Updated my Samsung phone and it installed unwanted apps

SaltyEggs@lemmy.world to Mildly Infuriating@lemmy.world – 1541 points –
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I would suggest this has absolutely nothing to do with a Samsung update and more than likely some form of malware.

or carrier bloatware. Samsung has it's thingy like that (only on A series) but it installs TikTok during the setup, nothing else.

Fold 3 here. It tries to do a device cleanup periodically and will try to sneak tiktok and other shit on here.

I only had to tell my A model on first startup that I wanted none of what it was serving and it has kept its word ever since.

Perhaps but the applications displayed by OP would certainly not be installed by a carrier or Samsung. I've seen Facebook come pre-installed and other main stream garbage but the above is something completely different.

Look at the title "Mobile Services Manager"...I suppose if you are signed up with some 3rd rate carrier and you hooked up via esim but very sketchy.

US carriers do regularly do shit like this.

This kind of bullshit always comes pre installed on Samsung phones, even the ones from Google that are usually otherwise pretty stock android experiences. If they came in on an update then the responsibility is squarely on the carrier (they manage the OS updates, tailoring them to each device). On the Samsung phone's I've had on Verizon this kind of bullshit has been the worst. I do consider it malware because it installs without user consent, but it's officially authorized malware. I guess I should just be grateful I can still uninstall them after the updates, but it's a recurring problem I know I'll need to address after each update and one day I'm sure they'll decide you can't remove those junk apps.