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Google pushed to take action against Android bloatware

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Re: Google pushed to take action against Android bloatware

#31

Post by ahartmetz »

Waterluvian wrote: post #28
ahartmetz wrote: post #24

Motorola (edit: and Google, Nokia, probably other) phones come without bloatware - vote with your wallets. (The preinstalled Moto apps are very small and actually quite useful, like accelerometer-based gestures for quick acces to camera or flashlight) I buy phones as a platform for software, so it makes sense to pay attention to more than the hardware.

I got a moto because of this. It has _almost_ no bloatware. LinkedIn, DropBoxNativeClient, and a few other apps I don't use cannot be uninstalled. Edit: some others I can't uninstall from my international, unlocked Moto G6: Google Drive, Duo, Chrome, YouTube,

Oh wow. My Moto phones never had anything like that. Moto G3, G5, and One Vision. Bought in Germany without contract.

Edit: I don't see Google apps as an (additional) problem. Google already controls the phone and its apps don't waste CPU time or memory while not active.

Re: Google pushed to take action against Android bloatware

#32

Post by wjoe »

As much as bloatware is awful and Google could probably have some better rules on this, Google itself doesn't ship bloatware on it's own phones. I guess it depends on your definition of bloatware, but YouTube isn't exactly bloatware on the same level as the junk that comes installed on most third party phones, and it can be uninstalled - a lot of third party bloatware is installed as a system app and can't be deleted.

If people don't like junk pre-installed on their Samsung phones or by Verizon, they should probably complain to them, or stop buying those phones. There are plenty of brands with stock Android that don't come with pre-installed junk.

Re: Google pushed to take action against Android bloatware

#33

Post by tobenortobe »

datashow wrote: post #21

The two most common sources of bloatware I saw when I was using Samsung phones were: AT&T and Samsung. Not only the number of bloatwares is crazy, they keeps coming back (from OS update?).

As a samsung user i can confirm this , maybe it has its own contribution to competition, but i dont see any excuse creating and dictating your own ecosystem for every single bit of mobile functionality but i am pretty sure its not limited to samsung. Also what is wrong in my opinion is that they do prevent flashing stock images

Re: Google pushed to take action against Android bloatware

#34

Post by owenwil »

pjc50 wrote: post #2

It's a good initiative and what they're asking for is extremely reasonable - but it does imply Google having more control over the OEMs who are responsible for dumping this stuff onto phones. Microsoft went through this with "signature edition" Windows.

Google actually had a program that addressed this head-on, where it retailed 'Google Play Edition' versions of flagship phones like the Galaxy S7, updated directly from Google, with their own factory image and no bloatware:

https://www.xda-developers.com/discontinued-a-look-at-google...

Re: Google pushed to take action against Android bloatware

#35

Post by owenwil »

Google actually had a program that addressed this head-on a few years back, where it retailed 'Google Play Edition' versions of flagship phones like the Galaxy 7, updated directly from Google, with their own factory image and no bloatware. For whatever reason, they killed the program without it really going far or being marketed well, which was a real shame:

https://www.xda-developers.com/discontinued-a-look-at-google...

Re: Google pushed to take action against Android bloatware

#36

Post by giomasce »

ahartmetz wrote: post #24

Motorola (edit: and Google, Nokia, probably other) phones come without bloatware - vote with your wallets. (The preinstalled Moto apps are very small and actually quite useful, like accelerometer-based gestures for quick acces to camera or flashlight) I buy phones as a platform for software, so it makes sense to pay attention to more than the hardware.

Or any manufacturer supported by LinegeOS.

Re: Google pushed to take action against Android bloatware

#37

Post by Waterluvian »

ahartmetz wrote: post #31
Waterluvian wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I got a moto because of this. It has _almost_ no bloatware. LinkedIn, DropBoxNativeClient, and a few other apps I don't use cannot be uninstalled. Edit: some others I can't uninstall from my international, unlocked Moto G6: Google Drive, Duo, Chrome, YouTube,

Oh wow. My Moto phones never had anything like that. Moto G3, G5, and One Vision. Bought in Germany without contract. Edit: I don't see Google apps as an (additional) problem. Google already controls the phone and its apps don't waste CPU time or memory while not active.

International unlocked moto G6. I was wrong about Facebook. It's LinkedIn that cannot be uninstalled. I just checked now.

Re: Google pushed to take action against Android bloatware

#38

Post by breakingcups »

donclark wrote: post #23

Could app removal be done via an app? This app could also provide a scan and tell you which apps are bloatware. Bonus if it was a global registry. Or is it only thru ADB that you can remove (unless rooted)? https://www.maketecheasier.com/uninstall-system-apps-without...

Even through ADB is not a full removal, you just don't see the app on your "user profile".

Re: Google pushed to take action against Android bloatware

#39

Post by pjc50 »

tialaramex wrote: post #7
saagarjha wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Microsoft went through this with "signature edition" Windows. …and somehow we still have Candy Crush bundled with "stock" Windows :/

(Lots of) people like Candy Crush. For them this is like how Windows comes with a nice solitaire game.

Microsoft wrote their own Solitaire game back in the Windows 3 days. It's not complicated, there's no reason they couldn't have written their own non-tracking properly free game.

Re: Google pushed to take action against Android bloatware

#40

Post by ahartmetz »

giomasce wrote: post #36
ahartmetz wrote: post #24

Motorola (edit: and Google, Nokia, probably other) phones come without bloatware - vote with your wallets. (The preinstalled Moto apps are very small and actually quite useful, like accelerometer-based gestures for quick acces to camera or flashlight) I buy phones as a platform for software, so it makes sense to pay attention to more than the hardware.

Or any manufacturer supported by LinegeOS.

According to my research, LineageOS often has worse battery life and camera image quality. So you need to get very specific models which work best. Also you need to be willing to tinker a bit, obviously. Let me put it like this: if a geek friend had found a nice model and already figured out how to solve the expected problems, I'd probably get the same model.
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