How to remove the Unity Amazon package in 16.04?

Question

I was able to go to the ubuntu software center before and remove it and now it doesn't show up since the switch to the gnome software store. Trying the terminal method of removing the shopping lens doesn't work in this release.

Solution 1

Removing the unity-webapps-common package removes Amazon from the dash. Since the Amazon webapp is part of that package, you can't just remove the Amazon portion (well, short of editing the source code). This is a problem when other programs (like Unity Tweak Tool) depend on that package.

As noted by fitojb in this answer to another question, however, this command will prevent the Amazon icon from showing up in the dash:

sudo rm -rf /usr/share/applications/ubuntu-amazon-default.desktop

However, as dobey pointed out in a comment below, when the unity-webapps-common package updates the file will be replaced and the command will have to be run again. A more permanent method is to copy the .desktop file to your local applications directory and then add a line to the file to prevent it from showing up in the dash:

echo 'Hidden=true' | cat /usr/share/applications/ubuntu-amazon-default.desktop - > ~/.local/share/applications/ubuntu-amazon-default.desktop

Solution 2

As Aibara Iduas suggests, removing /usr/share/applications/ubuntu-amazon-default.desktop is the solution. But it will come back with the next upgrade. The solution to copy the file to ~/.local/share/applications/ubuntu-amazon-default.desktop works only for the current user. To disable this .desktop file for all users on the machine, and to prevent upgrades from putting it back, the solution is to divert the file with dpkg-divert.

sudo dpkg-divert \
  --divert /usr/share/applications/ubuntu-amazon-default.desktop.diverted \
  --local \
  --rename \
  /usr/share/applications/ubuntu-amazon-default.desktop

Solution 3

In Ubuntu 18.04, just deinstall the ubuntu-web-launchers package:

sudo apt remove ubuntu-web-launchers

It only contains the Amazon launcher, as you can see by doing

dpkg -L ubuntu-web-launchers

first.

Solution 4

The dash still requires the old ubuntu software center to uninstall programs, even though it is not included with 16.04. Install the software-center package and log out and back in to your account and then you will be able to view screenshots of programs and uninstall them by right clicking on them in the dash like in previous versions.

Solution 5

For me worked this on Ubuntu 16.04 LTS:

cd /usr/share/applications
mv ubuntu-amazon-default.desktop ../~ubuntu-amazon-default.desktop

View more solutions

Comments

[Klyn]

I can remove it running apt-get remove unity-webapps-common but unity tweak tool needs this package too.

[dobey]

The shopping lens is not installed in 16.04 by default. The Amazon icon you see is the web app. Searching in the dash will not invoke it.

[Todd]

Back in Ubuntu 12.04 days I thought they talked about ditching this spyware/marketware crap. Canonical is insane. I was disgusted to see Amazon in my unity launcher once I got a brand new 16.04 machine. So sad that the first step in each Ubuntu install is to remove junk like this!

[ADJenks]

I like the solution by Reinier Post the most.

[Lambart]

If google sends you here and you have 18.04, the answer is simple: sudo apt remove ubuntu-web-launchers (run dpkg -L ubuntu-web-launchers first if you want to see what's in it--100% Amazon)

[Klyn]

I just see "launch" in the dash window. I'm on 16.04 btw.

[Videonauth]

Im aswell on 16.04, and this since two weeks. Entfernen means remove in english

[Klyn]

This is from a clean install. Not sure why they made it impossible to remove this but i guess I will have to live with it for now or switch to another *buntu :[

[Videonauth]

Well i will comment on this here if i find a solution, you got me going now. And ok that could possibly be the reason, i had upgraded from 15.10 to beta release.

[Klyn]

Thanks for the persistence. If I come across anything i'll make sure to update as well. It did just get released so i'm sure someone will figure it out soon.

[Fern Moss]

That doesn't work in 16.04. The only package that fits that description is unity-webapps-amazoncloudread, which, if removed, does nothing.

[dobey]

No. That is the wrong way to hide the app. It will re-appear again if/when there is an update to the unity-webapps-common package, or it gets reinstalled for some reason. Copying the file to ~/.local/share/applications/ and adding the line Hidden=true to the end of it, should actually hide it.

[redanimalwar]

I have done the 2nd "solution" as how I understand it this should overwrite the icon and make it invisible. But it does not work in ubuntu 16.10

[Underverse]

Alternatively, put the rm -rf /usr/share/applications/ubuntu-amazon-default.desktop command into a script then run it every so often via cron. Works in Ubuntu 16.04.

[mauek unak]

In Ubuntu 17.10, .desktop file is: /usr/share/applications/com.canonical.launcher.amazon.deskto‌​p

[evaristegd]

This was really useful. How did you find this out?

[Reinier Post]

I probably used locate to find relevant files and dpkg -S on a few of them to determine relevant package names.

[0xc0de]

This should be voted up as this is a better solutions with later versions of Ubuntu.