Verizon does this all the time with my family members no matter who the manufacturer is. If you get the phone from a Verizon store instead of carrier-unlocked they pull this crap all the time.
I remember on some of my older phones Verizon would not only install apps I didn't want, but they'd flag them as system apps so they couldn't be disabled.
It's the provider. These people don't know what they are talking about.
Samsung allowing this to happen is bad though
That's like saying Samsung shouldn't allow you to install any apps. If Verizon bought the phone they can put whatever they want on it before they sell it to you. And then when you buy it, you delete or put whatever you want on it.
No, it's nothing like that at all. Apple doesn't let carriers install bloat onto their phones. I'm pretty sure Pixels don't get this sort of bloat. But Samsung clearly does.
This happens on unlocked phones too. My Galaxy S21 has apps installed on it whenever I have a different provider (Trafcone, AT&T, etc.). It's not just when it's a phone resold from the provider.
It's a "feature," in fact...
Under What to expect on this support page, it says:
The phone branding, network configuration, carrier features, and system apps will be different based on the SIM card you insert or the carrier linked to the eSIM.
The new carrier's settings menus will be applied.
The previous carrier's apps will be disabled.
The correct approach from a UX perspective would have been to display an out-of-box experience wizard that gives the user an option to either use the recommended defaults, or customize what gets installed.
Unfortunately, many manufacturers don't do that, and just install the apps unconditionally and with system-level permissions. And even if they did, it's likely that many of the carrier apps will either have a manifest value that requires them to be installed, be unlabeled (e.g. com.example.carrier.msm.mdm.MDM), or misleadingly named to appear essential (e.g. "Mobile Services Manager").
I've been on 4-5 MVNOs with Pixel phones. Am I just lucky, or does Google not allow these shenanigans?
It's possible that Google doesn't, although that would be weird since the ability to push apps is probably standardized and baked into the stock Android OS source code.
Or maybe you just used MVNOs that don't purposefully install anything that isn't strictly necessary.
Android OS developers or software devs working for cell providers would probably know the answer, though.
Am I just lucky, or does Google not allow these shenanigans?
Android phones from regular retail and not sold via a provider do not have that, no matter if Samsung, Pixel, or another brand.
Anecdotally, I can confirm otherwise. I bought an unlocked Galaxy phone directly from Samsung, and putting in a SIM card provisioned it for my cell provider and installed their apps.
Thankfully, I'm not on a provider that pushes adware.
God damnit. I though Samsung got better.
Is it Samsung or the provider?
Verizon does this all the time with my family members no matter who the manufacturer is. If you get the phone from a Verizon store instead of carrier-unlocked they pull this crap all the time.
I remember on some of my older phones Verizon would not only install apps I didn't want, but they'd flag them as system apps so they couldn't be disabled.
It's the provider. These people don't know what they are talking about.
Samsung allowing this to happen is bad though
That's like saying Samsung shouldn't allow you to install any apps. If Verizon bought the phone they can put whatever they want on it before they sell it to you. And then when you buy it, you delete or put whatever you want on it.
No, it's nothing like that at all. Apple doesn't let carriers install bloat onto their phones. I'm pretty sure Pixels don't get this sort of bloat. But Samsung clearly does.
This happens on unlocked phones too. My Galaxy S21 has apps installed on it whenever I have a different provider (Trafcone, AT&T, etc.). It's not just when it's a phone resold from the provider.
It's a "feature," in fact...
Under What to expect on this support page, it says:
The correct approach from a UX perspective would have been to display an out-of-box experience wizard that gives the user an option to either use the recommended defaults, or customize what gets installed.
Unfortunately, many manufacturers don't do that, and just install the apps unconditionally and with system-level permissions. And even if they did, it's likely that many of the carrier apps will either have a manifest value that requires them to be installed, be unlabeled (e.g. com.example.carrier.msm.mdm.MDM), or misleadingly named to appear essential (e.g. "Mobile Services Manager").
I've been on 4-5 MVNOs with Pixel phones. Am I just lucky, or does Google not allow these shenanigans?
It's possible that Google doesn't, although that would be weird since the ability to push apps is probably standardized and baked into the stock Android OS source code.
Or maybe you just used MVNOs that don't purposefully install anything that isn't strictly necessary.
Android OS developers or software devs working for cell providers would probably know the answer, though.
Android phones from regular retail and not sold via a provider do not have that, no matter if Samsung, Pixel, or another brand.
Anecdotally, I can confirm otherwise. I bought an unlocked Galaxy phone directly from Samsung, and putting in a SIM card provisioned it for my cell provider and installed their apps.
Thankfully, I'm not on a provider that pushes adware.
Samsung's PR got better, not the company.
That will never be true