Bloatware

[zlodnick]

I'm looking to buy a new smart phone and lap top. I just found out about bloatware. Google says best to get rid of it. A search here on AN, seems that's not easy to do.

 

I have a couple of smart phones and the wife just bought a new tablet a few months ago. They work fine and I don't think anyone ever removed any bloatware. We just use our devices for youtube, email, and surfing the web. I don't think we have ant apps.

 

If I buy new devices, should I leave the bloatware ? If not, how can I get rid of it ?

 

Any advice will be appreciated.

[Crossy]

Assuming a Windows lappie with a legal OS, not really a lot to get rid of, Office 365 demo needs to go otherwise it's going to be stuff you install yourself.

 

To get rid of the "not really necessary" apps on a phone usually involves a "root" or "jailbreak" which will render you phone unusable for most banking and other apps where security is paramount.

 

I never bother, too much hassle for too little gain.

[zlodnick]

Thank you. 

[scubascuba3]

1 hour ago, zlodnick said:

If I buy new devices, should I leave the bloatware ? If not, how can I get rid of it ?

Firstly avoid devices with a lot of bloatware, apparently Samsung is bad. My last two phones have been Xiaomi which are ok, usually you can't uninstall the bloatware so that means rooting which i can't be bothered with, so moral to the story, don't bother removing it, life goes on

[NextG]

2 hours ago, zlodnick said:

I'm looking to buy a new smart phone and lap top. I just found out about bloatware. Google says best to get rid of it. A search here on AN, seems that's not easy to do.

 

I have a couple of smart phones and the wife just bought a new tablet a few months ago. They work fine and I don't think anyone ever removed any bloatware. We just use our devices for youtube, email, and surfing the web. I don't think we have ant apps.

 

If I buy new devices, should I leave the bloatware ? If not, how can I get rid of it ?

 

Any advice will be appreciated.

For Windows, you can use something like https://wpd.app/

[connda]

2 hours ago, zlodnick said:

I'm looking to buy a new smart phone and lap top. I just found out about bloatware. Google says best to get rid of it. A search here on AN, seems that's not easy to do.

You need to set up both your new smart phone as well as wiping the hard-drive of the computer and installing a fresh copy of whatever operating system you use.  If you don't want bloatware on the phone, then you'll need to "root" it and reinstall a clean copy of Android. 

[topt]

4 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

My last two phones have been Xiaomi which are ok,

This gave me a chuckle - thanks 

I have a Redmi Note 8 which I ended up rooting after 3 months due to all the "bloatware" and phoning home. Otherwise great value for money.

[topt]

5 hours ago, zlodnick said:

I just found out about bloatware. Google says best to get rid of it.

Just means get rid of any apps that you don't use or want or disable them if you cannot actually delete them. 

 

[scubascuba3]

9 hours ago, topt said:

This gave me a chuckle - thanks 

I have a Redmi Note 8 which I ended up rooting after 3 months due to all the "bloatware" and phoning home. Otherwise great value for money.

Doesn't rooting cause issues with thai bank apps? the bloatware hasn't bothered me, i don't use it and have more than enough memory and speed

[Tony M]

Try looking for an Android One phone. I have a Nokia 2.2, but the model is not made any more.  Google Android One phones, or check this link :

 

https://www.androidcentral.com/best-android-one-phones

 

https://www.androidauthority.com/best-smartphones-stock-android-844672/

Edited January 25 by Tony M

[topt]

2 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

Doesn't rooting cause issues with thai bank apps?

Yes. There are ways but was a continual battle.

[scubascuba3]

38 minutes ago, topt said:

Yes. There are ways but was a continual battle.

i find life goes on just fine without rooting

[Mutt Daeng]

As others have stated, you cannot delete certain apps without rooting the phone and potentially causing some ( eg. banking) apps from malfunctioning, but what you can do is try to disable/hide the unwanted apps using Android Debug Bridge (adb), which doesn't need root authority. My phone is a Vivo and came with a lot of unwanted bloatware. I successfully disabled/hid all the apps I didn't want using adb.

You need to install adb on your laptop/pc. Connect your phone to your laptop/pc with a data cable. Get your phone in developer mode and enable USB Debugging. Enter adb commands on your laptop/pc to establish the adb connection and then disable/hide unwanted apps on your phone. You will need to find the app package name for each app you wish to delete. I used an android app called App Inspector to do this. Remember to switch off developer mode when finished. I don't know if this procedure works on all phones....but it did on mine. Use it at your own risk. If it's outside your comfort zone, get someone who is more experienced/knowledgeable to assist/advise.

 

Tutorial here https://www.xda-developers.com/uninstall-carrier-oem-bloatware-without-root-access/

Edited January 26 by Mutt Daeng
removed white space