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I bought a Samsung phone a few months ago. It too has a bunch of apps you can't remove. It's still not clear to me why some apps can be disabled and uninstalled

I bought a Samsung phone a few months ago. It too has a bunch of apps you can't remove. It's still not clear to me why some apps can be disabled and uninstalled but others can just be disabled. But oh yeah, with ADB it seems you can remove some/all of them. Except with Samsung you don't really know what you're uninstalling because a bunch of apps are weirdly named and not documented at all which leads one down the rabbit hole of inventorying each app and the permissions it has. Android is a mess.

Mindwipe 6y ago
> Android is a mess. TBH, so is iOS if you start actually worrying about services running on the device that may not be necessary or helpful, but iOS just doesn't tell a regular user they exist.
avipars 6y ago
You can remove them, but it's a pain and you need to either be a developer or have technical knowledge
Farbklex 6y ago
Don't forget that one time when one of the apps became an addware which showed adds on the lock screen. https://fossbytes.com/peel-remote-use-remove-smart-remote/ https://fossbytes.com/peel-remote-use-remove-smart-remote/
- pas 6y ago
  // just a nitpick: advertisement is just one 'd' so, as far as I know it should be ads
- 45ure 6y ago
  My Galaxy S4 on 4.4.x had this app pre-installed. I must have either rooted prior to any parasitic behaviour or attribute it to Xprivacy, as I did not encounter any ads. Regardless, not endorsing this app, just an alternative view, as it not only acted as a stopgap for a flailing universal remote, but also had a decent TV guide from what I can remember.
- AdmiralAsshat 6y ago
  That one hurt when it deteriorated into adware. At its prime, it was a great app, and being able to control my TV using the IR Blaster in my HTC One M7 really felt like The Future™ for a brief couple years. Now the app is gone and phones have removed the IR Blaster.
- robotnikman 6y ago
  That app was super useful for me when I had a Note 3 with IR blaster, I had so many devices which I could control (and oddly enough, my laptop had an IR sensor). Shame to see what it turned into.
spinny 6y ago
After unboxing a new device, i usually take a look at what is installed (using pm) and poke around (by reading the app manifest and sending intents to the app).
sofixa 6y ago
> Android is a mess Compare apples to apples - Samsung and their Android version are a mess. Most vendors do the same because they can and to differentiate themselves and earn extra money ( like having Facebook crap preinstalled). Android would have never worked if it weren't so open in the first place, and at least the workarounds are well documented and you can usually flash with LineageOS or something; it doesn't help your average Joe, but each manufacturer having their own custom OS with the same crap wouldn't have helped him either.
- 2muchcoffeeman 6y ago
  People keep making this argument, but if you go out and try and get an Android phone, it’s more likely to be Samsung or one of the Chinese brands. Even with enthusiasts Android is a commodity phone. You min-max price and features more often than not because there’s no lock in to an ecosystem.
  - xorcist 6y ago
    Why buy a Samsung when Oneplus is just as cheap, and not complete junk?
    - genericstorage3 6y ago
      Design...
      - effingwewt 6y ago
        Not just design. I was so excited to get a 5g oneplus 8,I'd heard great things about the 7 and 7t. Well I went through three of them with T-mobile and all 3 had serious issues which varied, but all 3 had a very serious battery issue. All 3 phones were new out of box, and all 3 needed to be charged multiple times per day, probably about 4 with light use. All 3 got hot, and I believe the culprit on all 3 was the front screen fingerprint reader. Upon checking advanced battery usage tab, screen took up 98% of the battery, something I've never even heard of. Constant random reboots, loss of signal and having to reboot to re-obtain, so hot it was uncomfortable to hold or have in pocket. I thought about getting a 7t McLaren or whatever, but decided against it due to lack if 5g at the time. I really hope they ironed out the issues because I'm definitely over Samsung and can't wait to get rid of my current S20+. And the 8 was really a joy to use, wasn't even the pro version and seemed far faster than my s20. Shoot, it took me three failures to finally be forced to try another phone. Edit: fix words.

Mindwipe 6y ago

> Android is a mess. TBH, so is iOS if you start actually worrying about services running on the device that may not be necessary or helpful, but iOS just doesn't tell a regular user they exist.

avipars 6y ago

You can remove them, but it's a pain and you need to either be a developer or have technical knowledge

Farbklex 6y ago

Don't forget that one time when one of the apps became an addware which showed adds on the lock screen. https://fossbytes.com/peel-remote-use-remove-smart-remote/ https://fossbytes.com/peel-remote-use-remove-smart-remote/

pas 6y ago
// just a nitpick: advertisement is just one 'd' so, as far as I know it should be ads
45ure 6y ago
My Galaxy S4 on 4.4.x had this app pre-installed. I must have either rooted prior to any parasitic behaviour or attribute it to Xprivacy, as I did not encounter any ads. Regardless, not endorsing this app, just an alternative view, as it not only acted as a stopgap for a flailing universal remote, but also had a decent TV guide from what I can remember.
AdmiralAsshat 6y ago
That one hurt when it deteriorated into adware. At its prime, it was a great app, and being able to control my TV using the IR Blaster in my HTC One M7 really felt like The Future™ for a brief couple years. Now the app is gone and phones have removed the IR Blaster.
robotnikman 6y ago
That app was super useful for me when I had a Note 3 with IR blaster, I had so many devices which I could control (and oddly enough, my laptop had an IR sensor). Shame to see what it turned into.

spinny 6y ago

After unboxing a new device, i usually take a look at what is installed (using pm) and poke around (by reading the app manifest and sending intents to the app).

sofixa 6y ago

> Android is a mess Compare apples to apples - Samsung and their Android version are a mess. Most vendors do the same because they can and to differentiate themselves and earn extra money ( like having Facebook crap preinstalled). Android would have never worked if it weren't so open in the first place, and at least the workarounds are well documented and you can usually flash with LineageOS or something; it doesn't help your average Joe, but each manufacturer having their own custom OS with the same crap wouldn't have helped him either.

2muchcoffeeman 6y ago
People keep making this argument, but if you go out and try and get an Android phone, it’s more likely to be Samsung or one of the Chinese brands. Even with enthusiasts Android is a commodity phone. You min-max price and features more often than not because there’s no lock in to an ecosystem.
- xorcist 6y ago
  Why buy a Samsung when Oneplus is just as cheap, and not complete junk?
  - genericstorage3 6y ago
    Design...
    - effingwewt 6y ago
      Not just design. I was so excited to get a 5g oneplus 8,I'd heard great things about the 7 and 7t. Well I went through three of them with T-mobile and all 3 had serious issues which varied, but all 3 had a very serious battery issue. All 3 phones were new out of box, and all 3 needed to be charged multiple times per day, probably about 4 with light use. All 3 got hot, and I believe the culprit on all 3 was the front screen fingerprint reader. Upon checking advanced battery usage tab, screen took up 98% of the battery, something I've never even heard of. Constant random reboots, loss of signal and having to reboot to re-obtain, so hot it was uncomfortable to hold or have in pocket. I thought about getting a 7t McLaren or whatever, but decided against it due to lack if 5g at the time. I really hope they ironed out the issues because I'm definitely over Samsung and can't wait to get rid of my current S20+. And the 8 was really a joy to use, wasn't even the pro version and seemed far faster than my s20. Shoot, it took me three failures to finally be forced to try another phone. Edit: fix words.