A while ago, I wrote about cleaning up an Android phone (mine is ZTE Blade A72) using Canta and Shizuku. The concept was simple and very modern. You turned on wireless debugging, paired Shizuku without any cable, opened Canta, and removed the apps you did not want. No root, no computer, no USB. It felt like magic, and for a lot of phones, it still works perfectly. 😅
But then I ran into a different kind of phone. A Wiko Y61 and a KUBIK GENTA 10 tablet. On those devices, wireless debugging kept failing. Sometimes the pairing notification never appeared. Sometimes the Wi-Fi dropped in the middle. Sometimes Shizuku just refused to start.
I needed a plan B. Something that did not depend on Wi-Fi at all.
That plan B turned out to be Bugjaeger, a USB cable, and a tiny OTG adapter. It is older in style, but it is incredibly stable. And like my previous method, it still needs no root and no PC.
This is how I do it now when wireless does not work.
Why Bother Removing Bloatware?
When you unbox a new phone, you are not really getting a clean phone. You are getting a phone that already has someone else’s decisions installed on it.
You get a browser you will never use. A music app you will never open. A news app, a game hub, a cloud drive, a movie store, and sometimes even a Facebook installer that quietly reinstalls things in the background.
On a powerful phone, you might ignore all of that. On a phone with 2GB of RAM and 32GB of storage, you cannot ignore it. Every extra app is slower opening, slower multitasking, and less space for your photos, your chats, and your files.
After I cleaned the Wiko Y61, the difference was immediate. The home screen felt less crowded. WhatsApp opened faster. The phone stopped freezing when I switched between apps. That is the whole reason I keep doing this.
Think of Bugjaeger as a mini ADB terminal that lives inside an Android phone.
Normally, to run ADB commands, you need a laptop. You plug your phone into the laptop, type commands, and the laptop tells the phone what to do.
Bugjaeger replaces the laptop. You use one phone as the controller, and a second phone as the target. The controller sends the commands. The target follows them.
The command we use is:
`pm uninstall --user 0 [package name]`
We are not fully deleting the app from the system partition, because that would require root. We are uninstalling it for the main user. For everyday use, the result is the same. The icon disappears, the app stops running, and it stops using your storage. If you ever factory reset the phone, it will come back, but until then, it is gon
You do not need a lot of equipment:
1. A host phone: This is where you install Bugjaeger. I used a ZTE Blade A72 phone as my host. Any Android phone will work if there's an OTG feature.
2. A target phone: This is the phone you want to clean. For me, it was the Wiko Y61 and the tablet.
3. An OTG adapter: A small adapter that lets your host phone act like a USB host.
4. A USB cable: To connect the OTG adapter to the target phone.
That is all. No laptop, no Wi-Fi, no root.
Step 1: Enable USB Debugging on the Target
On the phone you want to clean, go to Settings, then About Phone. Find Build Number and tap it seven times. You will see a message saying you are now a developer.
Go back to Settings, open System, then Developer Options. Turn on USB Debugging.
Leave the phone on this screen for a moment.
Step 2: Connect With Cable and OTG
Plug the OTG adapter into your host phone. Plug the USB cable into the adapter. Plug the other end into your target phone.
Your target phone should now show a popup: “Allow USB Debugging?” Tap Allow. If there is an option to always allow from this device, you can tick it so you do not have to approve it every time.
If nothing appears, unplug the cable and plug it back in. On my first try, it also took two attempts. That is normal.
Step 3: Open Bugjaeger
Open Bugjaeger on your host phone.
At the top, you should see your target device. It might say “Connected to (your device name)”. Tap on it to connect.
Then tap the blue `<>` icon at the bottom. That is the shell terminal.
When you see a line like this:
`Wiko_Y61:/ $`
You are connected. That `$` sign means Bugjaeger is ready. Any red error text above it is just old logs. Ignore it.
Step 4: Uninstall, One by One
In the terminal, type your command in the box that says “Type in command here...” and press the blue Play button.
Start with one app. For example, YouTube:
pm uninstall --user 0 com.google.android.youtube
If it works, you will see the word success.
That one word is very satisfying.
Do not paste ten commands at once. Do one, wait for Success, then do the next.
When you get your first Success, it is tempting to delete everything. Please don't.
Do not delete anything with gms, systemui, or settings in the name. Those are core parts of Android.
If Bugjaeger says Failure or Not Installed, do not panic. It just means that app does not exist on that specific phone. Skip it and continue.
Step 5: Reboot and Enjoy
When you are done, unplug the cable and restart your target phone.
Check your app drawer. It should look much cleaner. Check your storage. You should have more free space. Check your speed. On a low-end phone, the difference is real.
So, which method should you choose?
If wireless debugging works on your phone, Canta plus Shizuku is faster and prettier. You get a nice list, you tap, it uninstalls.
If wireless debugging fails, if you have no stable Wi-Fi, or if you are working with an older Android Go device, Bugjaeger plus OTG is the safer choice. It is wired, so it does not drop. It is simple, so it works on almost anything. If both doesn't work, you can uninstalled bloatware using PC, of course. (Next I'll drop the tutorial here) 😁
I now keep both methods in my toolbox. One for wireless days, one for wired days.
You do not need root. You do not need a PC. Sometimes you just need a cable you already have in a drawer and an adapter that costs less than a coffee.
Try it on one phone first. Get that first Success. You will understand why it feels so addictive. 🤭
