Prevent bloatware which gets reinstalled from starting I had a problem with this app (I found on a package with the same name on Google Play, but I doubt it's the same thing) which kept getting installed all by itself again and again, and once istalled, it would start using my limited 3G internet traffic. My phone is not rooted and installing apps from unknown sources is forbidden. A scan with Malwarebytes doesn't detect anything.

From this I deduced that the offending app is somehow bundled by the manufacturer, so I won't be able to get rid of it without rooting (which I don't plan to do). Since uninstalling it didn't help as the app would get reinstalled, I figured I strip it of all permissions and forbid it to use background data. So far this solves my immediate problem with 3G traffic consumption.

However, I see that the app still gets started, consuming RAM (second entry in the list on a freshly booted phone, right after "Android OS") and creating storage data and cache objects. Is there anything I can do to prevent the app from getting started?

Edit: I have tried adb shell pm uninstall --user 0 com.freshmenu which indeed removes the package, but it gets reinstalled after a while. I have tried to search for installer in adb shell pm list packages -i com.freshmenu, and it's indeed set to null, so I could not discover the offender responsible for reinstalling. I have run adb shell dumpsys package to discover which apps have REQUEST_INSTALL_PACKAGES permission. There are 4 of them, and they don't look suspicious:


com.whatsapp (installer=com.android.vending)
android (installer=null)
com.google.android.apps.docs (installer=com.android.vending)
com.android.chrome (installer=com.android.vending)


There are 5 more apps having INSTALL_PACKAGES permission:


com.android.vending (installer=com.android.vending)
android (installer=null)
com.mediatek.datatransfer (installer=null)
com.google.android.packageinstaller (installer=null)
com.android.managedprovisioning (installer=null)
After a rather long exchange in the comments, it was discovered that installing a dummy package with the same name as the bloatware helps, by making the bloatware installation silently fail.

@Firelord was nice enough to make a dummy package for me, future readers could make their own packages with Tasker + Tasker App Factory plugin. Those who don't need Tasker and don't want to pay for it should be able to grab a 7-day free trial here.