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Lollipop will try to make it easier to control pre-installed bloatware
July 23, 2025
Several months ago, Strategy Analyticsreleasedthe results of a study which showed that few, if anyone, use the large amount of bloatware that companies like Samsung include on their handsets. As the study showed, US users spent just six seconds on Samsung bloatware and many times that number was due to people accidently clicking on the bloatware app.
Just last year, Verizonreceivedcriticism for issuing an update to the Galaxy S3 that also involved installing a bloatware application called “Caller Name ID” which allowed people to change what name others see for a $2.99 monthly fee. Going back to 2010, Verizonreceived even morecriticism for forcing some (not everyone) to use the Bing search engine when using the Samsung Fascinate. It didn’t help things that select phones were also configured to use Verizon’s VZ Navigator service for $10 a month rather than the free and better Google Maps.
Now, we are learning about a new feature that will be found in Google’s Android 5.0 Lollipop for several Nexus and Google Play Edition devices. Lollipop will have a “Play Auto Installs” feature that controls carrier carrier bloatware. In an interview withArs Technica, Google’s Gabe Cohen stated that bloatware apps will not be on the system partition and that they can be removed by the user.
Granted, this does not mean that users will be able to completely delete any apps that they want. Carriers still will have a say in this matter which should worry us as they likely will not want customers to take advantage of this feature.
Let’s remember that Verizon is the same carrier who in 2012 spent monthsproclaiminghow they loved open devices and platforms and followed that up by being the only carrier to lock the Samsung Galaxy S III boot loader, which restricted a consumer’s ability to remove the bloatware Verizon placed on it. To make matters worse, Verizon’s Support Twitter account tried to blame Samsung for the locked feature but then eventually deleted the tweet.
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