URGENT help required with KSK uninstall!

[chavs_uk]

Hi folks, been trawling the interwebs and forums etc for a few days to try and solve this issue but all of the suggestions I'm seeing on other people's similar issues are simply not working for me!

So... had Kaspersky Safe Kids installed on a Samsung Flip 6 phone (UK, O2 network)... has been installed for approx 1 year I'm guessing and worked generally OK in that time.  At Christmas, the user got a new phone.  I set up a new "child" profile and installed KSK on the new device, no problem, all good on the new phone.

The old phone is now going to be sold, but I need to remove KSK from it before I can do a factory reset.  And therein lies the problem, I cannot for the life of me get the thing to uninstall and it's driving me around the bend!

I started with Kaspersky's own instructions...  open the app on the device > click 'for parents' > click 'uninstall' > enter credentials...  as soon as I enter the credentials, it quickly flashes up "signing in" but then goes back to the parent's screen again...   if i click 'uninstall' again, we get stuck in the same loop where I sign in then it's straight back to the parents screen.

I found an older thread on this forum about going onto the desktop parents control and disabling the monitoring etc first, then try again, but have the same issue.

Every time I sign in on the device and choose 'uninstall', it throws me back to the main screen and I get a dropdown notification saying "Uninstalling... can't uninstall active device admin app" with a link inviting me to "manage device admin apps"....  when I click that option, I get a screen showing KSK with a bullet-list of all the functions KSK has control over, and two options at the bottom:  [Cancel] or [Deactivate]...  unfortunately, the option I want (deactivate) is greyed out and not available.

When I try to close the app and start over, I get a message saying "Security policy restricts you from stopping this application".

I did manage to find an alternative route where I was asked to sign in to my KSK account and when I entered the password, I got the parents screen with a popup saying "are you sure you want to uninstall this app?" however when I click 'yes', it just darkens the screen and shows the spinning wheel saying "please wait..." - that just stays on the screen for eternity but doesn't actually do anything (i left it for up to 20 mins at one point, just in case it was taking its time, but it still did nothing).

I am literally going around in circles with everything I try but getting absolutely nowhere.  I need this removed as a matter of urgency as the phone is being sold to a family member (an adult) who is currently without a phone and needing one!

Is anyone able to help solve this issue before my final remaining strands of non-grey hair turn grey?!  😭

Edited yesterday at 03:41 PM by chavs_uk

[Flood and Flood's wife]

Hello @chavs_uk,
Welcome!
We were going to provide a process to proceed with this, we've spent hours documenting - however, testing it, it doesn't work.
The 'recommended' documentation -> Remove Kaspersky Safe Kids for Android from your child's device & the *actual* process are as different as chalk & cheese which is telling (ioo). 

Please reach out to Kaspersky Customer Service, https://support.kaspersky.com/b2c#contacts -> select Email, fill in the template as shown; include a *detailed history*. Support may request logs, data & traces, they will advise you:
*Note - don't use the AI-bot to submit the case*

Please share the outcome with the Community, when it's available? 

Thank you🙏
Flood🐳+🐋

[chavs_uk]

Hi Flood, thanks for your reply.

My first thought (concern!) is that reaching out to these guys is going to take time to get it sorted - based on the various posts I've read on other forums the last few days of other people's headaches trying to uninstall it.

One afterthought I had since posting here - and I don't know if this will help you suggest a quicker option or not - is that the original install of the KSK app on the device was via the APK download file, because at the time, for reasons unknown to me, the KSK app wasn't available for that device in the Google play store.  I don't know if the install method is a possible cause for the usual uninstall instructions not working?

[Flood and Flood's wife]

5 hours ago, chavs_uk said:

Hi Flood, thanks for your reply.

My first thought (concern!) is that reaching out to these guys is going to take time to get it sorted - based on the various posts I've read on other forums the last few days of other people's headaches trying to uninstall it.

One afterthought I had since posting here - and I don't know if this will help you suggest a quicker option or not - is that the original install of the KSK app on the device was via the APK download file, because at the time, for reasons unknown to me, the KSK app wasn't available for that device in the Google play store.  I don't know if the install method is a possible cause for the usual uninstall instructions not working?

Hello @chavs_uk, 

You're most welcome! 

The .apk makes no difference. 

KSK is no longer distributed via GooglePlayStore, please read: How to download Kaspersky apps on Android and iOS, Kaspersky Safe Kids. 

IF our original solution had worked we'd have provided it & IF we had a 'faster' solution - we'd have posted it, sadly, on this occasion, despite hours of trying we were unable to make any progress - it really should be a simple process. 

We've just revisited it, spent another two hours, it's hopeless...

We can & have turned OFF Uninstallation protection  - requires password to be entered                                                    

We can & have turned OFF the app - requires password to be entered

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        but that's it, entering the password to initiate Uninstall the app does diddly-squat, it's freakin bizarre. 

• IF (you) want KSK OFF (your) phone please contact Kaspersky Customer Service. 
• BTW, it takes no time to log a request & get it into the Kaspersky system, the sooner it's in there the sooner (you'll) get service. 

Please share the outcome with the Community, when it's available? 

Thank you🙏
Flood🐳+🐋

Edited 1 hour ago by Flood and Flood's wife
KSK is no longer distributed via GooglePlayStore, please read: How to download Kaspersky apps on Android and iOS, Kaspersky Safe Kids​​​​​​​. 

[chavs_uk]

@Flood and Flood's wife Thanks again for your reply, comments noted and appreciated.

Yes, I agree, it is freakin' bizarre alright!  I'd also tried turning off the uninstall protection and turning off the app, but that did absolutely nothing!  This morning, I keep getting to the part where it asks for my password and then gives me a popup asking if I'm sure I want to delete the app... but when I click 'yes', it just gives the "please wait" message and the spinning wheel that spins forever and a day.  I left it spinning for another 30 minutes earlier to see if it was actually doing anything, but gave up!

I will take your advice and complete the form, and then embark upon what I suspect (but hope not!) will be a back-and-forth conversation with them offering me various links and instructions that I've already tried but don't work!

Here's hoping I'm wrong...!  🙏