Samsung Phone Users Perturbed to Find They Can't Delete Facebook • Hacker News Board

Re: Samsung Phone Users Perturbed to Find They Can't Delete Facebook

#211

Post by bitbiter » Wed, Jan 09, 2019, 4:37 PM UTC

simulate wrote: post #161

AlexandrB wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It's not just FB, my Samsung S9 came preloaded with 'undeletable' Microsoft apps too. But this is nothing new, Samsung phones have came preloaded with bloat since forever. I'm old enough to remember when this was standard. Before smartphones almost all cellphones were bought through carriers and came pre-loaded with a bunch of carrier crapware (often unremovable). One of the best things about the first iPhone was t…

Like the iPhones, phones distributed by Google, starting with the Google Phone G1 in 2008, and continuing to the Nexus phones and today's current Pixel phones (Pixel 1, 2, and 3), have never had crapware.

The Nexus One had preinstalled apps that could not be removed, specifically Amazon MP3, Twitter, and Facebook.

Re: Samsung Phone Users Perturbed to Find They Can't Delete Facebook

#212

Post by retzkek » Wed, Jan 09, 2019, 4:38 PM UTC

simulate wrote: post #161

AlexandrB wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It's not just FB, my Samsung S9 came preloaded with 'undeletable' Microsoft apps too. But this is nothing new, Samsung phones have came preloaded with bloat since forever. I'm old enough to remember when this was standard. Before smartphones almost all cellphones were bought through carriers and came pre-loaded with a bunch of carrier crapware (often unremovable). One of the best things about the first iPhone was t…

Like the iPhones, phones distributed by Google, starting with the Google Phone G1 in 2008, and continuing to the Nexus phones and today's current Pixel phones (Pixel 1, 2, and 3), have never had crapware.

I believe this is also true of the many phones branded "Android One" https://www.android.com/one/

Re: Samsung Phone Users Perturbed to Find They Can't Delete Facebook

#213

Post by habitue » Wed, Jan 09, 2019, 4:38 PM UTC

I'm not a huge facebook fan but this thing about only being able to disable but not delete the app is misleading about how sinister it is.

All it means is that the app comes installed by being part of the ROM image. It can be disabled which is essentially the same as deleting it, except you don't get the space back (which is fine since it's the rom, you can't use it without reflashing anyway). Once disabled, the Facebook app won't be able to track you or be loaded into memory.

What this deal is really about is the Facebook app coming preinstalled on new Samsung phones. Bloatware: yes. But don't make too big a deal about the "undeletable" thing.

Re: Samsung Phone Users Perturbed to Find They Can't Delete Facebook

#214

Post by Yhippa » Wed, Jan 09, 2019, 4:38 PM UTC

partiallypro wrote: post #168

I'm no Facebook fan, but doesn't it feel like there is a coordinated media effort to destroy Facebook? It's quite strange. Outside of WSJ, Google seems to get away with it almost the same things Facebook is doing. I'm not sure what to make of it.

I can live without Facebook. I can't live without Google.

Re: Samsung Phone Users Perturbed to Find They Can't Delete Facebook

#215

Post by softawre » Wed, Jan 09, 2019, 4:38 PM UTC

sergiosgc wrote: post #26

LeonM wrote: post #20

It's not just FB, my Samsung S9 came preloaded with 'undeletable' Microsoft apps too. But this is nothing new, Samsung phones have came preloaded with bloat since forever. When buying a new phone I always spend some time deleting all Samsung, Microsoft, Facebook and carrier related apps. Yes, you can delete 'undeletable' apps through ADB, without rooting the device. pm uninstall -k --user 0

I know I can clean up crapware, via adb, but on principle vote with my wallet. It's not acceptable to charge me something that rounds to a thousand euros and then fleece me for a few extra bucks. Right now, I restrict my selection to Android One [1] phones. The current one is a Nokia 8 Sirocco. [1] https://www.android.com/one/

Pixel has no bloatware.

Re: Samsung Phone Users Perturbed to Find They Can't Delete Facebook

#216

Post by simple_phrases » Wed, Jan 09, 2019, 4:40 PM UTC

gambiting wrote: post #206

Kiro wrote: post #204

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For me it was the opposite, the removal of the obnoxious and ancient headphone jack was one of the reason I bought a 6T.

I'm really curious why you think that. Obnoxious why? How? And ancient = bad? Boy, do I have some bad news about power sockets you have at home.......

Audio over Bluetooth has been one of the most consistently terrible user experiences I've encountered, and I used Linux as my daily driver in the early 00's.

Re: Samsung Phone Users Perturbed to Find They Can't Delete Facebook

#217

Post by driverdan » Wed, Jan 09, 2019, 4:41 PM UTC

azeirah wrote: post #65

LeonM wrote: post #20

It's not just FB, my Samsung S9 came preloaded with 'undeletable' Microsoft apps too. But this is nothing new, Samsung phones have came preloaded with bloat since forever. When buying a new phone I always spend some time deleting all Samsung, Microsoft, Facebook and carrier related apps. Yes, you can delete 'undeletable' apps through ADB, without rooting the device. pm uninstall -k --user 0

My note 9 got preinstalled with Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneDrive and LinkedIn. Is that what you call crapware? I mean, I don't use LinkedIn nor OneDrive, and I only occasionally use the others, but these are high-quality pieces of software, you can completely disable these apps natively as well, they're not removed, but they don't impact the system in any way aside from taking up a small chunk of your memory.

> Is that what you call crapware?

Yes, especially LinkedIn. I do not want any software offered by or affiliated with LinkedIn installed on a device I own.

Re: Samsung Phone Users Perturbed to Find They Can't Delete Facebook

#218

Post by gambiting » Wed, Jan 09, 2019, 4:42 PM UTC

Kiro wrote: post #209

gambiting wrote: post #206

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm really curious why you think that. Obnoxious why? How? And ancient = bad? Boy, do I have some bad news about power sockets you have at home.......

I want to embrace the future. The more phones to get rid of the headphone jack, the more headphone companies will realize they need to make wireless versions.

That's like saying you want petrol stations to start closing down, so that manufacturers hurry up with electric cars. The logic is sound, but in the meantime it would be just bloody inconvenient to drive miles to a nearest petrol station while you still haven't got an electric car.

I want wireless headphones too, but I don't want to use adapters with my existing(and very expensive) headphones that I have right now. More importantly, having a headphone jack does not stop bluetooth headphones from working.

Re: Samsung Phone Users Perturbed to Find They Can't Delete Facebook

#219

Post by searine » Wed, Jan 09, 2019, 4:43 PM UTC

Eli_P wrote: post #99

If a giant like Facebook had bought Match Group and Tinder, would it be possible for it to manipulate dating and thus breeding people up to statistically significant scale? I feel it like being "@" in somebody's Dwarf Fortress. World's so narcissistic.

"Matching" in dating apps is old world thinking.

"Swiping" has largely replaced computational matching because it outsources the decision to the user and allows for high-through-put decision making. Users set a radius and judge everyone who meets their basic criteria in that radius (or for the lucky, select from the cattle-call of already received likes).

Yes, these apps could be limiting the raw number of swipe opportunities, but this would probably just turn users away altogether for lack of viable matches that fit their criteria.

Re: Samsung Phone Users Perturbed to Find They Can't Delete Facebook

#220

Post by culot » Wed, Jan 09, 2019, 4:43 PM UTC

petre wrote: post #199

timrichard wrote: post #185

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've had similar feelings... having finally ditched my Huawei Nexus 6P, which I came to loathe. This was after years of buying Google developer devices (going back to the G1). The 6P was the last straw, as I came to resent spending hundreds on something with a soldered-in battery that could be (and turned out to be) unusable after 24 months. The battery was a wreck. I ended up getting an unlocked new LG V20 from eBay…

I'm using the bundled install, micro I think. It's okay, it works just fine. I always wondered what to replace my Nexus 5 with, thanx for the info.

Careful about buying 'new' copies of that phone on Ebay: there are none. Almost all of the new copies bring sold on Ebay for the last year or so are fraudulent. Finding an actual new LG V20, outside of perhaps Korea, is unlikely.

edit: just checked Ebay, and yup, there are no legit new copies to be had, except for maybe AT&T or unlocked variants for $400+. There's a very low chance that anyone will be/or has been able to find a new LG V20 for at least a year, and almost certainly not for a reasonable price.

It is a similar situation for numerous other smartphones on the used market, most new copies for sale are actually remanufactured/used that have been repackaged and fraudulently resold as new from somewhere [originally] in China. The fake LG V20 new copies began flooding the market somewhere in the past 1-2 years, and have dominated since, but that practice is typical for smartphones in general.