5 ms·

See: Android One https://www.android.com/one/ https://www.android.com/one/ No bloatware, updates available.

by auxym 7y ago

sirzarmo 7y ago
*When the vendor decides to make new versions available...
kop316 7y ago
Can you unlock the bootloadr and load your own ROMs for Android one phones?
- Arnt 7y ago
  That's an orthogonal question. AIUI. Android One phones have to follow certain rules, but bootloader locking isn't on the list (or if it is I haven't noticed). That said, what do you prefer: The ability to install a ROM of your choice, or a guarantee that what you boot is what you bought?
  - ShamelessC 7y ago
    Why not both?
    - deogeo 7y ago
      To cut off anyone claiming this is a dichotomy - on LG phones, you already get both. They come locked, but if you root them, you get a warning saying it's rooted during every boot.
      - Arnt 7y ago
        Yeah, Sony, Xiaomi and IIRC Google does that too. It's not both, it's either. Each individual customer of these companies gets to choose X or Y.
  - kop316 7y ago
    Frankly, I would prefer the ability to install what I want. Just because what is on the phone boots what I bought doesn't mean I want it on there. I think the objective of Project Treble was also to allow that to be much easier as well. Having a locked bootloader means I an unable to truly install what I want.
  - jandrese 7y ago
    Isn't it way way past time for smartphones to standardize the booting process the way PCs did back in the 80s? The old excuses of "we couldn't fit a generic kernel on our tiny built-in storage" rings hollow in these days of 16GB storage in the base model phones. This isn't a hard problem. We solved it decades ago. There should be an "Smartphone Kernel" that gets updated like the Linux kernel with drivers for all variety of hardware that you can install on most every phone as is. Vendors could cut out drivers for hardware they aren't using, but a random person should be able to install a generic kernel and boot the phone. Android would be the userland installed on top of that kernel. But it seems like vendors are more interested in maintaining lock-in instead of simplifying their maintenance and update tasks.
    - MBCook 7y ago
      For PCs there was a very clear reason. IBM was in the lead and everyone else wanted to have a clone that worked with the software for IBMs. Right now Samsung seems to be number one in android phones. what benefit would they get from doing this? Making it easier to update their old products? They don’t care. All that does is make people buy fewer new phones. Across all the vendors they could save time… but I kind of doubt they’ll ever do it. I don’t think that motivation is strong enough for them to change the way they do things.
    - ajnin 7y ago
      This isn't that easy, you'd need support from SOC manufacturers, board manufacturers, also I believe ARM chips don't have feature enumeration as x86 chips do. Not to mention that your kernel would need to embed a whole lot of binary blobs since many things like modems are not open at all. I'd like that as well of course but vendors don't seem very interested in cooperating with each other right now.
dna_polymerase 7y ago
This is a testament to how messed up Android is these days. Have a look at iOS. The minimal set of Apps they ship their phones with aren't bloated or anything besides useful. Guaranteeing updates if the vendor decides to ship them? It's basically an example of how Apples strategy with tight grip on their platform makes so much sense. iPhone owners don't have to worry about any of that. Generally phones are supported way longer and updates available even for older phones.
- ImprovedSilence 7y ago
  >> aren’t bloated or anything besides useful. Really? I have a folder on my iPhone three pages deep called “apple junk” which is nothing but all the apple pre installed bloat apps that I never use. Do some people find a use case for them? Sure. But there they are on my phone. Pre installed and just taking up space..
  - JiNCMG 7y ago
    Why keep them in a folder? Uninstall them? 3 Pages Deep? That's 27 icons. I don't think a default iPhone comes with 27 pre-installed apps.
    - deleted 7y ago
      [deleted]
    - freehunter 7y ago
      It’s only been recently that you could uninstall them, and even then it just removes the icon but keeps the data for a lot of these pre-packaged apps.
      - saagarjha 7y ago
        It keeps the system frameworks they rely on. The app itself does go away.
- pier25 7y ago
throwaway9d0291 7y ago
From the product images, it looks like Android One devices come with Duo, Gmail, Google, Chrome, Google Photos, YouTube, Google Drive and I'm guessing the rest of the Google suite preinstalled. I don't know about your definition of bloatware but that stuff is definitely included in mine.
- crazygringo 7y ago
  I mean, the way iOS comes with iMessage, Mail, Siri, Safari, Photos, the iTunes Store, iCloud, and a suite of apps including Pages, Numbers, Keynote, iMovie and GarageBand?* Yet that isn't commonly called "bloatware"... because, of course, it isn't. Bloatware is commonly understood to be third-party software, often of questionable utility and quality. Not first-party. (*The suite is only preinstalled on 32GB+ devices.)
- freehunter 7y ago
  Shipping the basic software that customers expect on a computer is not bloatware. People expect you should be able to send text messages, receive email, and browse the web from a computer without having to install anything extra.
benhurmarcel 7y ago
The Xiaomi A3 is an Android One phone and comes with Aliexpress and the Xiaomi store pre-installed.

See: Android One https://www.android.com/one/ https://www.android.com/one/ No bloatware, updates available.

by auxym 7y ago

See: Android One https://www.android.com/one/ https://www.android.com/one/ No bloatware, updates available.

sirzarmo 7y ago

*When the vendor decides to make new versions available...

kop316 7y ago

Can you unlock the bootloadr and load your own ROMs for Android one phones?

Arnt 7y ago
That's an orthogonal question. AIUI. Android One phones have to follow certain rules, but bootloader locking isn't on the list (or if it is I haven't noticed). That said, what do you prefer: The ability to install a ROM of your choice, or a guarantee that what you boot is what you bought?
- ShamelessC 7y ago
  Why not both?
  - deogeo 7y ago
    To cut off anyone claiming this is a dichotomy - on LG phones, you already get both. They come locked, but if you root them, you get a warning saying it's rooted during every boot.
    - Arnt 7y ago
      Yeah, Sony, Xiaomi and IIRC Google does that too. It's not both, it's either. Each individual customer of these companies gets to choose X or Y.
- kop316 7y ago
  Frankly, I would prefer the ability to install what I want. Just because what is on the phone boots what I bought doesn't mean I want it on there. I think the objective of Project Treble was also to allow that to be much easier as well. Having a locked bootloader means I an unable to truly install what I want.
- jandrese 7y ago
  Isn't it way way past time for smartphones to standardize the booting process the way PCs did back in the 80s? The old excuses of "we couldn't fit a generic kernel on our tiny built-in storage" rings hollow in these days of 16GB storage in the base model phones. This isn't a hard problem. We solved it decades ago. There should be an "Smartphone Kernel" that gets updated like the Linux kernel with drivers for all variety of hardware that you can install on most every phone as is. Vendors could cut out drivers for hardware they aren't using, but a random person should be able to install a generic kernel and boot the phone. Android would be the userland installed on top of that kernel. But it seems like vendors are more interested in maintaining lock-in instead of simplifying their maintenance and update tasks.
  - MBCook 7y ago
    For PCs there was a very clear reason. IBM was in the lead and everyone else wanted to have a clone that worked with the software for IBMs. Right now Samsung seems to be number one in android phones. what benefit would they get from doing this? Making it easier to update their old products? They don’t care. All that does is make people buy fewer new phones. Across all the vendors they could save time… but I kind of doubt they’ll ever do it. I don’t think that motivation is strong enough for them to change the way they do things.
  - ajnin 7y ago
    This isn't that easy, you'd need support from SOC manufacturers, board manufacturers, also I believe ARM chips don't have feature enumeration as x86 chips do. Not to mention that your kernel would need to embed a whole lot of binary blobs since many things like modems are not open at all. I'd like that as well of course but vendors don't seem very interested in cooperating with each other right now.

dna_polymerase 7y ago

This is a testament to how messed up Android is these days. Have a look at iOS. The minimal set of Apps they ship their phones with aren't bloated or anything besides useful. Guaranteeing updates if the vendor decides to ship them? It's basically an example of how Apples strategy with tight grip on their platform makes so much sense. iPhone owners don't have to worry about any of that. Generally phones are supported way longer and updates available even for older phones.

ImprovedSilence 7y ago
>> aren’t bloated or anything besides useful. Really? I have a folder on my iPhone three pages deep called “apple junk” which is nothing but all the apple pre installed bloat apps that I never use. Do some people find a use case for them? Sure. But there they are on my phone. Pre installed and just taking up space..
- JiNCMG 7y ago
  Why keep them in a folder? Uninstall them? 3 Pages Deep? That's 27 icons. I don't think a default iPhone comes with 27 pre-installed apps.
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]
  - freehunter 7y ago
    It’s only been recently that you could uninstall them, and even then it just removes the icon but keeps the data for a lot of these pre-packaged apps.
    - saagarjha 7y ago
      It keeps the system frameworks they rely on. The app itself does go away.
pier25 7y ago

throwaway9d0291 7y ago

From the product images, it looks like Android One devices come with Duo, Gmail, Google, Chrome, Google Photos, YouTube, Google Drive and I'm guessing the rest of the Google suite preinstalled. I don't know about your definition of bloatware but that stuff is definitely included in mine.

crazygringo 7y ago
I mean, the way iOS comes with iMessage, Mail, Siri, Safari, Photos, the iTunes Store, iCloud, and a suite of apps including Pages, Numbers, Keynote, iMovie and GarageBand?* Yet that isn't commonly called "bloatware"... because, of course, it isn't. Bloatware is commonly understood to be third-party software, often of questionable utility and quality. Not first-party. (*The suite is only preinstalled on 32GB+ devices.)
freehunter 7y ago
Shipping the basic software that customers expect on a computer is not bloatware. People expect you should be able to send text messages, receive email, and browse the web from a computer without having to install anything extra.

benhurmarcel 7y ago

The Xiaomi A3 is an Android One phone and comes with Aliexpress and the Xiaomi store pre-installed.