Given the Government’s directive, smartphone brands may remove the app themselves in subsequent software updates but until that happens, you can use this workaround.The smartphone junk cleaner and virus detector software called the Clean Master app was made by a China-based tech company Cheetah Mobile.
If your phone gets a new update, the cleaner app might get reinstalled and you can just repeat the same process to uninstall it. On Realme UI/ColorOS, the ‘Phone Manager’ app will no longer be present so you won’t be able to use features like the antivirus as well, but you don’t really need that in the first place.
Once the app has been uninstalled on MIUI, you will no longer be able to use the ‘Cleaner’ functionality within the ‘Security’ app.
We will be using ADB or Android Debug Brigade to carry out the process so the first step would be to download Minimal ADB and Fastboot on your PC/Mac.
How to Uninstall Clean Master app from Xiaomi/Redmi/Poco and Oppo/Realme Smartphones We tried the method on multiple devices and didn’t face any issues but in case you end up bricking something on your phone, make sure you know how to recover it. Now, before we get started, understand that this is not an official guide and note that TechPP is not responsible for any sort of data loss or system crashes/instability that you may encounter after following this process. When you hit agree to the terms and conditions warning, it automatically permits the app to use all the functions it wants. What’s worse is the app does not even ask the user to grant these permissions. It even needs access to your microphone, which is again fishy. The cleaner app also requires your location access which does not make sense for an app that is only supposed to help you clean residual files from your phone’s storage. The servers of an app that has been banned with the allegation that it sends user data to Chinese servers. But, since the app is banned and it requires unnecessary permissions that can be hazardous to your privacy, we will tell you how you can uninstall Clean Master from your Xiaomi, Redmi, Poco, Oppo, and Realme smartphones.įor reference, the cleaner app on MIUI needs permission to upload filenames from your phone to Clean Master’s servers. However, one of the apps mentioned in the list from the developer Cheetah Mobile – Clean Master, comes pre-installed on every Xiaomi/Redmi/Poco smartphone since it’s a part of MIUI, and also on Realme/Oppo smartphones as it’s a part of ColorOS too.Ĭlean Master is integrated into the phones’ Security app on MIUI as ‘Cleaner’ and the Phone Manager app on ColorOS/Realme UI and as a result, these apps cannot be uninstalled directly from the phone itself, unlike other apps. If you were using any of those Chinese apps, we have a dedicated article with the best replacements for every Chinese app that has been banned. Recently, the Indian Government banned 59 Chinese apps that were said to be raising privacy concerns.