Alexa Tablet 12 Pro debloat: remove Amazon bloatware via ADB

The device: Alexa Tablet UI with Google Play out of the box

The Alexa Tablet 12 Pro is the first Amazon tablet that ships with the full Google services alongside the Amazon ecosystem. Out of the box, the Play Store, Play services, Chrome and Gmail run in parallel with Alexa, Kindle, Prime Video and Amazon’s own Appstore.

Property	Value
Device	Amazon Alexa Tablet 12 Pro (Wi-Fi)
Model ID	ATSPWI
Internal codename	spinel (from the package i18n.product.name.overlay.spinel)
Android version	16
Operating system	Alexa Tablet UI 16.1.10
Build	SL16SHIP2003.1344N
SoC	MediaTek MT8793 according to Geekbench 7 (Amazon lists MT8793N), 8 cores at 1 × 3.25, 3 × 3.0 and 4 × 2.1 GHz like the Dimensity 8400 (MT6899), which the package com.mediatek.mt6899.gamedriver is also named after
Internal storage (/data)	102 GB, 15 GB of it used
Google Play	preinstalled

Debloating here means removing or disabling preinstalled apps and services for your user via ADB (Android Debug Bridge, the command line tool for Android devices). You do not need root for this.

Important first: user 10, not user 0

On the Alexa Tablet 12 Pro, you have to run every command with --user 10, not with --user 0. The device runs in Headless System User Mode (HSUM): user 0 is an invisible system user without a UI, the actual user is user 10. Almost all debloat guides online use --user 0 and therefore do not work here.

C:\> adb shell pm list users
Users:
        UserInfo{0:null:813} running
        UserInfo{10:<Name>:4412} running

User 0 has no name, user 10 carries the account holder’s name (redacted here). For me, every command with --user 0 dutifully reported Success, but nothing changed on screen. Gmail, Google Photos and YouTube Music even reported not installed for 0 right away, because many user apps are not installed for the system user at all.

Preparation

1. Install the Platform Tools on your computer

   adb is part of Google’s free Android SDK Platform Tools. You do not need Android Studio. Choose your operating system:

   Your computer's operating system

   WindowsmacOSLinux

   On Windows 10 and 11, the easiest way is the built-in package manager winget. Open PowerShell or Terminal and run:

   winget install --id Google.PlatformTools -e

   Later updates take one command: winget upgrade Google.PlatformTools.

   Without winget: download platform-tools-latest-windows.zip from Google, extract it to C:\platform-tools and add that folder to your Path: search the Start menu for Edit environment variables for your account, select Path, click Edit, then New.

   Open a new PowerShell window and check that adb is found:

   adb version

   With Homebrew, one command is enough:

   brew install --cask android-platform-tools

   Without Homebrew: download the official zip in Terminal, unpack it into your home folder and add it to your PATH (zsh is the default shell on macOS):

   curl -LO https://dl.google.com/android/repository/platform-tools-latest-darwin.zip
   unzip platform-tools-latest-darwin.zip -d ~
   echo 'export PATH="$HOME/platform-tools:$PATH"' >> ~/.zshrc

   Open a new Terminal window and check that adb is found:

   adb version

   Install adb from your distribution, together with the udev rules that let adb access the tablet without root. Debian, Ubuntu and Linux Mint:

   sudo apt install adb android-sdk-platform-tools-common

   Fedora:

   sudo dnf install android-tools

   Arch Linux:

   sudo pacman -S android-tools android-udev

   Distribution packages can lag a few versions behind Google. That is fine for this guide. If you want the current release, use the official zip instead (you still need the udev rules from above):

   curl -LO https://dl.google.com/android/repository/platform-tools-latest-linux.zip
   unzip platform-tools-latest-linux.zip -d ~
   echo 'export PATH="$HOME/platform-tools:$PATH"' >> ~/.bashrc

   Open a new terminal and check that adb is found:

   adb version

   If adb devices later shows no permissions, the udev rules are missing. Install them and plug the tablet in again.

2. Turn on USB debugging

   Unlock the developer options first: scroll to the bottom of the settings, open the tablet info page (Tablet-Info in the German UI) and tap Build number seven times. The developer options then appear under Settings → System → Developer options.

   

   Turn on Use developer options at the top and enable USB debugging in the Debugging section.

   

3. Connect the tablet

   Connect the tablet via USB and confirm the USB debugging prompt on the screen. The device must then show up in the list:

   adb devices

   If the tablet is detected correctly, it shows up with its serial number and the status device (serial number redacted here):

   C:\> adb devices
   List of devices attached
   <serial number>        device

   On the very first call, adb starts its background service first and the list can still be empty. In my log, the first call returned an empty list and the second one showed the tablet. So confirm the prompt and run adb devices again. If it shows unauthorized instead of device, the prompt on the tablet has not been confirmed yet.

4. Check the active user

   adb shell am get-current-user

   If it returns 10, all commands in this article fit. If you get a different number, replace 10 with your value everywhere.

5. Install replacements before removing anything

   Install another launcher from the Play Store (I use Lawnchair) and another keyboard such as Gboard, and set both as the default. Switch the digital assistant and sign out of your Amazon account if you also want to remove the account-bound Amazon features.

The script: everything in one go

My script does everything the rest of this guide describes in one go, and you can run it again after every system update. It runs directly on the tablet, so the commands are identical on Windows, macOS and Linux.

• Download: alexa-tablet-debloat.sh (version 1.0, MIT license, view in browser)
• Checksum: alexa-tablet-debloat.sh.sha256

Read the script before running it. It detects the active user itself (am get-current-user), checks the model (ATSPWI) and aborts on other devices. It never touches the Fire launcher and only disables the Fire keyboard when another keyboard is active.

adb push alexa-tablet-debloat.sh /data/local/tmp/
adb shell sh /data/local/tmp/alexa-tablet-debloat.sh --dry-run
adb shell sh /data/local/tmp/alexa-tablet-debloat.sh --all --free-space

Without options, it only removes ads, demo and SIM leftovers and disables telemetry (also for user 0). Everything else you switch on deliberately:

Option	Effect
--amazon-apps	Prime Video, Music, Audible, Kindle, Shopping, Photos, Appstore, Silk, Luna, Amazon Kids
--alexa	Remove Alexa and hide the Alexa icon (until the next reboot)
--no-account	Account-bound Amazon features, only useful without an Amazon account
--google	Duplicate Google apps: Gmail, Drive, Photos, Calendar, Google TV, YouTube Kids/Music, Meet
--a11y	Google accessibility apps (TalkBack, Switch Access, Voice Access)
--keyboard	Disable the Fire keyboard
--free-space	Delete updates of the removed system apps
--all	Same as --amazon-apps --alexa --no-account --google
--dry-run	Only show what would happen, change nothing
--restore	Undo everything

Which packages each option covers, and why, is explained under What I removed.

If you save the script on Windows with CRLF line endings, sh aborts with \r: not found. You can fix that right on the device:

adb shell "sed -i 's/\r$//' /data/local/tmp/alexa-tablet-debloat.sh"

What comes preinstalled

pm list packages -s lists 297 system packages on the tablet. In my case, there were also 20 apps I had installed myself.

Category	Count	Examples
Amazon / Alexa Tablet UI	85	Fire launcher, Alexa, Kindle, Prime Video, Appstore, account and telemetry services
Google (GMS)	75	Play services, Play Store, Chrome, Gmail, YouTube, Photos, Drive, Maps
AOSP / Android system	70	SystemUI, Settings, providers, print service, Bluetooth MIDI
Overlays (RROs)	62	Display cutout emulation, navigation bar modes, GMS configuration, Amazon product overlays
MediaTek (SoC)	3	GPU game driver, network overlays
Dolby	2	Dolby Atmos service and UI

Most Amazon and Google apps live on the /product partition (158 packages), the AOSP core under /system (57). There are also 32 mainline modules under /apex, which Google Play updates and which cannot be removed, and 18 system apps under /data/app that are already newer than the factory version thanks to updates.

Many Amazon packages have meaningless codenames such as spiderpork, junco or diode.

What I removed

In total I removed 53 packages and disabled 7 packages, each only for user 10. Removing works like this:

adb shell pm uninstall -k --user 10 <package>

-k keeps app data and cache so a restore is quick. For several packages, open a shell on the tablet with adb shell and paste one of the lines below at a time. This works the same on Windows, macOS and Linux, because the loop runs on the tablet. You can bring any package back with:

adb shell cmd package install-existing --user 10 <package>

The “APK” column shows the size of the respective base.apk. What that means for free storage is explained in Honest storage numbers.

Ads, recommendations and decoration

Package	Purpose	APK
com.amazon.wallpaper	Amazon live wallpapers	64.9 MB
com.amazon.kindle.kso	“Special Offers”: ads on the lock screen	25.2 MB
com.amazon.firespotlight	Spotlight: “Featured Content & Recommendations” and “limited-time offers” as notifications	23.8 MB
com.amazon.hedwig	Fire Channels: “For you” feed in the launcher	16.5 MB
com.amazon.partnerbrowsercustomizations	Amazon homepage and bookmarks for Chrome, ran in the background	0.5 MB
com.amazon.dags.tableteducation	Tips and tutorial	0.2 MB

for p in com.amazon.wallpaper com.amazon.kindle.kso com.amazon.firespotlight com.amazon.hedwig com.amazon.partnerbrowsercustomizations com.amazon.dags.tableteducation; do pm uninstall -k --user 10 $p; done

Demo, setup and support packages

Package	Purpose	APK
com.amazon.ods.kindleconnect	Mayday Screen Sharing: screen sharing with Amazon customer service	10.4 MB
com.amazon.kindle.otter.oobe.forced.ota	Forced update during initial setup	7.7 MB
com.amazon.tablet.chameleon	Moves apps from an old Fire tablet over to Google Play	6.3 MB
com.amazon.csapp	Customer service app	5.8 MB
com.amazon.d3	Demo Device Daemon: store demo mode, may reboot, install apps and write settings	4.6 MB
com.amazon.cx_offline	Demo Offline: kiosk demo for stores, including an accessibility service	3.4 MB
com.amazon.samplewifiapp	Sample app without a function	< 0.1 MB

for p in com.amazon.ods.kindleconnect com.amazon.kindle.otter.oobe.forced.ota com.amazon.tablet.chameleon com.amazon.csapp com.amazon.d3 com.amazon.cx_offline com.amazon.samplewifiapp; do pm uninstall -k --user 10 $p; done

Amazon apps and services

Package	Purpose	APK
com.amazon.mp3	Amazon Music	281.4 MB
com.amazon.cloud9	Silk browser	254.0 MB
com.amazon.avod	Prime Video	159.0 MB
com.amazon.kindle	Kindle	132.8 MB
com.amazon.clouddrive.photos	Amazon Photos	130.4 MB
com.audible.application.kindle	Audible	47.7 MB
com.amazon.tahoe.grownups	Amazon Kids (parent dashboard)	43.9 MB
com.amazon.tahoe	Amazon Kids	29.9 MB
com.amazon.venezia	Amazon Appstore	24.4 MB
com.amazon.cloud9.kids	Silk for kids profiles	19.7 MB
com.amazon.spiderpork	Amazon Luna (cloud gaming)	19.1 MB
com.amazon.tahoe.platform	Amazon Kids platform	1.0 MB
com.amazon.windowshop	Amazon Shopping	0.7 MB

for p in com.amazon.mp3 com.amazon.cloud9 com.amazon.avod com.amazon.kindle com.amazon.clouddrive.photos com.audible.application.kindle com.amazon.tahoe.grownups com.amazon.tahoe com.amazon.venezia com.amazon.cloud9.kids com.amazon.spiderpork com.amazon.tahoe.platform com.amazon.windowshop; do pm uninstall -k --user 10 $p; done

Alexa

Package	Purpose	APK
com.amazon.dee.app	Alexa app	472.1 MB
com.amazon.tablet.voiceassistant	Alexa voice control and tiles in Quick Settings	18.2 MB
com.amazon.alexa.calendar.app	Alexa calendar	5.2 MB
com.amazon.genai.edgeaiagent	Alexa+ / on-device AI agent	0.7 MB

for p in com.amazon.dee.app com.amazon.tablet.voiceassistant com.amazon.alexa.calendar.app com.amazon.genai.edgeaiagent; do pm uninstall -k --user 10 $p; done

The Alexa icon in the taskbar stays visible after that. How to get rid of it is explained under Hide the Alexa icon.

Account-bound Amazon features

I could only remove these packages after signing out of my Amazon account. They only make sense to remove if you use the tablet without an Amazon account.

Package	Purpose	APK
com.amazon.tablet.voyager	Universal Search: Amazon’s search in the launcher	24.2 MB
com.amazon.tablet.junco	In-App Purchase Protection: password protection for purchases	7.6 MB
com.amazon.h2settingsfortablet	Settings for profiles and Amazon Household	5.4 MB
com.amazon.fawkes	“Manage Storage”: archives Prime Video and Audible content	5.3 MB
com.amazon.device.sync.sdk.internal	Whispersync (e.g. Kindle reading position)	4.7 MB
com.amazon.sharingservice.android.client.proxy	Share content within the household	0.1 MB

for p in com.amazon.tablet.voyager com.amazon.tablet.junco com.amazon.h2settingsfortablet com.amazon.fawkes com.amazon.device.sync.sdk.internal com.amazon.sharingservice.android.client.proxy; do pm uninstall -k --user 10 $p; done

Google apps

I had replaced these apps with my own alternatives: Immich instead of Google Photos, Outlook instead of Gmail and Google Calendar, OneDrive instead of Drive, Spotify instead of YouTube Music. Keep whatever you use.

Package	Purpose	APK
com.google.android.apps.photos	Google Photos	150.1 MB
com.google.android.gm	Gmail	144.9 MB
com.google.android.apps.youtube.music	YouTube Music	64.5 MB
com.google.android.apps.docs	Google Drive	58.5 MB
com.google.android.apps.youtube.kids	YouTube Kids	55.2 MB
com.google.android.apps.tachyon	Google Meet	51.1 MB
com.google.android.marvin.talkback	TalkBack (accessibility)	41.4 MB
com.google.android.calendar	Google Calendar	29.4 MB
com.google.android.videos	Google TV	26.9 MB
com.google.android.apps.accessibility.voiceaccess	Voice Access (accessibility)	16.6 MB
com.google.android.accessibility.switchaccess	Switch Access (accessibility)	11.8 MB
com.google.android.gms.location.history	Location history	2.7 MB
com.google.android.feedback	Google Feedback	0.5 MB

for p in com.google.android.apps.photos com.google.android.gm com.google.android.apps.youtube.music com.google.android.apps.docs com.google.android.apps.youtube.kids com.google.android.apps.tachyon com.google.android.calendar com.google.android.videos com.google.android.gms.location.history com.google.android.feedback; do pm uninstall -k --user 10 $p; done

I deliberately left the three accessibility apps (TalkBack, Voice Access, Switch Access) out of that line. Only remove them if really nobody in your household needs them.

AOSP leftovers

Package	Purpose	APK
com.android.traceur	System tracing (developer tool)	5.4 MB
com.android.stk	SIM toolkit, useless on a Wi-Fi-only device	3.8 MB
com.android.egg	Android easter egg	2.3 MB
com.android.simappdialog	SIM dialog, useless on a Wi-Fi-only device	0.4 MB

for p in com.android.traceur com.android.stk com.android.egg com.android.simappdialog; do pm uninstall -k --user 10 $p; done

Disable telemetry instead of removing it

I only disabled the telemetry packages, I did not remove them. disable-user is the more cautious choice, because a package can be switched back on immediately with pm enable. Because of the headless mode, I disabled them for users 0 and 10, since background services can also run under the system user.

Package	Purpose	APK
com.amazon.device.crashmanager	Collects and sends crash reports	1.8 MB
com.amazon.client.metrics	Internal name “Minerva”: Amazon telemetry	1.5 MB
com.amazon.device.logmanager	Log collection	0.8 MB
com.amazon.diode	Ran constantly, regularly performed “analyses” and uploaded them (PeriodicAnalysisAndUploadJob), fetches remote configuration (Arcus)	0.6 MB
com.amazon.metrics	Metrics service	0.5 MB
com.amazon.vdropbox	“Vendor DropBox”: storage for crash logs	< 0.1 MB

for u in 10 0; do for p in com.amazon.device.crashmanager com.amazon.client.metrics com.amazon.device.logmanager com.amazon.diode com.amazon.metrics com.amazon.vdropbox; do pm disable-user --user $u $p; done; done

The seventh package I disabled is the Fire keyboard com.amazon.firekeyboard (130.1 MB). That only works once another keyboard is active:

adb shell pm disable-user --user 10 com.amazon.firekeyboard

You can switch any package back on with adb shell pm enable --user 10 <package> (or --user 0).

What you should keep

Some Amazon packages look superfluous but hold the system together. If you remove them, you risk boot problems, account errors or missing updates.

Package	Purpose	Why keep it
com.amazon.firelauncher	Fire launcher (“Home UI”)	The system’s recents provider, without it the home gesture breaks
com.amazon.tv.launcher	Launcher component	Closely tied to the launcher, purpose unclear
com.amazon.imp	Identity Mobile Platform: account sign-in and SSO	Runs permanently, other packages depend on it
com.amazon.dha2	IFireOsDha2 interface	Used by imp and the setup
com.amazon.tcomm	Communication Services: message channel to the Amazon cloud	Basis for push and remote configuration
com.amazon.device.messaging	Amazon Device Messaging (push)	Library for many system packages
com.amazon.dcp.contracts.library	“DCP Platform Contracts”	Shared library, dependent apps do not start without it
com.amazon.i18n.util	Localization library	Required library for Settings and ssmsys
com.amazon.commonhost, com.amazon.commonhost.persistent	Amazon core host: remote configuration, network diagnostics, vitals	Core platform, runs permanently
com.amazon.neodelegate, com.amazon.neo.permissions	NEO platform (Amazon’s Android foundation)	Runs permanently
com.amazon.device_remote_config_sync_service	Syncs the remote configuration	Used by neodelegate
com.amazon.alta.h2clientservice	Amazon Households, profile management	May manage users (MANAGE_USERS)
com.amazon.silverlight	Internally “Amazon Settings”: battery health, battery protection, advertising ID	Contains important settings pages
com.amazon.fpbservice	Framework Peripherals Bridge (accessories, e.g. the pen)	Accessory and pen support
com.amazon.kindle.magpie	Amazon Device Setup (initial setup)	Needed after a factory reset
com.amazon.device.software.ota, com.amazon.settings.systemupdates	System updates	Updates keep coming, even without an Amazon account
com.amazon.adidmanager	Amazon advertising ID	Used by silverlight and neodelegate
com.amazon.asp	AmazonAspService	Purpose unclear, has access to all user profiles (INTERACT_ACROSS_USERS_FULL)

Also off limits: all overlays (*overlay*), com.mediatek.*, com.dolby.*, com.android.providers.* as well as Play services, Play Store, WebView, Package Installer and Permission Controller.

Optional, depending on what you use

I kept these packages. You can remove them if you do not need the feature.

Package	Purpose	Removable if …
com.amazon.watson + com.amazon.hwrassets	Handwriting recognition and language packs (83 MB), watson downloads in the background	… you do not use a pen
com.amazon.tablet.smart.accessories	Setup for the keyboard case and pen, “Find My Pen”	… you do not use accessories
com.amazon.adl.service	Firmware updates for accessories via Bluetooth	… you do not use accessories
com.amazon.bld	“Twilight Mode”: blue light filter with schedule	… you do not need a blue light filter
com.amazon.ssmsys	System Status Monitor / “Network Advisor”	… you do not need the Network Advisor page
com.amazon.adep	Amazon Security: may disable and uninstall apps that Amazon classifies as harmful or incompatible	… Google Play Protect is enough for you

The Fire launcher and the home gesture

You cannot usefully remove the Fire launcher, only replace it. After I set Lawnchair as the default launcher and disabled the Fire launcher, the back gesture kept working, but the home gesture did not.

The reason: with gesture navigation, the home gesture is not handled by the default launcher but by the recents provider hard-wired into the system (Quickstep, TouchInteractionService). Here, that is the Fire launcher. The back gesture runs through SystemUI and is therefore not affected. The default was not the problem, cmd package resolve-activity with the HOME category correctly returned Lawnchair.

This brings the home gesture back:

adb shell pm enable --user 10 com.amazon.firelauncher
adb reboot

The reboot matters. Without it, the home gesture stayed broken, because SystemUI only reconnects to the launcher after a reboot. Lawnchair remains the default, the Fire launcher only works in the background. With 3-button navigation it would also work without the Fire launcher, but then you lose the recent apps overview. Lawnchair can only take over the recents provider with root.

What still appears from the Fire launcher when you swipe up:

• The app dock in the middle is Android’s taskbar for tablets (transient taskbar). There is no switch in the code to turn it off. You can only pin or unpin apps.
• The Alexa icon at the bottom right is called AlexaIngressButton in the launcher code. It stayed visible for me, even though the Alexa app was removed, the assistant role was cleared and I had signed out of the account.

Hide the Alexa icon in the taskbar

The Alexa icon disappears when you set the secure setting alexa_app_in_foreground to 1 for user 10:

adb shell settings put --user 10 secure alexa_app_in_foreground 1
adb shell am force-stop com.amazon.firelauncher

Alexa Tablet UI resets the value at every boot.

Honest storage numbers

Removing apps alone frees almost no storage. The 60 removed and disabled packages add up to about 2.66 GB, but the files stay on the device.

Group	Packages	APK size
Amazon apps and services	13	1,144.0 MB
Google apps	13	653.6 MB
Alexa	4	496.1 MB
Ads, recommendations and decoration	6	131.1 MB
Account-bound Amazon features	6	47.4 MB
Demo, setup and support	7	38.2 MB
AOSP leftovers	4	11.9 MB
Total removed	53	2,522.3 MB
Disabled (telemetry and Fire keyboard)	7	135.2 MB
Total	60	≈ 2.66 GB

Why the storage stays occupied:

• System partitions (/product, /system, /system_ext) are read-only. pm uninstall --user only hides the app for your user, the APK stays where it is. In my case that is 876 MB.
• Updates under /data/app (1.65 GB) stay as well, because the app is still installed from the system’s point of view. The base.apk files could still be read with stat after removal.
• -k additionally keeps app data and cache.

The real gain lies elsewhere: fewer processes and background jobs, no ads and no recommendation notifications, less telemetry, a tidy interface and no more updates for apps you do not use.

How to actually free up storage

You free up storage by deleting the updates of the removed system apps. This resets them to the factory version in /product and cleans up /data. In my case, twelve packages were affected:

for p in com.amazon.dee.app com.amazon.mp3 com.amazon.cloud9 com.amazon.avod com.amazon.kindle com.amazon.clouddrive.photos com.google.android.apps.tachyon com.audible.application.kindle com.amazon.tahoe.grownups com.amazon.tahoe com.amazon.venezia com.amazon.spiderpork; do pm uninstall-system-updates $p; done

All twelve reported Success. df -h /data went from 16 GB used and 86 GB free to 15 GB used and 87 GB free. Since df -h rounds to whole gigabytes, that matches the expected 1.65 GB. The apps stay removed for user 10. As a check, dumpsys package com.amazon.dee.app then shows codePath=/product/priv-app/com.amazon.dee.app, the factory version.

Conclusion

You can thoroughly clean up the Alexa Tablet 12 Pro without root if you keep two things in mind: always use --user 10 and keep the Fire launcher. Afterwards there are no ads, no recommendations and much less telemetry, and Google Play is already there anyway. Real storage savings only come from deleting the app updates.

A debloat is no replacement for a custom ROM: what Android without any manufacturer software looks like is shown on the GrapheneOS overview.