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Most of the bloatware comes from Google itself: on my Samsung Phone I have Google Chrome, multiple Google Play stores, Google Keep, Google Photos (sends your ph

Most of the bloatware comes from Google itself: on my Samsung Phone I have Google Chrome, multiple Google Play stores, Google Keep, Google Photos (sends your photos to the Google cloud), Google Drive, Google office apps, etc. I've never wanted all those apps, I don't even have a Google account...

FeatureIncomple 7y ago
Is it even possible to use Android without a Google account?
- giancarlostoro 7y ago
  You basically don't login to your Gmail. There's tricks to not do it during setup such as hitting the home key.
  - vatueil 7y ago
    Last I checked, I only had to select "skip" during setup to use the device without signing in to an account.
    - giancarlostoro 7y ago
      I feel like I've seen this on some devices, but other devices you just hit the home button and it works fine.
- hadrien01 7y ago
  Yes you can, it doesn't force you to log in at installation. You can't use the Play Store to install new applications, but you can update existing apps. Google Play services continue to work too (Location and common APIs) I personally use Aurora Store, a FOSS reimplementation of Google Play Store, to install new apps without a Google account
giancarlostoro 7y ago
What's worse is I have an Android phone still that has Google+ and guess what, it's not going anywhere.
- dredmorbius 7y ago
  Demand an update that points to the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine links! (Only ... slighly ... joking.)
true_religion 7y ago
I think calling Chrome bloatware is a bit much. Is Safari bloateare on an iPhone? Is the Play store bloatware? How would you even get anything on your phone the first time without the Play store or Chrome being installed?
- hadrien01 7y ago
  Chrome is bloatware when Samsung Internet is a much better browser included with my phone. The Play Store is not bloatware. The Play _stores_ are bloatware (books, games, movies, etc.)
  - robbya 7y ago
    Is Samsung Internet better than Chrome? I've always assumed it was bloatware since it's preinstalled and I haven't heard of people using it. I personally use the Firefox mobile browser, which I think works great.
    - nkurz 7y ago
      I tested about a bunch of browsers on my Samsung phone (including Chrome, Firefox, Maxthon, Dolphin, Cheetah, Brave, Puffin, Opera, and Yandex), and eventually decided that the "Samsung Internet Browser Beta" was the best of them for me: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.sec.android.app.sbrowser.beta https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.sec.androi... My main demands were a browser that had a reliable "reader mode", a black background "night mode", allowed reasonable ad blocking, and had a full screen mode with minimal clutter. The Samsung browser isn't perfect, still occasionally makes me mad, but definitely is worth trying if aren't fully satisfied with what you are using.
      - VistaBrokeMyPC 7y ago
        Dolphin! Man, I haven't heard someone talk about that browser in YEARS. I used that ten years ago back when the play store was called Android Market because it had addons and I thought it was the bee's knees. I still rotate through chrome, chrome canary, Firefox, Firefox focus, opera, and sometimes nightly builds of Firefox just to see what's getting tinkered with lately. Firefox still my daily driver though.
logicIsTruth 7y ago
Hmm. I use literally all of those.
- drdeadringer 7y ago
  What if you had to install them first?
ketzu 7y ago
Isn't it even the case that google forces other OEMs to bundle all their apps if they want to include the play store?
- hadrien01 7y ago
  Yup, it's an all-or-nothing package. The device maker wants Google Play (only way to sell devices)? They need to include Google Keep and Google Sheets. As far as I know, the only exceptions are Google Chrome and Google Search, both of which you can unbundle in the EU and Russia.
- ehsankia 7y ago
  That's how they fund Android development. The other alternative is having OEMs pay a small fee per device, which is what they ended up doing in Europe. https://www.theverge.com/2018/10/16/17984074/google-eu-android-licensing-bundle-chrome-search https://www.theverge.com/2018/10/16/17984074/google-eu-andro...

FeatureIncomple 7y ago

Is it even possible to use Android without a Google account?

giancarlostoro 7y ago
You basically don't login to your Gmail. There's tricks to not do it during setup such as hitting the home key.
- vatueil 7y ago
  Last I checked, I only had to select "skip" during setup to use the device without signing in to an account.
  - giancarlostoro 7y ago
    I feel like I've seen this on some devices, but other devices you just hit the home button and it works fine.
hadrien01 7y ago
Yes you can, it doesn't force you to log in at installation. You can't use the Play Store to install new applications, but you can update existing apps. Google Play services continue to work too (Location and common APIs) I personally use Aurora Store, a FOSS reimplementation of Google Play Store, to install new apps without a Google account

giancarlostoro 7y ago

What's worse is I have an Android phone still that has Google+ and guess what, it's not going anywhere.

dredmorbius 7y ago
Demand an update that points to the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine links! (Only ... slighly ... joking.)

true_religion 7y ago

I think calling Chrome bloatware is a bit much. Is Safari bloateare on an iPhone? Is the Play store bloatware? How would you even get anything on your phone the first time without the Play store or Chrome being installed?

hadrien01 7y ago
Chrome is bloatware when Samsung Internet is a much better browser included with my phone. The Play Store is not bloatware. The Play _stores_ are bloatware (books, games, movies, etc.)
- robbya 7y ago
  Is Samsung Internet better than Chrome? I've always assumed it was bloatware since it's preinstalled and I haven't heard of people using it. I personally use the Firefox mobile browser, which I think works great.
  - nkurz 7y ago
    I tested about a bunch of browsers on my Samsung phone (including Chrome, Firefox, Maxthon, Dolphin, Cheetah, Brave, Puffin, Opera, and Yandex), and eventually decided that the "Samsung Internet Browser Beta" was the best of them for me: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.sec.android.app.sbrowser.beta https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.sec.androi... My main demands were a browser that had a reliable "reader mode", a black background "night mode", allowed reasonable ad blocking, and had a full screen mode with minimal clutter. The Samsung browser isn't perfect, still occasionally makes me mad, but definitely is worth trying if aren't fully satisfied with what you are using.
    - VistaBrokeMyPC 7y ago
      Dolphin! Man, I haven't heard someone talk about that browser in YEARS. I used that ten years ago back when the play store was called Android Market because it had addons and I thought it was the bee's knees. I still rotate through chrome, chrome canary, Firefox, Firefox focus, opera, and sometimes nightly builds of Firefox just to see what's getting tinkered with lately. Firefox still my daily driver though.

logicIsTruth 7y ago

Hmm. I use literally all of those.

drdeadringer 7y ago
What if you had to install them first?

ketzu 7y ago

Isn't it even the case that google forces other OEMs to bundle all their apps if they want to include the play store?

hadrien01 7y ago
Yup, it's an all-or-nothing package. The device maker wants Google Play (only way to sell devices)? They need to include Google Keep and Google Sheets. As far as I know, the only exceptions are Google Chrome and Google Search, both of which you can unbundle in the EU and Russia.
ehsankia 7y ago
That's how they fund Android development. The other alternative is having OEMs pay a small fee per device, which is what they ended up doing in Europe. https://www.theverge.com/2018/10/16/17984074/google-eu-android-licensing-bundle-chrome-search https://www.theverge.com/2018/10/16/17984074/google-eu-andro...