How to Unfubbernuck Your Android Phone: Part 1 (Easy)

The Search

I needed a new phone. My 5-year-old iPhone XS had a broken FaceID module (plus no fingerprint sensor to fall back on) and was plagued by constant boot loops and failures, which made me question its long-term viability. The iPhone was a hand-me-down, which I accepted because the Android phone I used before was practically unusable for my workflow. However, after using Linux and becoming enamoured by FOSS, I really wanted to get back into the Android ecosystem. After a few weeks of research, I finally settled on a device: The POCO X6 Pro.

The POCO X6 Pro seemed like a steal. For around $300 (RM 1300), you get 512GB UFS 4.0 storage, 12GB of LPDDR5X RAM, a beautiful 120Hz AMOLED screen with HDR support and a CPU/GPU that is significantly more powerful than rivals at its price range! It was basically a no-brainer. Or at least I thought it was.

The Catch

With such amazing hardware, it surely came at a cost right? Yeah… massive ones…

POCO is a subsidiary of Xiaomi, and it mostly sells rebranded Redmi phones outside China. Chinese phones generally have a mixed reputation: they provide good value for money, but are horrendous for privacy and security. They even have ads and trackers embedded within so many parts of the operating system, including the system apps! Despite the fact that my POCO runs Android 14, it actually runs Xiaomi’s heavily modified spin of Android called HyperOS. It lacks optimization, contains plenty of bloat and with HyperOS 2.0 showing Xiaomi slowly moving away from the Android kernel, I am not hopeful for its future.

I’ve spent the past few months optimizing my phone so that not only is it more private and secure, but it is also a joy to use. The knowledge I’ve gained will now be imparted to you in a 3-part series on “How to Unfubbernuck Your Android Phone”, sorted from easy to hard.

Enough with the waffle, lettuce begin.

Step 1: Block Ads/Trackers using Private DNS

Important

Some organizations and schools block DNS-over-TLS as part of their firewall. If you can’t access the internet after using Private DNS, enable Airplane Mode and then disable it.

If this does not fix your problem, switch back to the default Private DNS setting and skip this step (or enable it everytime you are not using the organization’s WiFi).

Since Android 9 Pie (2018), encrypted DNS has been supported in Android in the form DNS-over-TLS. In essence, the Domain Name System (DNS) is the ‘phonebook of the Internet’. It translates the youtube.com that you type into the search bar into an IP address like 142.250.188.14 so that your browser and other services can load the website through a decentralized network of servers.

By switching to a filtered encrypted DNS server, you can use this ‘phonebook’ to not only block trackers, but also ads and malicious websites! This can boost your device’s security and increase your digital quality of life.

Every manufacturer lays out their settings differently, so it’s best to look up on how to access Private DNS for your specific device. For my POCO X6 Pro, which is running HyperOS 1.0.13.0.UNLMIXM at time of writing, you can change it by going to Settings > More connectivity options > Private DNS > Private DNS provider hostname. Input the DNS-over-TLS address of the DNS server you want to use in there (e.g., p2.freedns.controld.com).

Personally, I am paying $20/year for Control D’s ‘Some Control’ plan because of how good it is (I can see statistics, customize my blocklists and even manage multiple devices!). Besides this, there are free filtered encrypted DNS providers out there. For the sake of longevity, I would point you to PrivacyGuides’ Recommended Providers. If you were to ask me, I would recommend Control D’s Free DNS or Mullvad DNS due to their many options . However, it is up to you to make the final choice.

Step 2: Delete Apps You Don’t Need

All phones come with their own set of preinstalled apps. A lot of these, especially if you bought a cheap phone, are sponsored apps. This is one of the reasons why cheap phones are priced as they are. Manufacturers often preinstall their own versions of standard Android apps as well which are more often than not inferior to the apps they were made to replace (e.g., Chrome/Firefox and YouTube Music).

All of these apps (aka bloat) take up precious resources on your device and can reduce your device’s security. You’re better off disabling/uninstalling them or restricting them to ensure that they don’t run in the background or permissions.

This can be easily be done by simply entering the Apps page in your settings. Go through each app, think about whether you need it, and delete/disable you don’t. If the app can’t be deleted, or shows only the option to Uninstall Updates (e.g., Mi Browser), you’re better off disabling every permission, notification, connection method and battery that app could utilize.

Step 3: Speed Up/Remove Animations Altogether

Caution

It is important for you to not touch any other setting within Developer Options unless you know what you are doing. Some critical apps - such as banking apps - can detect whether you have it enabled and temporarily block or warn you from accessing the app for security reasons. If this occurs, you can disable Developer Options and skip this step.

A lot of cheap Android phones can barely maintain a consistent 60fps during normal use. One way that immediately makes your phone feel faster is to speed up or remove animations altogether. However, you will need to enter Developer Options, which is hidden by default.

Once again, different manufacturers have different ways to enable and access it, so it’s best to look it up. Generally, it can be revealed by pressing your device’s Build Number multiple times until it says “You are now a developer!” — normally found in your device’s About Device section. On HyperOS devices, you will need to press OS Version instead.

Once you have it enabled, enter Developer Options and scroll down until you find Window animation scale, Transition animation scale and Animator duration scale. Play around with either .5x or off and see what you prefer.

Conclusion

Originally, there were four steps, but once I realized the post was getting long, I decided to defer the other step to future parts. I also removed a sizeable amount of waffle, in hopes of making it shorter. All of the steps involved were what I did to optimize my device and may differ from what others on the internet recommend.

This is also my first post for #100DaysToOffload. Thus begins my journey to publish 100 posts in a year. I have a number of interesting posts in the oven, and while they aren’t Part 2 and 3 of this series (they will come later as they take time), look forward to them as well!