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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

#131

Post by kmonsen »

farisjarrah wrote: post #106
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 disagree, Google and Motorola branded phones most certainly DO come with bloatware. The Google app is not necessary for the phone's functionality(this is, if you don't use google assistant) and I can not uninstall it from my Pixel 2. This is true for many Google apps that Google would have you believe is necessary for the functionality of the phone. These are all the google apps that came preinstalled on my phone t…

That's your opinion, but most users want a phone that comes with reasonable apps that makes it easy for them to do what they want. I hope you see this is not black and white, there is a grey area here where apps are bloatware for some people but legitimate useful for some people.

To take Chrome for example, for Google to ship an Android phone without what they consider the best browser for the platform would be borderline insane.

Re: Google pushed to take action against Android bloatware

#132

Post by MiracleUser »

lern_too_spel wrote: post #112
jackewiehose wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Then installing/deploying these apps on a read-only partition doesn't make much sense in the first place.

Why? As far as the user is concerned, the end result is the same. The app doesn't appear in the app drawer, and none of its entry points are exposed to the OS. The user who just bought a phone gets a fully functional phone right out of the box instead of having to wait for downloads. A factory reset to get back to the initial state is as simple as wiping all writable partitions.

the experience would be the same if all the apps were disabled by default - and ONLY when the user goes to install them they are able to just enable it instead

Re: Google pushed to take action against Android bloatware

#133

Post by thiagomgd »

hadrien01 wrote: post #64
true_religion wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think calling Chrome bloatware is a bit much. Is Safari bloateare on an iPhone? Is the Play store bloatware? How would you even get anything on your phone the first time without the Play store or Chrome being installed?

Chrome is bloatware when Samsung Internet is a much better browser included with my phone. The Play Store is not bloatware. The Play _stores_ are bloatware (books, games, movies, etc.)

I think Samsung Internet is bloatware... And all samsung apps. I can't get rid of Bixby, internet, the calendar, etc...

Re: Google pushed to take action against Android bloatware

#134

Post by glass_of_water »

sidlls wrote: post #127

This almost doesn’t even matter. I swore I’d never buy an Apple product, but that changed after yet another Google “core” (nexus/pixel) phone got busted after an update. I’ve been happy with my iPhone for months now. The quality is just better in every single way—and most of the quality issues aren’t going to be solved by tinkering with the deck chairs like this. These “bloatware” apps are just symptoms of a larger i…

I think this is an issue with both iPhone and Android. I had an iPhone 6 that was bricked by an update, but was out of warranty, so I ended up getting a Pixel phone and have been pretty happy with it.

Re: Google pushed to take action against Android bloatware

#135

Post by rchaud »

owenwil wrote: post #35

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-googl…

the best feature of the GPE phones was that they came with the bootloader unlocked.

Re: Google pushed to take action against Android bloatware

#136

Post by milankragujevic »

NullPrefix wrote: post #63
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.

>Nokia phones come without bloatware Chinese spyware is not bloatware? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19449824

Was just going to say that.

Re: Google pushed to take action against Android bloatware

#137

Post by at-fates-hands »

wpietri wrote: post #116

Does anybody understand the economic point of making apps nonremovable? From the point of view of a vendor paying for access, presumably their goal is to spark interest and shift default choices. So I get why LinkedIn would pay to be on the phone when it leaves the factory. But if somebody doesn't want it, what do they gain by preventing removal? To me it seems kinda like DRM: I'm sure some executives get woodies at…

The interesting thing I always found with Windows phones was how easy it was to remove any and all bloatware on their phones.

Don't the One Plus and Android One phones come pretty clean with only a few Google apps on them?

Re: Google pushed to take action against Android bloatware

#138

Post by jayd16 »

wpietri wrote: post #116

Does anybody understand the economic point of making apps nonremovable? From the point of view of a vendor paying for access, presumably their goal is to spark interest and shift default choices. So I get why LinkedIn would pay to be on the phone when it leaves the factory. But if somebody doesn't want it, what do they gain by preventing removal? To me it seems kinda like DRM: I'm sure some executives get woodies at…

Most likely its so you can't just buy a subsidized device for cheap and wipe it clean.

Re: Google pushed to take action against Android bloatware

#139

Post by rascul »

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.

My Moto G6 came with a bunch of Moto apps, Facebook, a weather app, Google Drive, Gmail, Google Photos, and YouTube. All of which is unnecessary bloat that I can't uninstall, but I was able to disable without losing any functionality.

Re: Google pushed to take action against Android bloatware

#140

Post by el_nino »

Barrin92 wrote: post #120
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.

>Motorola (edit: and Google, Nokia, probably other) phones come without bloatware - vote with your wallets. Yes, vote with your wallet, but also vote with your actual votes. I'd very much like to see a decision from the EU or FCC to finally stop this practice of making it impossible for people to remove the software from the phones they own. Consumer rights when it comes to mobile devices which are arguably already t…

This might be a bit of a rabbit hole. My OnePlus has a relatively clean Android but comes with a few apps like Calculator, Notes, or Chrome that don't seem to be removable. They're also not core functionality. So I wonder how easy is it to draw the line between these and the crap that many phones come with.

Also stuff like Play services or the Google Store are somewhat replaceable. How could these be categorized?

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