming directly from the Play Store, or some other sneaky Google service. I still keep getting "new features for my device" from Google every now and then, so they obviously have this power even on older devices and Android versions.

I've blocked its Internet access in AdGuard before uninstalling it. Not sure how effective this is, but it's better than nothing. I assume it will re-install itself at some point...

[UCyborg]

I don't mind smartphones per-se, I just prefer older designs and don't like them being mandatory for some things (online banking...) rather than optional. Lighter, used easily singlehandedly (OK, newer Androids compensate for this somewhat), easier to fit in pockets...and notification LED is easier to spot from some distance, the always-on-display, not so much. I suspect bezel-less design also increases the chance for screen to break with accidental drop. I learned to be a bit more careful through the years of using Xperia E3, it took some damage, one of the edges is broken and the battery cover must be held by tape, but the screen remains intact. I still use it for USB tethering to access the internet with my desktop PC...due to lack of cabling in this house... It has Advanced Charging Controller installed to prevent the battery from getting fried.

Many years ago I tried Firefox OS on this Xperia E3, interesting project, but nothing came out of it and dependency on Android ecosystem would be a dealbreaker.

I've blocked its Internet access in AdGuard before uninstalling it. Not sure how effective this is, but it's better than nothing. I assume it will re-install itself at some point...

I said I have Play Store disabled, actually, on the current Unihertz, I have it partially disabled, using App Manager. It's a guesswork which parts to disable and while it's not usable to download anything, but when I set it up, Play Intergrity API checks were possible while no app updated or installed on its own. Only later, I found a checkbox to disable Google services updates, in Settings under Google specifically, but I don't know if these are to be trusted. They may as well have an override for System SafetyCore!

Speaking of Play Integrity API or the previous SafetyNet, I'm lucky none of the apps I use used any of those. At some point, I wasn't passing SafetyNet checks on the Xperia anymore. I even went and compiled LineageOS 14 I use on it from source and signed it with my own certificate. It didn't help with SafetyNet, but I can say I managed to compile whole operating system from source.

[UCyborg]

@frostknight
I guess I'm already too knee deep into Google's ecosystem in some ways and while I do avoid them in others...well I just figured balanced approach works best for me, even if not most secure or private. You can avoid Google services on number of other phones, GrapheneOS isn't mandatory for that part.

BTW, the blue light issue is separate from PWM flicker. And flickering gets worse with lower brightness, which I personally prefer indoors.

[LuftWafflePilot]

Is there a list of similar apps that are best uninstalled?

Also, I would love to use non-stock Android like I used to for years, but ever since I had a taste of paying with my phone, I just cannot do custom ROMs anymore because of unlocked bootloader