I've had some questions I want to ask you guys' thoughts on, but I didn't want to make several topics for each. So, I've instead gone with the (totally not at all) novel idea of using one topic to discuss more than one subject!

"New phone, new problems"

Last week, I got a new phone (a Samsung Galaxy S9) after several years of being an iPhone user. I know very little about Android devices, and besides making a couple of calls and browsing the settings, I haven't really used the phone because I wanted to ask you guys:

- What apps should I disable/uninstall (including system apps)?
- What apps do you recommend I install (especially for web browsers)?
- What permissions should I grant to/remove from apps?
- What should I do to increase my privacy and security?
- Can I download and play music without using Google's preinstalled apps?

"Fuck off, admin shield!"

I installed a couple of older games recently, and I've noted that, despite changing their properties to not run as admin, that admin shield still appears on some shortcuts (specifically, Tron 2.0, Shogo, and the Final Liberation WH40k game) despite not appearing on others (Daikatana). I'm wondering how to remove the shield; note: I haven't actually run any of these games since installing them, if that means anything.

1: How should we know unless we have a Galaxy S9 ourselves?
2: How should we know, you didn't specify what you want.
3: How should we know, you didn't say anything about what you're worried about.
4: How should we know, you haven't said anything about the level of privacy you want.
5: Sure. Depends on what you want.

As for the latter, I take it you're installing your games to Program Files or some other system protected folder.

1. Well, I figured at least some default and system apps are shared between all Android devices, and so an Android user (if not an S9 user) may know what to watch out for.
2. I was mostly thinking of quality of life apps (weather, email, what have you) that other Android users recommend. As for a browser, I'm looking for something that (preferably) isn't one of the major browsers (Firefox, Chrome) and gives me a lot of privacy online.
3. Basically, I want to provide the absolute bare minimum permissions so most apps can still run, but have very little access to my phone.
4. As above, I'd like to ensure that as little data as humanly possible can be collected about what I do on my phone.

And to the games, I install all GOG games to a folder on my desktop, NOT Program Files (my bad for not mentioning that).

1. Maybe Facebook, if it is preinstalled and you are not going to use it on your phone. If you will, no need to disable/uninstall anything I guess.

2. For web browsers, it probably already has Chrome which is fine. You can install also e.g. Firefox if you want (I usually use Firefox on my phone as a browser, old habit and it lets me easily delete all cookies etc.).

For a free car navigator that lets you download maps beforehand for offline usage (ie. no data connection or even SIM needed to use the navigator, e.g. abroad): MapFactor Navigator (with the OpenStreetMaps).

Keep as a simple notebook.

Google Duo to make video calls.

VLC for playing media files (video and mp3 files)

Speedtest to test your data connection speed.

Sound Meter to check the current noise level around you in dB.

MobileVOIP to make cheap internet calls (e.g. VoipDiscount) calls abroad, especially to Thailand.

Helsinki Airport to see incoming and outgoing flights easily in the Helsinki-Vantaa airport.

Telkku to see the daily TV programs on Finnish TV channels.

Those should get you started.

3. Really hard to say. Declining some could break the app, if it really needs it for something.

4. Shut down the phone and pry the battery out, and throw them at the sharks. Or, keep GPS disabled when you don't need it (I usually enable it only for car navigation, and afterwards disable it; not so much for privacy, but in order to save battery).

5. If you mean "can I play mp3 files with third-party apps", yes. I personally use VLC to play play (also) mp3 files on my phone. I have also set this (as an mp3 file) as my alarm clock sound with a slowly increasing volume:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYTJTgO_WTY

Very soothing to wake up to this, instead of the default Samsung alarm clock tone which kept giving me a heart attack in the mornings. What is an admit shield? Do you mean the dialog box where Windows asks you whether you really want to run it as admin?

Not sure if it can be disabled, but I don't see why you should. It is just good that it confirms if you are really sure you want to run something as an admin. It is a bit like using "sudo" in Linux, it asks for your admin password.

I increasingly tend to reject apps that demand permission for stuff not directly related to their purpose. I prefer to deprime myself of them, that to let them indulge in any capricious peeping demand. But also I tend to protect my online privacy more than most people, I suppose (no social networks, different usernames on different platforms, secondary emails, etc).

That said, few apps are very useful in my eyes. I consider soundhound a must, google goggles too, maybe. DailyArt, which I would have bought if it didn't require an account. A couple news apps (including weather), a couple office-y apps (to take notes and read pdfs, xls, doc, etc). A chess game. An image viewer and an mp3 player (I mostly avoid the googlethis googlethat apps, I prefer diverse, less "integrated" sources). And the opera browser. That's it.

Semi-minimalistic. Probably not using the object to its full potential, but it's just a phone/walkman/message/basic browser thingy. That's already quite a lot. I've filled each new phone with fewer apps, so, my suggestions would kinda echo this.

1. Nope. There's no obligation to load any apps on Android. You can roll yourself a blank slate and just sideload or develop the apps you want. It's what makes android great: There are no defaults.

2. Well, that's largely to preference in many ways. I personally use WX because I'm a huge weather nerd. It's probably overkill by a huge degree for your needs. For basic suite stuff, I just use Simple Mobile Tools series of open source apps, DroidSound-E for music, and Launchtime for my launcher. One nice thing about Android is that it's all about choice. There's a lot of open source projects to pick from.

3. Good luck. Most browsers are either Quantum or Webkit based.

4. See if you can load your phone with one of those tinfoil custom roms, if you're that worried. Android by default neatly knits into Google's framework by default.

Same here. If an app asks for permission it doesn't need for it's purpose, I'm not going to install it.

I'm not sure about how it goes over your country, but here in Brazil, the shovel-ware that usually comes installed in Android phones is not removable. It will at most, allow you to remove whatever updates said shovel-ware installed over itself.

-You're going to have a hard time uninstalling system apps on your S9, and it won't really help you free up space if you do- I don't think the S9 allows you to store anything in the area it reserves for the bloatware it adds.
-Depends on your browser needs. I wanted open source (thus free and free), and lightweight, so I chose Lightning Browser, but it hasn't been updated in a year.
-Don't grant any permissions to apps. If they don't work properly, and you want the functionality they're needing those permissions for, grant those permissions
-Smash your phone and throw it away :D.
Otherwise- you can use
Psiphon for browsing the internet
K-9 Mail for your emails,
Tinfoil for facebook, although it hasn't been updated in a while
Android Permissions to see what permissions what apps are using
or Exodus Privacy which also tells you which trackers an app is using, but it only works for stuff you got off the google play store
-You absolutely can, the app would depend on your requirements. I personally use Vanilla Music

A thread you might find useful:
Android apps for the poor paranoid loner

I don't actually use Facebook, but I know there's several open source readers for it.

Not that anyone privacy concerned would use it. (I'm not, I just feel that a social network like that would be a massive hassle.)