Is this a regional thing? None of my Samsung phones (Galaxy Note 3, Galaxy S10 and Galaxy S23) ever installed apps like these automatically. They did come with Microsoft apps bundled in, and I believe Facebook too, but after deactivating them they never came back. Never games though.
Ah… So not a Samsung thing, but a carrier thing. I should have guessed, carriers are disgusting. Nowadays it’s rare where I live, but not so long ago they even got in the middle of Android updates and replaced the bootlogo with their own branding, I even know of some devices stuck on old Android versions because while the official release is available the carrier never bothered shipping the update.
I also dislike how SIM cards run independent from the main CPU and can spawn their little Java applets whenever they want, my carrier used to randomly display ads as full prompts that got in front of any other app with highest priority using the “SIM toolkit” feature of Android, which you can’t disable. Only stopped after I gave them a call claiming if I see another one of those I’d report them to the consumer rights watchdog from my region.
Holy shit. The only time I'd be ok with my carrier doing that would be if I didn't have to pay them a single fucking dime. You don't get to double dip, carriers. You're already over charging for data use.
I’d argue that it is a Samsung thing. They let carriers do this. Just like they host ads in the notification shade and first party apps in some markets.
To Samsung. One of the largest companies in the world. Samsung chooses to allow this because they get money for it from the carriers.
Let’s also not forget Samsung are the ones who give you the privilege of getting built-in ads on your expensive new TV. Ads and bloatware absolutely are part of Samsung’s business model.
I’m pretty sure it’s a Samsung thing. I’m located in Sweden and they’ve done this on my unlocked (not locked to a specific operator) Samsung phones ( S5, S8, S20 and S20FE 5G).
I ordered mine directly from the manufacturer and it doesn't install stuff. However, I also declined to agree to any of the Samsung ecosystem helper apps like the Store or Bixby.
Same thing here with s21 ultra on tmobile. Just went looking and have a bunch of samsung/tmobile/microsoft stuff built in but that's about it. Have been asked I think once or twice with certain app store updates if I wanted to install game apps but declined them and haven't seen any since.
Samsung will load shit on devices made by them if they feel regulators won’t care. This is why I will no longer by Samsung. I wish LG still sold phones, but the Pixel isn’t horrible.
I had been using Samsung for the longest time before my current device and lemme tell ya, even with their flagships they pull this shit, I’m always having to go in and delete whatever shit they download, like, no, I have no desire to play fucking ROYAL MATCH please stop asking me
Switched to fairphone and could root it without installing twrp, there was only one extra app and I could just disable the google apps and switch to foss ones.
When people ask why I switched to and stuck with an iphone, I always go back to “Google doesn’t know how to do text messages”, but I forgot about this lovely issue. You can’t truly own an Android that isn’t a Pixel and expect software OS updates on a regular basis without bloatware. Additionally, the update does not need to go through your carrier, something that is the largest red flag for me to stop buying non-unlocked Android phones (at least the last time I looked this was a thing).
Imagine if you went to a dealership, and go to buy a brand new car, but the dealer says they have to do some “improvements” to it before you can drive it off the lot. Only, you don’t know what they did or why, and the car manufacturer doesn’t know either. It’s fucked up.
They do this even with their A7X series phones, which is priced in the upper mid range / lower flagship category. Not only do they use a lower end chip than their competitors in the same price segment, they have the audacity to give software updates disguised as ads. No amount of money will satisfy these greedy companies.
That’s why I only ever bought one Samsung phone (a galaxy 6 I think) . They do have a tendency to install shit on phones that you will never use but can’t delete.
There were a few ways of deleting those apps from Samsung on the web but I focus on buying clean phones with no shite loading (like OnePlus and Pixel). Although my first Pixel send to be bullying me to put my everything on their cloud servers - where all your datas are belong to them 🤣😂 via EULA.
I love my Pixel with Niagara launcher for the love translation. Wtf Google with that locked-down home screen. I’ll live with the removed call record even though it’s legal in the free world.
Disable “Mobile services manager”. Samsung phones are lousy with crapware these days so I would avoid them like the plague. An eldery relative asked me why he kept seeing ad popups and his device had something called “Samsung Free” that cannot be disabled or completely turned off which pushes news articles, ads and other shit at him. I just turned off as many “interests” as I could and attempted to opt out of the software but it’s still there and swiping left on the home page re-enables it. Samsung phones are absolute dogshit these days. I wouldn’t go near one unless they could be rooted and flashed out of the box.
An alternative launcher might help with the swipe left bit. I know it’s another big corp but I’ve been running the Microsoft launcher on my pixel 2 for years now, and It’s been pretty well behaved
You don’t get any of this crap with the Pixel Android phones… I believe Motorola used to be good about not loading up junkware also, but that was years ago and I dunno if they’re still like that.
I’ve stuck with the Pixel since they came out and won’t go back until they really screw it up. Every couple of years Verizon will run a special where you get the previous model for free, which works for me.
Ive had a couple Nokias now (Nokia is Finnish) and find them pretty robust and both have been Android One phones so there is basically nothing on them which isn’t just stock android. Plenty fast enough for me. Note: I only buy low end phones (~$300) so YMMV
So I don’t know about Samsung specifically but most commonly this whole “installing random apps by developers you’ve never heard of” is most commonly not from the manufacturer but caused by purchasing a carrier variant of the device. Traditionally Verizon did that a lot, but they’ve shaped up some in recent years.
Make sure to buy direct from the manufacturer or otherwise ensure you purchase the manufacturer unlocked variant to avoid this (there’s also an unrelated “carrier unlock” which is a carrier variant that has had the modem unlocked to allow you to use it on other carriers than the one it’s branded to, but your still stuck with the carrier’s variant of the software and hardware.)
Also worth noting carrier models will in some cases actually have differing hardware from the unlocked model too. Traditionally this was usually related to the modem for carriers using uncommon cellular network technologies but some large carriers will even cut down the memory or storage just to squeeze a buck or two off the price!
TLDR don’t buy direct from the carrier and make sure to buy manufacturer unlocked phone!
This happens on mine with facebook book being installed by samsung themselves, i dont think i get the mobile services manager thing. And mine isnt from a carrier or locked to one
Actually, Pixel is the go-to choice for privacy-concious folks as well. That’s because the two most secure and private mobile operating systems, Calyx and Graphene, support only the Pixel lineup.
My previous phone was the Motorola RAZR 5g. No bloat as far as I could tell. Definitely a refreshing experience after the shovel of crap Samsung provided!
It’s better to sort by New or Hot than Active, I’ve found. Hot tends to be 90% memes though (I should probably hide some of the meme communities), New is a bit more balanced.
A SIM card doesn’t have that kind of power over your phone. I’ve gone through 4-5 MVNOs on Pixel phones and not once has a SIM card done anything except provide cellular service.
I worked in support for a phone manufacturer for a while. I have once seen an app get pushed by the SIM. I also however have seen plenty of really sketchy apps preinstalled or installed with updates by the carrier on carrier branded phones.
Some years ago I forget if it was Ting or Cricket would preinstall the Wish app and it received an update that added ads that would pop up at random while using the device including on the home screen (and fairly frequently at that) so for a while we’d get calls about that and pretty quickly get the Wish app off of those folks phones
Then one of the TracFone brands preinstalles a bunch of advertising directly on the home screen. It was something called app box or something like that and it would literally show an app icon on your home screen so you’d click it and maybe choose to install it
They do have a lot of power over the device. They run the Oracle Java card standard and are a complete computer that can even run a webserver. They can interact with host events like call starting and call ending. Not sure if they can install user apps. But I have had a carrier push a voicemail shortcut into my app draw that would auto call the voicemail number when pressed. I couldn’t remove it unless I removed the Sim.
Add comment