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I do not have any extra bloatware from any manufacturer, due to the fact that I run a Xiaomi Mi A1 as my daily driver, but I still would appreciate the choice t

I do not have any extra bloatware from any manufacturer, due to the fact that I run a Xiaomi Mi A1 as my daily driver, but I still would appreciate the choice to be able to manually install only the apps that I would use, e.g. Firefox instead of Chrome. I do have 64Gb of internal storage, but I obsess about every lost megabyte due to something I don't use( even when disabled or not used, Chrome still runs functions on the phone, so it runs in the background ).

zwkrt 8y ago
That sounds a lot like bloatware to me
muro 8y ago
Chrome is the webview for all apps, might be tricky to remove.
- ashleyn 8y ago
  Boy, this is really starting to remind me of the controversy over bundling IE in Windows 98. Makes me think that all products eventually end up as bloated due to market pressure.
- TheRealPomax 8y ago
  It's not, though. WebView is the built in web view mechanism for all apps that don't want to roll their own web view, and Chrome for Android is a browser that makes use of that WebView mechanism. Strictly speaking, a browser is just an interface that lets you interact with web pages. And you're not locked into WebView: if you actually wrote your own, you're entirely free to deploy it. It's just insanely hard to write a web render engine these days so for most people there's no point in the slightest: it just makes your application bigger. One example where it _does_ make sense is Firefox for Android, which comes with its own engine, because as long as the Android core classes area available, it should be able to run. Not "stop working" just because someone tailored their Android build to not include WebView.
  - muro 8y ago
    I understand your point and you are right. There is a difference between theory and practice - in practice, it is Chrome.
    - TheRealPomax 8y ago
      Plainly no: in practice, it is the Android SDK WebView class, not the 140MB Chrome app.
      - muro 8y ago
        From Google search results: Android WebView is a system component powered by Chrome that allows Android apps to display web content
- snaky 8y ago
  You can install Bromite (un-googled Chromium) WebView from f-droid repository https://www.bromite.org/fdroid https://www.bromite.org/fdroid
  - muro 8y ago
    When you write an app, will you test that it works with that?
lern_too_spel 8y ago
When disabled, the operating system exposes none of the app's hooks to start any part of it, so it is not true that a disabled app still runs functions on the phone. It is even possible to swap out the WebView implementation for other apps. https://stackoverflow.com/questions/47577525/get-webview-implementation-programmatically https://stackoverflow.com/questions/47577525/get-webview-imp... iOS has just as much bloatware, and much of it can't even be disabled, let alone uninstalled. For privacy, consider that iOS does not let you disable AGPS data collection. On Android, it is opt in. iOS does not let you open addresses in an offline maps application by default, so Apple gets all your address lookups. iOS does not let you replace your default SMS app, so Apple gets all the phone numbers you want to send a message to in order to see if that phone number is associated with an iMessages account. On Android, you can set your default SMS app to Signal to get automatic private messaging by default. Worst of all, iOS does not let you develop for your own phone without registering an Apple ID. Apple talks a good privacy game, but there is no substance there. You are jumping out of the frying pan and into the fryer.
- thetinguy 8y ago
  You can absolutely uninstall default apps and you don’t have to use iMessage.
  - lern_too_spel 8y ago
    Both of your claims don't disagree with mine. The point is there are some bloatware apps that you can't uninstall, including Safari and iMessage. You don't have to use iMessage, but unlike on Android, it is impossible not to use it if you use SMS.
yorwba 8y ago
> but I still would appreciate the choice to be able to manually install only the apps that I would use, e.g. Firefox instead of Chrome. I have a Xiaomi Mi A1 with Firefox and no Chrome anywhere. I flashed LineageOS with the Open GApps nano package (which does not include anything you can also get from the play store, like Chrome) and don't even know what the stock experience is like. So far I didn't experience any major problems running a non-stock ROM.

zwkrt 8y ago

That sounds a lot like bloatware to me

muro 8y ago

Chrome is the webview for all apps, might be tricky to remove.

ashleyn 8y ago
Boy, this is really starting to remind me of the controversy over bundling IE in Windows 98. Makes me think that all products eventually end up as bloated due to market pressure.
TheRealPomax 8y ago
It's not, though. WebView is the built in web view mechanism for all apps that don't want to roll their own web view, and Chrome for Android is a browser that makes use of that WebView mechanism. Strictly speaking, a browser is just an interface that lets you interact with web pages. And you're not locked into WebView: if you actually wrote your own, you're entirely free to deploy it. It's just insanely hard to write a web render engine these days so for most people there's no point in the slightest: it just makes your application bigger. One example where it _does_ make sense is Firefox for Android, which comes with its own engine, because as long as the Android core classes area available, it should be able to run. Not "stop working" just because someone tailored their Android build to not include WebView.
- muro 8y ago
  I understand your point and you are right. There is a difference between theory and practice - in practice, it is Chrome.
  - TheRealPomax 8y ago
    Plainly no: in practice, it is the Android SDK WebView class, not the 140MB Chrome app.
    - muro 8y ago
      From Google search results: Android WebView is a system component powered by Chrome that allows Android apps to display web content
snaky 8y ago
You can install Bromite (un-googled Chromium) WebView from f-droid repository https://www.bromite.org/fdroid https://www.bromite.org/fdroid
- muro 8y ago
  When you write an app, will you test that it works with that?

lern_too_spel 8y ago

When disabled, the operating system exposes none of the app's hooks to start any part of it, so it is not true that a disabled app still runs functions on the phone. It is even possible to swap out the WebView implementation for other apps. https://stackoverflow.com/questions/47577525/get-webview-implementation-programmatically https://stackoverflow.com/questions/47577525/get-webview-imp... iOS has just as much bloatware, and much of it can't even be disabled, let alone uninstalled. For privacy, consider that iOS does not let you disable AGPS data collection. On Android, it is opt in. iOS does not let you open addresses in an offline maps application by default, so Apple gets all your address lookups. iOS does not let you replace your default SMS app, so Apple gets all the phone numbers you want to send a message to in order to see if that phone number is associated with an iMessages account. On Android, you can set your default SMS app to Signal to get automatic private messaging by default. Worst of all, iOS does not let you develop for your own phone without registering an Apple ID. Apple talks a good privacy game, but there is no substance there. You are jumping out of the frying pan and into the fryer.

thetinguy 8y ago
You can absolutely uninstall default apps and you don’t have to use iMessage.
- lern_too_spel 8y ago
  Both of your claims don't disagree with mine. The point is there are some bloatware apps that you can't uninstall, including Safari and iMessage. You don't have to use iMessage, but unlike on Android, it is impossible not to use it if you use SMS.

yorwba 8y ago

> but I still would appreciate the choice to be able to manually install only the apps that I would use, e.g. Firefox instead of Chrome. I have a Xiaomi Mi A1 with Firefox and no Chrome anywhere. I flashed LineageOS with the Open GApps nano package (which does not include anything you can also get from the play store, like Chrome) and don't even know what the stock experience is like. So far I didn't experience any major problems running a non-stock ROM.