How would you uninstall a rogue Home (Launcher) application?

Question

If you were to install a Home Screen application that does not give you access to the System Settings screen (to go to Manage Applications), and also does not let you launch Apps (such as the Market App or 3rd party install/unistallers), is there ANY way to uninstall such an application?

I know that Android requires your permission before letting a new App take over the home screen privilege. But say you're trying a newly published Launcher app that is buggy (or malicious). You are of course still going to tell Android it's ok to give this App the Home screen privilege. Now once it is installed, your phone is now effectively useless?

Is there a way for a typical end user (who doesn't have Eclipse/ADB) to get out of this situation? Other than doing a complete factory reset?

I realize there are ways to uninstall an App via ADB ("adb uninstall package.name")

But it seems like a typical end user is potentially screwed if they ever install such a malicious/buggy app. This seems like a gaping security hole in Android, no?

Answer 1

Someone on StackExchange posted a very helpful solution to this problem. It seems that in addition to a factory reset, most phones also support a Safe Mode that disables other Home/Launcher apps that have been installed (at least that's what it did on my Droid X). This allows you to then uninstall the offending application. Then simply reboot again back into normal mode to get your old phone back.

Answer 2

You are right, there is no nice way of uninstalling such an application from the Android device itself. The only solutions are the ones you are mentioning, factory reset (which is difficult for most users, if the settings menu is not accessible) or using adb.

I wouldn't call it a security issue, but it could certainly be a problem for users that are not careful about what they are installing.

One of the big selling points about Android, that really puts the system way ahead of the competition, is the possibility to replace any app you don't like with something you download and install yourself. ("All applications are created equal.")

The price to pay for this freedom is that there are rogue applications that will try to take over.

Answer 3

There's actually an easier solution these days, surely? Use the market.android.com website to install a new homescreen app remotely onto your device. Once you've done this, hitting the home button will once more bring up the list of homescreen apps to choose from, and you can select a non-malicious, non-buggy one, and then use that to uninstall the evil one.