I find it amazing that Samsung is already launching the S4. The Galaxy S4 is better than ever…and newer…and shinier…and sleeker…and will be preloaded with bloat ware. (Remember when the world hated buying desktop computers because they came preloaded with so much bloat that your PC would be sluggish out of the box!)
I understand the model from a manufacturer’s point of view…you give a small sample or a trial and you may garner a new customer. And I understand that pre-placing apps on a device fulfills some vendor agreements and so forth. Buy why isn’t there a choice, even if I could pay extra, to have an total clean device out of the box?
I’ve had my Samsung Galaxy S2 for a little over a year now. My S2 came with some racing game Asphalt 6. I played it once. Boring. Not my style. For certain, this game must appeal to other consumers. And even though the full version may only cost $0.99, it is just plain annoying. I can’t even delete the game off of my phone. Yup, annoying! And why this game needs all of these permission – out of the box – is beyond me. Take a look at the permission that Asphalt 6 is allowed:
Looking at my S2 right now, there are 33 apps that I have never used, will never use, and just find it so inconvenient to spend the time to try to delete all the bloat that I do not want. If I Google search “Remove Android Bloatware” you will not find any easy, non-geek method of doing so. Most online guides involve yet another download of another app that should fix it for you. For a sample, here is a How-to instructional article from the folks at www.howtogeek.com. How to disable or uninstall android bloatware.
I would call this “not easy” for anyone that does not have a basic knowledge of how software works on a cell phone. And even if you do possess some of that know-how; you are going to spend a lot of time uninstalling or disabling your 33 or more apps that you do not want!
In the 14 months that I’ve had my S2, I’ve downloaded a flashlight, a reading app, a library app, 3 games, and a diet tracking app. I may not be the “typical” mobile user; but I know that I would pay extra for a clean mobile device.
Carriers and manufacturers, take note
I want to be able to log into my Gmail, choose what I want on my next cell phone. I would almost settle for having Google / Gmail smart enough to know what I want on my next phone. Or even better, before I even upgrade my phone, I want to place the order, click the boxes of the apps I want and have my phone ready for me in a personalized style.
I do not want to be stuck with bloat that I do not need. I do not want to be tricked into buying more apps and I do not want my kids to be tricked into buying more apps or games or do-dads. And I do not want to be annoyed and inconvenienced with having to figure out how to get the worthless (to me) bloat apps off of my device.
