Imagine having a gambling addiction, struggling to overcome it, then your phone auto installs gambling apps..
Gotta gamba
Samsung has been a malicious bad actor for a while now. It's not just phones; they also pulled shit like retroactively adding ads to people's smart TVs etc.
(Also, even their "dumb" products, like appliances, are designed to fail just outside warranty. If you don't believe me, take a look at my washer's spider arm, which failed catastrophically due to corrosion even though nothing else in the machine had so much of a speck of corrosion on it. Samsung is clearly capable of specifying corrosion-resistant materials and chose not to on purpose in order to create a failure point.)
Everyone should completely boycott Samsung.
Your corrosion issue is due to dissimilar metals which, when in contact with one another, begin corroding immediately. They chose those materials knowing full well what would happen.
Their appliances are absolute garbage and I've read that many repair places refuse to work on them because they're built so poorly.
Galvanic corrosion is a thing every shipyard on the planet has known about since we invented the propeller, of course they knew what they were doing.
Never owned a Samsung phone but 5 minutes playing with the gf’s S22 was enough to keep me as an Apple fanboy for the foreseeable future
Two of Samsung fridges were busted even with 10-year warranty, with mine coming first before my uncle's. I don't have fridge anymore as my food is stored in my uncle's new Samsung fridge. Also, he has a Samsung Smart TV, Tizen sucks anyway, he should get an Android TV instead.
And also, Samsung is already losing it's mid-range segment to Chinese OEMs.
Being an Apple fanboy is up to you, but I have to say that Apple and Samsung are not the only options. Android has many manufacturers with their own spin on things. Samsung's spin happens to suck
and you might think their TVs would be ok, but search for "Samsung TV vertical shadow" or some variant and find endless results for failed LED strips or power supplies. trash.
Let's not ignore that they are one of the conglomerates that are making living in Korea so shitty for a lot of people.
I disabled my DNS block-list for 5 minutes to test something, and my Samsung TV used its newfound freedom to immediately go and automatically install the TikTok app from its app store. It no longer gets the privilege of an internet connection.
Shouldn't have ever connected it in the first place. I spent $30 on a Chromecast that gets plugged in and connected.
It's not really your phone if it does things like this. This is Samsung's phone you pay for their permission to carry for a few years.
True ownership means fully possessing something and deciding how it operates including what software it runs, what data that software can access, and when it can access it. I would not be surprised if those apps had some very invasive default permissions.
Ah, that's where you're wrong: it's not your phone.
One of the reasons that my last Samsung phone was an S5. Can't reload a custom ROM on them anymore to get rid of OEM shit, as far as I know. Motorolas and Pixels are good for that now.
I did with my S10+, so you definitely could more recently.
Having said that I'm finding the crud much reduced on my S23, like they don't try to push bixby down your throat every 10 seconds.
It does this to me too. You disable the damn thing, then you get a carrier update and it reactivates and downloads stupid games no one wants.
First time it did it to me, I thought I got a virus. Come to find out...nah it's just a thing tmobile forces on you for fun.
Assholes
This is the sorta shit that will likely be in the EUs sights soon. Installing applications nobody asked for because of the carrier? That sounds fucking insanely invasive. It's like Adidas installing a camera in your apartment because you bought a pair of sneakers.
That’s kind of an extreme example lol unless the game is asking for insane permissions. Still I get your point and hopefully the EU acts on it. Especially since they appear to be humanity’s only hope against shit like this
That's probably because the EU generally isn't run by a two party system, where both parties are actually just center-right neoliberals. If you want EU style protections, you have to actually fight for it, like pretty much every European country did.
The two party system isn't the only problem though, there's also:
Money being a form of speech -- EU MEPs aren't soliciting billionaires for money to spend on TV ads
The 10th amendment -- prevents any national effort where the federal govt uses a power not explicitly granted to it in the constitution. Obamacare tripped up here for instance, and Obamacare is far from national socialized healthcare. It was a feature when people identified more with their local culture, but in an era when every American identifies as American-first, and engages the political system accordingly by only knowing or caring about national candidates and parties, it becomes a bug.
States that should have never been states -- the US Senate took a heavy rural turn in the 19th century as vast, sparsely populated territories were given statehood. Nowadays this means to buy two US Senators you only need to gaslight ~600k people with advertising (the population of Wyoming). The founding fathers never really developed a solid plan for how the west would be settled, and it shows.
Powerful and unaccountable Court -- the Supreme Court is given authority over both other branches, serving life terms, with few guidelines or restrictions. A party with the Presidency and Senate at the right time can gain a majority of the court and undo (or manufacture) precedent at the snap of a finger. The resulting system makes it far easier to capture the court than to pass a constitutional amendment. Think abortion should be legal? Here's a roundabout legal justification for that. Oh the new majority thinks it shouldn't be? Okay now it's gone. It's a chaotic way to handle bedrock rights like access to healthcare and privacy (neither of which are mentioned anywhere in the US constitution). The constitution should be malleable enough that the court is strictly tasked with interpreting the letter of the law. The US shouldn't be relying on legal gymnastics to legalize abortion and gay marriage. It's unstable and undemocratic.
Electoral College -- the leader of the country, not just the Executive but the Head of State, is elected in a way that respects statehood more than personhood. It is more concerned with making sure Wyoming gets a fair vote than making sure John Doe in Queens does.
First past the post voting -- this is another oversight by the founding fathers that many European republics were able to avoid, and it's the root cause of the two party system. But it also makes gerrymandering possible, which completely breaks both state-level politics and the US House. It makes so many seats into "safe seats" that the "money is speech" briberies become much easier to allocate.
Racism -- almost every dumb thing about American politics can be traced back in some form to slavery, segregation, or racism. Why is every state given 2 senators? Slavery. Why were some of those rural states admitted? Also slavery. Why did White Americans support progressive policies in the 30s, 40s, and 50s? Segregation. Why did the entire Deep South flip from Democrat to Republican in the late 60s? Also segregation. It's America's original sin and it's still playing a role.
Every one of those things plays a role in the US not adopting stricter privacy standards, or leading the way in anything except military might. It's why American politics is so broken that even a majority of voters wanting to fix it isn't enough.
The European Left needs strong support.
If the EU is the only hope we are beyond fucked
Well yeah, no one has ever used the term “only hope” optimistically lol
Yeah, I would like clarification if this came from the carrier or Samsung.
I keep my Galaxy S21 up to date, and these have not been installed for me. But I haven't had an update in the last few days, so it's possible it's an upcoming update I haven't seen yet.
But I bought my phone off Amazon; they're usually cheaper that way, and it's unlocked already. I don't get them via my carrier (AT&T for what it's worth).
It's carrier based. I've had Samsung phones almost exclusively and as long as I buy unlocked I never get unwanted apps.
There is still a lot of stuff preinstalled which could be considered unwanted by a lot of people (TikTok, Netflix, Spofify, multiple MS apps, Disney+, Facebook, Meta Services, ...)
I wish manufacturers didn't allow carriers to install junk on their phone.
On the other hand, this is how carriers can give you a good deal on a phone... They have to subsidise it by making deals with the companies that make apps like these.
If they have to trick you by installing unwanted apps on your phone, where you don't even know it's them doing it, then it sounds more like a scam than a great deal.
Yeah I have a Samsung phone and have never had this problem so I'm guessing it's carrier stuff and op is unkowongly placing blame on the wrong company here
At this point I only buy Smartphones with Android One label (Stock Android without anything changed). Samsung especially is full of bloat.
Bloat is bad enough but Samsung devices now have ad/crap/spyware baked into them and you can't even disable some of it.
Same here bud. I am tired of smartphone UI's having tons of bloatware and all that shit.
OP's bloat is provider branding, not stock Samsung. Samsung phones have the second longest support timeframe after Fairphone (who recently announced 7 years of Android updates). Those "stock Android One" phones typically don't get Android updates for very long.
One of the many reasons I will only ever buy Pixel phones. No bloatware.
Thinking about making the jump to grapheneos, the only thing holding me back is my addiction to Android Auto
GrapheneOS is pretty damn great. But yes... Android Auto is something I do miss :(
Can you get away with MirrorLink? Truthfully I've never tried it, and I'm pretty sure it's dead if not dying, but it was always going to be my fallback if I found a way to leave Google (or potentially Android entirely).
I agree. This is my work phone so I had no choice. My personal phone is the Pixel 5a.
This is the main reason I've stuck with Nexus/Pixel. I've tried Samsung but everything on it is unwanted bloat. Amazing hardware screwed by bloat and duplicated apps. Shame.
Just uninstalled this after seeing this thread. If you're on AT&T like I am the package name for Mobile Services Manager is com.dti.att and it has nothing to do with your actual mobile services. All it does is push and update bloatware. I also nuked every AT&T app that I could. I recommend everyone who has Android Studio do this to their phone its easy.
I kick a percentage back to GrapheneOS itself to keep the project funded and running (which is the primary motive behind the project).
Same lol, maybe a Linux phone one day so I don't have to buy another Google phone but unless it runs all the same apps it's unlikely
The only app I need to work on a linux phone is google maps. Although I haven't checked how good openstreet map is now. Everything else has a linux alternative
Seems to work on my SailfishOS phone.
I use public transport a lot and google maps is very helpful so unfortunately can't live without it, last time I tried openstreet map it was useless for buses etc. As for alternative apps, I'm assuming I'd have trouble with, for example, banking apps, or obscure/niche apps such as my country's one for booking public transport etc.? Just nice using something that can install all Android apps OOTB
Try SailfishOS! Currently replying to you using it.
There are basically no ads if you buy Samsung S series without a carrier.
Samsung is pretty much notorious for this, especially in developing countries where they bundle in every third-party service, PayLater app, shitty mobile game, etc alongside a new device. The only reason they are seen as preferable is that other companies are doing worse (see: Xiaomi).
I don't know. Samsung seems like a very good company.
And I'm not saying that as they have an army and access to my location.
Blink twice if you're in danger
Correction: a good hardware company. That is of course if we disregard them turning some phones into bombs.
But they also make screens, RAM and so on. I just always hated all their software. It's utter garbage.
At least Xiaomi is telling their customers upfront that the reason they can sell their mid and low end android phones on the cheap ( by famously announcing to cap their hardware profit margin at 5% ) is due to advertising. IIRC their high end models do not have ads. Other manufacturers mocked xiaomi for this move, just like they mocked apple for removing headphone jack, then quietly follow the move anyway without telling their customers, which I think is an even bigger dick move.
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.
My Galaxy S9 had facebook installed with no way to delete it. You could “disable” it. Super annoying.
Sounds like we'll see the effects in March next year. Fingers crossed.
Might be your carrier. T-Mobile had some app like that that I had to fight a few times to get rid of.
T-mobile apps are almost the entire reason I rooted my phone
It's why I've been buying "unlocked" manufacturer-direct phones for years.
Yep I have an unlocked S20 and no such problems. Was surprised to see my wife lament updates on her S23 from tmobile because of this.
Never seen or installed this nonsense on my Samsung phone. This looks to be some sort of adware or malware.
Looking at what was installed it doesn't look like the normal samsung bloatware. They're both apps by Playtika, who seem to have nothing to do with Samsung. Malware would be my thought too.
And the "Mobile Services Manager" app seems to come pre-installed on carrier Android devices from Samsung and Motorola (i.e. bloatware), at least when bought from carriers in 'Murica. That "Mobile Services Manager" bloatware is meant to auto-install and update even more bloatware that carriers want to see installed on their carrier Android phones.
This is why I don't buy devices on contract with the carriers anymore. They're always loading extra crapware that we don't need.
Yea... Flashing grapheneOS has been the best I could ever do for my phone
What smartphone brand is safe to buy nowadays? It feels like every single one is terrible and anti-user.
Google pixel + GrapheneOS
FairPhone?
Either way you'll be locking yourself into either Google, who will extract more money from advertisers, or Apple who will extract more money from you.
Google Pixel phones (easily allows bootloader unlock and custom ROM if you need to but I can't be bothered until EOS most of the time)
Nothing Phone (same as above but with different light skin, interesting design and not Google if that bothers you)
You don't get any of this crap with the Pixel Android phones.. I believe Motorola used to be good about not loading up junkware also, but that was years ago and I dunno if they're still like that.
Yep, never had any of my stock Pixels install anything I didn't put on them intentionally
I've stuck with the Pixel since they came out and won't go back until they really screw it up. Every couple of years Verizon will run a special where you get the previous model for free, which works for me.
Get one designated for European market, we have two Samsungs at home at neither of us get autoinstalls or ads
Ive had a couple Nokias now (Nokia is Finnish) and find them pretty robust and both have been Android One phones so there is basically nothing on them which isn't just stock android. Plenty fast enough for me. Note: I only buy low end phones (~$300) so YMMV
So I don't know about Samsung specifically but most commonly this whole "installing random apps by developers you've never heard of" is most commonly not from the manufacturer but caused by purchasing a carrier variant of the device. Traditionally Verizon did that a lot, but they've shaped up some in recent years.
Make sure to buy direct from the manufacturer or otherwise ensure you purchase the manufacturer unlocked variant to avoid this (there's also an unrelated "carrier unlock" which is a carrier variant that has had the modem unlocked to allow you to use it on other carriers than the one it's branded to, but your still stuck with the carrier's variant of the software and hardware.)
Also worth noting carrier models will in some cases actually have differing hardware from the unlocked model too. Traditionally this was usually related to the modem for carriers using uncommon cellular network technologies but some large carriers will even cut down the memory or storage just to squeeze a buck or two off the price!
TLDR don't buy direct from the carrier and make sure to buy manufacturer unlocked phone!
This happens on mine with facebook book being installed by samsung themselves, i dont think i get the mobile services manager thing. And mine isnt from a carrier or locked to one
in india, we dont have the carrier based phones yet Samsung will install all unwanted apps when you set up first time
I just got a Galaxy S23 about 2 weeks ago. It came with Facebook and Swiftkey as well as a bunch of Microsoft Apps. But no Tiktok, Games or other crap. Even after updating the OS nothing like that had been installed.
My guess is that a lot of people do not read anything and just rush through the initial setup process, thereby confirming things like wanting recommended apps to be installed.
Also there are some mentions of rooting here. I suggest to first give adb a try. It lets you uninstall any app without rooting (including Facebook and Swiftkey in my case).
+1 for ADB. Online tutorials are dead simple to follow. De-facebooking my phone and killing Bixby are the two things that made me decide not to trade this in for an old Razer Phone instead.
Yeah, I had a similar experience. I got my phone directly from Samsung, so it's also likely it might have just been the Carrier that did this.
so it’s also likely it might have just been the Carrier that did this.
The answer is literally in the second line of the screenshot: “Mobile Services Manager”, so yes, provider branding.
Or you could just not buy a $2k phone loaded down with shitty bloatware.
Sent from my $700 Google Pixel 7 Pro
Aww yeah Pixel gang 😎
pixel 7 pro launched at 900$. s23 ultra launched at 1,200$. not an insane difference there for the amoled screen, better cameras, and s-pen. let people buy what they want 😭😭
What model + what country + did you get your phone subsidized by a carrier? Literally never had this happen on any of my multiple samsung phones.
Ever since the "you can't disable the fully charged notification" update that hit the same week as 5 unremovable apps with full phone permissions, I am done with Samsung. Such a scumbag way to remind you it's not your phone.
No idea what this is but just a thought, can't you just create a Routine that limits charging to 95% (or 99%) so that a notification is never shown?
As for unremovable apps, just disable them? I used to get irritated by unremovable apps but they hardly take up any memory on a 128gb phone.
I read comments saying google never adds bloat ...yet i tend to remove/disable more google shite than anything else!
I highly recommend lineageOS, or better yet lineageOS with microg.
Running a completely degoogled android phone right now, and it feels smooth as butter.
Microg has gotten so good, the vast majority of playstore apps work completely fine even without Google services, including things like my banking apps.
Feels liberating as fuck, not gonna lie.
Only apps that don't work for me are ones that require IaP's. About 30% of those I can crack with LuckyPatcher. I can also crack other paid apps with license protection.
Mostly I havent needed to do any of that though, because I've found that there are so many great open source apps that do the things I need.
Where do you get the apk for banking apps if not the play store?
I just barely had to go get a new phone because my Note20 broke. Was hoping they'd have another in stock but of course not. That's waaaaaay to outdated 🙄 so I got the s23 or whatever. We moved all my data from my old phone to my new one. Once it updated everything I had 12 "new" apps and games installed. Wtf. Deleted most, but some are so damn hidden and protected. Samsung truly makes you know you don't own your own device.
I was reading an article about how LG wants to do the same thing with running ads and subscriptions for their smart devices and how this will grow their annual revenue to like 70 billion.
We're sinking into some dystopian shit where you are supposed to never own anything anymore.
Which devices? TV's maybe?
LG got out of the smartphone gig
Samsung truly makes you know you don't own your own device.
Stop buying them. Samsung has been doing this for decades but people keep fucking buying them. As long as you keep buying them, they will continue doing this.
There are a handful of phones that don't come loaded with a littany of shitty bloatware. None of the shitty YouTube reviewers will tell you which ones they are.
I got a Pixel and it had very little bloatware. Then I installed GrapheneOS and that removed even more.
There are a lot of negative things that I will say about Apple and iOS, but this would NEVER EVER fly on an iPhone. The fact that we just kind of accept it on Android is infuriating.
Apple once put a U2 album onto everyone's phone so they certainly aren't squeaky clean
Android itself is a great thing, and bloatware is not inherently a part of it. SAMSUNG, who makes Android phones is a whole different story, though.
But just way too many conflate Samsung with Android. Android is like the Linux of the phone world. Everyone can have their own distro, tailored to their needs. Samsung just happens to tailor the more AIDS type Android system.
That'd be true if it were only Samsung doing this. The reality is that the vast majority of Android phones are this way, to various degrees.
I have only ever tried that and (the also Android based) MIUI on Xiaomi phones, but the latter is just as much of a cancer as Samsung ones, in terms of bloatware.
You can't even uninstall some of those, like the Emoji keyboard, for example. You can use something else but you can't remove it (without rooting your phone, at least). So then you get this notification about the update for the Emoji keyboard. Then you don't tap it, because you don't want to install it. So you swipe the notification away.
Then, a day later you wake up to the notification that it has been installed successfully. Without even asking you. So yeah, I'm not saying Samsung is the only one. But try a Pixel phone. Or so they say.
Been using Pixel phones for years for that reason (among others)
Not everyone on Android just accepts this. I use a Pixel precisely for this reason. It might install some system apps, etc., but it will never install some bullshit games like this.
Which is why the first thing I do when I get a new Android phone is to install LineageOS.
Oh no, no one accepts this at all. In fact, it was much worse just a few years ago.
For the exact same reason, I've only been using Pixel devices for years now. Before that, Nexus devices.
Every now and then, I get interested in what Samsung has to offer, and their top end devices are without a don't often among the very best out there.
But it's shit like pre-installed apps, Samsung's tooth-and-nail fight against unlocking the bootloader, bloatware that re-enables or installs itself with system updates, and generally Samsung's attempts to pull users into it's ecosystem and sell them more Samsung stuff that makes me keep it at arms length.
The reason Samsung does crap like this is because it's like 20% of the GDP of South Korea, they practically own that country.
If Companies had Egos I don't know where Samsung would be in the list of biggest but I know it would be high up.
The modern dilemma: do you, the consumer, prefer to have apps installed that you don't want? (Android) or to not be able to install the ones you do (Apple)?
[This comment has been deleted by an automated system]
This is mostly true however there are sometimes discounts on phones without all this shit. I just got my son a Pixel 7 yesterday (my wife and I already have one). T-Mobile took $400 off the phone and waved the activation fee. It came out to $4 a month.
This is mostly for cheap phones. People don't accept it on Android.
Pixels are essentially the default android phone, and they're mostly a great software experience, little bloat ware and no strange ads like this.
It's likely this is the carrier anyway.
Not quite true. I have a cheapo Doogee and there is 0 bloat. Super happy with the little brick.
Depends on company. I know from experience Samsung and Xiaomi are obnoxious with ads and unwanted software so I just avoid their stuff.
I recently got a cheap Doogee X97 as a backup phone. It was pretty much AOSP except for the launcher and 2 extra apps. I was impressed by the value of the $60 phone. 16 GB flash was too little for me though. I handed it to a friend and got the sturdier, waterproof S51.
No holes in my screen, 5 days of daily use battery and 4GB/64GB + dual SIM + NFC + microSD + headphone jack for $100 is pretty sweet. Also OEM unlock is possible from the dev menu without extra steps. Firmware is available as a zip from their forums.
Is it weird that I'm partially relieved seeing this post? I found all these weird apps on my phone the other day and thought I had been hacked or something. whew...?
You were hacked by the manufacturer.
I have an unlocked s23 and don't have any bloatware. Is yours unlocked? Which region?
T-mobile absolutely pushed crap on my phone - it's why I went unlocked at my next chance.
Wow. Such thing never happened to me on my Samsung phone. What's your model?
Might be the wireless carrier bundling it in with the firmware on an update to the android OS?
It isn't a universal bundling across all devices.
Samsung will load shit on devices made by them if they feel regulators won't care. This is why I will no longer by Samsung. I wish LG still sold phones, but the Pixel isn't horrible.
I got really tired of that shit, so I got a Google Pixel when it was time for my upgrade. By far the best phone I've had since my Samsung Intensity.
On the same page, last android device I had was a Samsung. Great hardware but really shitty software. It had two office suite (MS and Samsungs), Facebook and what not. All those I couldn’t uninstall only disable. Why the fuck I need to have Facebook installed on my phone?
Samsung makes nice phones that I don’t buy for this reason. Apple doesn’t allow this. Pixel is another option if you don’t wanna go through the hassle of changing ecosystems.
Disable "Mobile services manager". Samsung phones are lousy with crapware these days so I would avoid them like the plague. An eldery relative asked me why he kept seeing ad popups and his device had something called "Samsung Free" that cannot be disabled or completely turned off which pushes news articles, ads and other shit at him. I just turned off as many "interests" as I could and attempted to opt out of the software but it's still there and swiping left on the home page re-enables it. Samsung phones are absolute dogshit these days. I wouldn't go near one unless they could be rooted and flashed out of the box.
I swore off Samsung for this reason after I had the S3. I thought the bloatware situation had gotten better over the years…
Had a few devices with stock Android that I really liked (such as the Nexus 5 and Moto X) over the years, but even then it’s difficult to escape some of the built-in bullshit.
Kind of gave up on that and switched to iPhone a few years back… You still get the mandatory vendor apps, but at least now I also get the ecosystem benefits.
you can disable the app manager thing and it should stop these.
or just buy an S series phone, they don't come with any non-samsung bloatware. A series are partially bloatware-funded.
edit: this looks like carrier bloat to me
Sheesh, even my S-series phone comes with a few extra things that I cannot easily get rid of or uninstall...
ah that must be it.
This should be illegal!
Proprietary software moment...
T Mobile keeps trying to have me install their crappy suggested apps every time they do a software update. And I cant make the pop up go away till I go through their shit and uncheck everything.
Was wondering if I'd see this comment. Had the same thing with my phone. Fuck no I don't want T-Mobile to automatically install bullshit recommend apps! The audacity.
And its been doing it every update, lately!
That is why i rooted my phone as a tech noobie, and it gives me security warning everytime i restart it. As if their shitty apps are not security breach, lol.
A rooted phone is definitely a bigger security risk if you don't know what you're doing, as anything with root access is unbounded by the usual android permission system, and can completely demolish your OS. Additionally it can serve as a big warning if someone else has tampered with your device.
Indeed, though I have yet to meet somebody that “doesn’t know what he’s doing” in matters of rooting. Basically, the phones that are still the easiest to bootload unlock are usually only appealing to tech geeks, while the most mainstream phones have a much more complex and hacky (if at all possible) process to unlock. So that in itself filters a lot of tech non-savvy users from getting into the subject…
I’m not sure I agree though with "as anything with root access is unbounded by the usual android permission system, and can completely demolish your OS”. Android’s permission system is imho garbage. It may on paper tick the “provides user with permission management” but since apps that are ill-intended will usually 1) drown the layperson in a multitude of permission requests to do anything,, it will usually translate to the user blanket accepting everything defying fine permission management as a whole 2) finer ID / privacy related data acces permissions don’t even get prompted for access, and only rely on the completely broken dev declarative scheme on the play store. IMHO, the finer permission management solutions that the Android community came up with ages ago (well before Android/Apple even thought fo implementing any permission management) did a much better job.
Rooting comes with a root manager (magisk, superUser…) that modal-prompts the user for either permanent or one-time allow / deny access when an app requests root that can be secured by fingerprint/password. I’d argue Root managers are more user-stupidity-proof thant Android’s own permission manager.
As for malicious apps requesting rooting, well, in the end, if the user is 1) stupid enough to download such apps (I’m guessing shady warez / cheat enabled games for the masses) 2) even stupider to accept a root access request from such an app… let natural selection do its job.
A lot of people definitely don't realize what rooting actually means. If a user blindly accepts all permissions, there's no way it can be framed as an OS problem, that's definitely a user problem. If an app requests permission I think it shouldn't have, I deny it. If the app doesn't work afterwards, I don't need the app.
Totally true, yet this thread app access requestments are more scary to me. I would like to limit those kind of apps. I root to install some ROMs and have fun, by "noobie" i meant that i can't follow the steps without a guide. I didn't mean that i run havok with root accesses left and right.
Thanks for the warnings, yet i still think a literal gambling app is much more risky. I don't use my mobile phone on sensitive password saving apps or banking apps as i think those are risky on rooted phone too. I am just having fun as a careful newbie.
A lot of banking apps in europa don't work on rooted phones, so that is not an option.
No problem with Magisk, been using banking apps on rooted phones for years
Fortunately you can use magisk to hide the rooted status from most apps. At least in Finland, I have had no problems with Nordea or Danske Bank. I remember that some app was troublesome, but I think I figured that one out also eventually.
Magisk (latest release) + Universel SafetyNet Fix v2.4.0-MOD_1.2 (kdrag0n github) + add the apps to the zygist deny list + rename magisk manager.
→ does the job for me.
Rightfully so. I don't think rooting a phone is a save option for banking purposes. I use my PC for that
It's been happening lately on my S22 Ultra. Very annoying. If I didn't think I'd brick my phone, I would root it. Well first I would figure out what rooting is... :\
One of the drawbacks of rooting is that it might keep you from using certain apps like banking apps because they see this as a security risk.
I fucking hate how banks have taken security to be as intrusive but never secure. Fucking plane text card numbers and no 2fa or confirmation of purchases and limited ability to stop usage besides ordering a new card is fucking lazy at this point.
That might be your bank. My bank is as annoying as you describe, but it is as secure as you're saying it should be. 2FA, they hold up suspicious purchases to see if it's really me, I can lock and unlock my cards from the app. Smaller banks tend to be the way to go, or credit unions if you have a good one nearby.
All those disclaimers are out there for liability purposes. It is highly unlikely that you will brick your phone as long as you follow the instructions and avoid making any modifications to the way the hardware runs (do not overclock, do not underclock etc).
Yeah, I understand. Maybe I'll get more confident. I'd feel better if I had my old phone to practice on first.
Thanks!
Great. As an appliance salesman I’ve been saying about Samsung that “well at least they make great phones and TVs” but now I can’t even say that.
I used to work doing dish, I used to suggest tv brands as, Samsung >Sony >lg and avoid everything else. But after all the shit Samsung does with their tvs, forcing their bullshit on them, forcing their smart tv shit over what you want. I no longer would suggest Samsung, they've fallen down to the likes of Roku.
On my Samsung tv I wanted jellyfin, needed to side load it. When doing so it blocked access to the Samsung servers and most Samsung features. I had no idea the tv could be so fast and responsive.
LOL welcome to Samsung. This is why I stopped buying them after the S6.
This isn't from Samsung. There phones don't come with this. It's preloaded from the carrier OP has phone service from. Quit spreading FUD and get your facts straight.
Just my 2 cents I am on an unlocked S20 and don't have these apps getting installed
I have had the recent S series Samsung phones and no bloatware was uninstalled via updates like this, that's still disappointing to see
When will the Lemmy phone launch? I'm ready to cancel anything now
In the meantime, if you have or can find a compatible device, there is LineageOS.
That's how I have a Xiaomi phone without any of the MIUI bullshit.
+1 to this. Next time I'll be buying a new phone, I'll have a look at what phones are supported by LOS
Right now I'm on a Xiaomi CC9 with LOS. It felt a whole new phone after I got rid of MIUI (which didn't receive any updates in about one year and half)
The problem is getting a brand new model compatible with LOS.
Last year I specifically got a Redmi Note 9 Pro (brand new unit), which at the time was a 2 year old model, because it was one of the few models that matched the specifications I was looking for AND it was officially LOS supported.
I mean, I'm pretty happy with it, this thing is a beast and I'm not one of those guys who need the last model of everything, but I paid the around same of what the new Redmi Note 11s costed at the time. No regrets; anything to have a Xiaomi without that MIUI cancer.
So...stupid question, how do you have service? Like, you would still have to contact one of them (t-mobile, at&t, verizon) to make the "cell" part work, right?
You still use the carrier sim card for a connection. That doesn't depend on what OS you're using.
Nope... it just works, really, like with a stock rom. I'm Europe, but I don't think that matters.
AFAIK, smartphones just get those settings automatically from the service provider. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.
I had been using Samsung for the longest time before my current device and lemme tell ya, even with their flagships they pull this shit, I'm always having to go in and delete whatever shit they download, like, no, I have no desire to play fucking ROYAL MATCH please stop asking me
That's why when a look for a phone, always research if there's custom ROMs for it, AOSP based.
I control what's on the phone, not otherwise
It's bad but not 60GB, as per the linked article:
"In other words, the lost storage in the case of a 512GB S23 would be around 35GB after subtracting 477 (the actual available capacity) from 512 (the total advertised), while the actual One UI installation size of S23 Ultra comes out to around 22GB when we deduct this 35GB from the 57GB reported in the original article."
Still not great at 22GB though
That's why I only ever bought one Samsung phone (a galaxy 6 I think) . They do have a tendency to install shit on phones that you will never use but can't delete.
There were a few ways of deleting those apps from Samsung on the web but I focus on buying clean phones with no shite loading (like OnePlus and Pixel). Although my first Pixel send to be bullying me to put my everything on their cloud servers - where all your datas are belong to them 🤣😂 via EULA.
I love my Pixel with Niagara launcher for the love translation. Wtf Google with that locked-down home screen. I'll live with the removed call record even though it's legal in the free world.
Yep, I bought exactly one Galaxy, never again
I've had a Galaxy Note 10+ for 3 years and I've now had an S23 Ultra since around February. Not once have I had random apps installed.
I'm with Rogers Wireless in Canada.
Mobile Services Manager, that my friend is what we call Carrier Bloat.
None of my Samsung since Galaxy S6 has that, given they were all were retail bought.
My family all have Samsung phones, I guess because we like to stick with what we know. That said, this has never happened to us. I suspect it is a carrier thing, we purchase our phones outright from Samsung or an electronics store, not from the phone carrier on a plan. We are also in Australia, which may have an effect.
You scared the crap outta me man. For a second I thought connect for lemmy sold out! Haha
Ironic that I'm tired of this post about unwanted apps popping up in every feed of mine every time I refresh to see new ones 😂🤦
It's better to sort by New or Hot than Active, I've found. Hot tends to be 90% memes though (I should probably hide some of the meme communities), New is a bit more balanced.
Wow. Such thing never happened to me on my Samsung phone. What's your model?
Hi there! Looks like you linked to a Lemmy community using a URL instead of its name, which doesn't work well for people on different instances. Try fixing it like this: !assholedesign@lemmy.world
Yeah, Windows does the same!
This is why I don't buy an Android device if it won't allow me to unlock the bootloader and sideload a ROM of my choice. Android OEM operating systems suck nowadays (at least the ones I've been subjected to recently: Samsung's and Xiaomi's).
Switched to fairphone and could root it without installing twrp, there was only one extra app and I could just disable the google apps and switch to foss ones.
Of course it did. What phone is it?
This is not a Samsung issue. Your carrier is doing this because you have a carrier locked phone. To prevent it, buy a carrier unlocked phone and it won't happen.
Source: Me who always buys carrier unlocked
As long as the difference is $2000 for an unbranded phone vs $20 for a carrier version, I'll keep putting up with the bullshit (or rather installing a custom ROM). But you are absolutely right. This is mostly a carrier thing. Though of the two times I got an unbranded phone, one of them was the Galaxy 4, and it still had bullshit I couldn't get rid of or didn't want. It also was one of the hardest to install custom firmware to. I would never buy a Samsung phone carrier branded or not.
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?
Yah this happens with my work phone on a Verizon network but not my personal on t-mobile.*
*totally not sponsored by t-mobile
So this is where this came from I didn't even realize how these had shown up on my phone. This is so stupid.
They do this even with their A7X series phones, which is priced in the upper mid range / lower flagship category. Not only do they use a lower end chip than their competitors in the same price segment, they have the audacity to give software updates disguised as ads. No amount of money will satisfy these greedy companies.
Wish it was easier to just install stock Android on a new phone.
What an awesome surprise! How did you even manage to get through the day before these amazing new apps came into your life? Just sit back, relax, and watch your bank account dwindle as you gamble it all away
Can you nuke Mobile Services Manager, or is that “critical to the functionality of the system” according to Samsung?
Soooooo you don't want to play solitaire Grand harvest?
Why I don't even consider Samsung phones.
Bought a Xiaomi phone, rooted it, loving it, so cheap and still private enough. I'll just can't get my head around in spending almost a grand for a freaking phone.
When people ask why I switched to and stuck with an iphone, I always go back to "Google doesn't know how to do text messages", but I forgot about this lovely issue. You can't truly own an Android that isn't a Pixel and expect software OS updates on a regular basis without bloatware. Additionally, the update does not need to go through your carrier, something that is the largest red flag for me to stop buying non-unlocked Android phones (at least the last time I looked this was a thing).
Imagine if you went to a dealership, and go to buy a brand new car, but the dealer says they have to do some "improvements" to it before you can drive it off the lot. Only, you don't know what they did or why, and the car manufacturer doesn't know either. It's fucked up.
A SIM card doesn't have that kind of power over your phone. I've gone through 4-5 MVNOs on Pixel phones and not once has a SIM card done anything except provide cellular service.
They do have a lot of power over the device. They run the Oracle Java card standard and are a complete computer that can even run a webserver. They can interact with host events like call starting and call ending. Not sure if they can install user apps. But I have had a carrier push a voicemail shortcut into my app draw that would auto call the voicemail number when pressed. I couldn't remove it unless I removed the Sim.
I worked in support for a phone manufacturer for a while. I have once seen an app get pushed by the SIM. I also however have seen plenty of really sketchy apps preinstalled or installed with updates by the carrier on carrier branded phones.
Some years ago I forget if it was Ting or Cricket would preinstall the Wish app and it received an update that added ads that would pop up at random while using the device including on the home screen (and fairly frequently at that) so for a while we'd get calls about that and pretty quickly get the Wish app off of those folks phones
Then one of the TracFone brands preinstalles a bunch of advertising directly on the home screen. It was something called app box or something like that and it would literally show an app icon on your home screen so you'd click it and maybe choose to install it
Straight up gambling apps too
Imagine having a gambling addiction, struggling to overcome it, then your phone auto installs gambling apps..
Gotta gamba
Samsung has been a malicious bad actor for a while now. It's not just phones; they also pulled shit like retroactively adding ads to people's smart TVs etc.
(Also, even their "dumb" products, like appliances, are designed to fail just outside warranty. If you don't believe me, take a look at my washer's spider arm, which failed catastrophically due to corrosion even though nothing else in the machine had so much of a speck of corrosion on it. Samsung is clearly capable of specifying corrosion-resistant materials and chose not to on purpose in order to create a failure point.)
Everyone should completely boycott Samsung.
Your corrosion issue is due to dissimilar metals which, when in contact with one another, begin corroding immediately. They chose those materials knowing full well what would happen.
Their appliances are absolute garbage and I've read that many repair places refuse to work on them because they're built so poorly.
Galvanic corrosion is a thing every shipyard on the planet has known about since we invented the propeller, of course they knew what they were doing.
Never owned a Samsung phone but 5 minutes playing with the gf’s S22 was enough to keep me as an Apple fanboy for the foreseeable future
Two of Samsung fridges were busted even with 10-year warranty, with mine coming first before my uncle's. I don't have fridge anymore as my food is stored in my uncle's new Samsung fridge. Also, he has a Samsung Smart TV, Tizen sucks anyway, he should get an Android TV instead.
And also, Samsung is already losing it's mid-range segment to Chinese OEMs.
Being an Apple fanboy is up to you, but I have to say that Apple and Samsung are not the only options. Android has many manufacturers with their own spin on things. Samsung's spin happens to suck
and you might think their TVs would be ok, but search for "Samsung TV vertical shadow" or some variant and find endless results for failed LED strips or power supplies. trash.
Let's not ignore that they are one of the conglomerates that are making living in Korea so shitty for a lot of people.
I disabled my DNS block-list for 5 minutes to test something, and my Samsung TV used its newfound freedom to immediately go and automatically install the TikTok app from its app store. It no longer gets the privilege of an internet connection.
Shouldn't have ever connected it in the first place. I spent $30 on a Chromecast that gets plugged in and connected.
Majorly infuriating.
It's not really your phone if it does things like this. This is Samsung's phone you pay for their permission to carry for a few years.
True ownership means fully possessing something and deciding how it operates including what software it runs, what data that software can access, and when it can access it. I would not be surprised if those apps had some very invasive default permissions.
If one of my relatives showed me this screen appearing on their phone I’d assume they have malware
As mentioned above, these probably are malware depending on your standards. It just came from Samsung or their carrier
Ah, that's where you're wrong: it's not your phone.
One of the reasons that my last Samsung phone was an S5. Can't reload a custom ROM on them anymore to get rid of OEM shit, as far as I know. Motorolas and Pixels are good for that now.
I did with my S10+, so you definitely could more recently.
Having said that I'm finding the crud much reduced on my S23, like they don't try to push bixby down your throat every 10 seconds.
Stab in the dark...your on tmobile.
It does this to me too. You disable the damn thing, then you get a carrier update and it reactivates and downloads stupid games no one wants.
First time it did it to me, I thought I got a virus. Come to find out...nah it's just a thing tmobile forces on you for fun.
Assholes
This is the sorta shit that will likely be in the EUs sights soon. Installing applications nobody asked for because of the carrier? That sounds fucking insanely invasive. It's like Adidas installing a camera in your apartment because you bought a pair of sneakers.
That’s kind of an extreme example lol unless the game is asking for insane permissions. Still I get your point and hopefully the EU acts on it. Especially since they appear to be humanity’s only hope against shit like this
That's probably because the EU generally isn't run by a two party system, where both parties are actually just center-right neoliberals. If you want EU style protections, you have to actually fight for it, like pretty much every European country did.
The two party system isn't the only problem though, there's also:
Money being a form of speech -- EU MEPs aren't soliciting billionaires for money to spend on TV ads
The 10th amendment -- prevents any national effort where the federal govt uses a power not explicitly granted to it in the constitution. Obamacare tripped up here for instance, and Obamacare is far from national socialized healthcare. It was a feature when people identified more with their local culture, but in an era when every American identifies as American-first, and engages the political system accordingly by only knowing or caring about national candidates and parties, it becomes a bug.
States that should have never been states -- the US Senate took a heavy rural turn in the 19th century as vast, sparsely populated territories were given statehood. Nowadays this means to buy two US Senators you only need to gaslight ~600k people with advertising (the population of Wyoming). The founding fathers never really developed a solid plan for how the west would be settled, and it shows.
Powerful and unaccountable Court -- the Supreme Court is given authority over both other branches, serving life terms, with few guidelines or restrictions. A party with the Presidency and Senate at the right time can gain a majority of the court and undo (or manufacture) precedent at the snap of a finger. The resulting system makes it far easier to capture the court than to pass a constitutional amendment. Think abortion should be legal? Here's a roundabout legal justification for that. Oh the new majority thinks it shouldn't be? Okay now it's gone. It's a chaotic way to handle bedrock rights like access to healthcare and privacy (neither of which are mentioned anywhere in the US constitution). The constitution should be malleable enough that the court is strictly tasked with interpreting the letter of the law. The US shouldn't be relying on legal gymnastics to legalize abortion and gay marriage. It's unstable and undemocratic.
Electoral College -- the leader of the country, not just the Executive but the Head of State, is elected in a way that respects statehood more than personhood. It is more concerned with making sure Wyoming gets a fair vote than making sure John Doe in Queens does.
First past the post voting -- this is another oversight by the founding fathers that many European republics were able to avoid, and it's the root cause of the two party system. But it also makes gerrymandering possible, which completely breaks both state-level politics and the US House. It makes so many seats into "safe seats" that the "money is speech" briberies become much easier to allocate.
Racism -- almost every dumb thing about American politics can be traced back in some form to slavery, segregation, or racism. Why is every state given 2 senators? Slavery. Why were some of those rural states admitted? Also slavery. Why did White Americans support progressive policies in the 30s, 40s, and 50s? Segregation. Why did the entire Deep South flip from Democrat to Republican in the late 60s? Also segregation. It's America's original sin and it's still playing a role.
Every one of those things plays a role in the US not adopting stricter privacy standards, or leading the way in anything except military might. It's why American politics is so broken that even a majority of voters wanting to fix it isn't enough.
The European Left needs strong support.
If the EU is the only hope we are beyond fucked
Well yeah, no one has ever used the term “only hope” optimistically lol
Yeah, I would like clarification if this came from the carrier or Samsung.
I keep my Galaxy S21 up to date, and these have not been installed for me. But I haven't had an update in the last few days, so it's possible it's an upcoming update I haven't seen yet.
But I bought my phone off Amazon; they're usually cheaper that way, and it's unlocked already. I don't get them via my carrier (AT&T for what it's worth).
It's carrier based. I've had Samsung phones almost exclusively and as long as I buy unlocked I never get unwanted apps.
There is still a lot of stuff preinstalled which could be considered unwanted by a lot of people (TikTok, Netflix, Spofify, multiple MS apps, Disney+, Facebook, Meta Services, ...)
Nah. My $2000 CAD unlocked directly from Samsung device had ads and bullshit pre-installed apps before I even inserted my SIM into it.
I returned that phone so fast. Never seen anything like that on my Pixel.
Jeez. Who spends $2000 on a phone?
That's how much Samsung S22 Ultra sells for. Or I guess did, before the S23 Ultra came out.
The fact that one of those is some sort of a gambling app promotes that to very infuriating! 😡
I'm amazed by how many gambling ads and games are pushed these days. Really horrible imo.
guess its carrier stuff?
I wish manufacturers didn't allow carriers to install junk on their phone.
On the other hand, this is how carriers can give you a good deal on a phone... They have to subsidise it by making deals with the companies that make apps like these.
If they have to trick you by installing unwanted apps on your phone, where you don't even know it's them doing it, then it sounds more like a scam than a great deal.
Yeah I have a Samsung phone and have never had this problem so I'm guessing it's carrier stuff and op is unkowongly placing blame on the wrong company here
At this point I only buy Smartphones with Android One label (Stock Android without anything changed). Samsung especially is full of bloat.
Is Android One still a thing? The Samsung bloat was why I moved to pixel devices. Pixels have never had premium hardware but the software was always 🤌
Bloat is bad enough but Samsung devices now have ad/crap/spyware baked into them and you can't even disable some of it.
Same here bud. I am tired of smartphone UI's having tons of bloatware and all that shit.
OP's bloat is provider branding, not stock Samsung. Samsung phones have the second longest support timeframe after Fairphone (who recently announced 7 years of Android updates). Those "stock Android One" phones typically don't get Android updates for very long.
I switch between the pixel and the one plus
One of the many reasons I will only ever buy Pixel phones. No bloatware.
Thinking about making the jump to grapheneos, the only thing holding me back is my addiction to Android Auto
GrapheneOS is pretty damn great. But yes... Android Auto is something I do miss :(
Can you get away with MirrorLink? Truthfully I've never tried it, and I'm pretty sure it's dead if not dying, but it was always going to be my fallback if I found a way to leave Google (or potentially Android entirely).
I agree. This is my work phone so I had no choice. My personal phone is the Pixel 5a.
This is the main reason I've stuck with Nexus/Pixel. I've tried Samsung but everything on it is unwanted bloat. Amazing hardware screwed by bloat and duplicated apps. Shame.
Just uninstalled this after seeing this thread. If you're on AT&T like I am the package name for Mobile Services Manager is com.dti.att and it has nothing to do with your actual mobile services. All it does is push and update bloatware. I also nuked every AT&T app that I could. I recommend everyone who has Android Studio do this to their phone its easy.
Don't buy carrier models.
I wouldn't be able to handle this. Been running GrapheneOS since last year, and I don't think I could go back to anything else.
Actually started working on a GrapheneOS installation service called SwapMyOS that I think could be helpful to those who wanna install GrapheneOS but don't how.
I kick a percentage back to GrapheneOS itself to keep the project funded and running (which is the primary motive behind the project).
Same lol, maybe a Linux phone one day so I don't have to buy another Google phone but unless it runs all the same apps it's unlikely
The only app I need to work on a linux phone is google maps. Although I haven't checked how good openstreet map is now. Everything else has a linux alternative
Seems to work on my SailfishOS phone.
I use public transport a lot and google maps is very helpful so unfortunately can't live without it, last time I tried openstreet map it was useless for buses etc. As for alternative apps, I'm assuming I'd have trouble with, for example, banking apps, or obscure/niche apps such as my country's one for booking public transport etc.? Just nice using something that can install all Android apps OOTB
Try SailfishOS! Currently replying to you using it.
Do you know if it works with an S22?
GrapheneOS only runs on Pixel devices (including the Pixel tablet) because they're the only ones that meet the strict security standards.
I know LineageOS supports some Samsung devices, but I didn't see the S22 being supported.
It's only for Pixel phones
Bummer. I guess I should start looking for a new phone.
What phone, if I may ask?
GrapheneOS only works on the Pixel line as of this writing.
Never again Samsung. Never again.
Provider branding, not Samsung.
There are basically no ads if you buy Samsung S series without a carrier.
Samsung is pretty much notorious for this, especially in developing countries where they bundle in every third-party service, PayLater app, shitty mobile game, etc alongside a new device. The only reason they are seen as preferable is that other companies are doing worse (see: Xiaomi).
I don't know. Samsung seems like a very good company.
And I'm not saying that as they have an army and access to my location.
Blink twice if you're in danger
Correction: a good hardware company. That is of course if we disregard them turning some phones into bombs. But they also make screens, RAM and so on. I just always hated all their software. It's utter garbage.
The OneUI is actually rather nice.
At least Xiaomi is telling their customers upfront that the reason they can sell their mid and low end android phones on the cheap ( by famously announcing to cap their hardware profit margin at 5% ) is due to advertising. IIRC their high end models do not have ads. Other manufacturers mocked xiaomi for this move, just like they mocked apple for removing headphone jack, then quietly follow the move anyway without telling their customers, which I think is an even bigger dick move.
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.
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.
My Galaxy S9 had facebook installed with no way to delete it. You could “disable” it. Super annoying.
Remember when Apple put a U2 song on everyone's iPhone and people went nuts about it? How dare they do that! That was just a song.
Now companies just install whatever apps they want. And people just accept it.
This has been a thing since before smartphones and the U2 stunt though. The PC manufacturers started doing it back in the early 2000s.
Didn't Windows put a Weezer video on there or am I remembering something wrong?
Yeah Android manufacturers been doing this since its inception. I remember having to remove the Blockbuster app from my Droid X lol
That's because the provider subsidizes the phone and people rather have that than to pay >1000 dollars at retail for an unbranded phone.
The phone legislation we actually need isn’t about batteries, it’s about software.
https://social.network.europa.eu/@EU_Commission/110696020928017739
https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/STATEMENT_23_3674
Sounds like we'll see the effects in March next year. Fingers crossed.
Might be your carrier. T-Mobile had some app like that that I had to fight a few times to get rid of.
T-mobile apps are almost the entire reason I rooted my phone
It's why I've been buying "unlocked" manufacturer-direct phones for years.
Yep I have an unlocked S20 and no such problems. Was surprised to see my wife lament updates on her S23 from tmobile because of this.
Never seen or installed this nonsense on my Samsung phone. This looks to be some sort of adware or malware.
Looking at what was installed it doesn't look like the normal samsung bloatware. They're both apps by Playtika, who seem to have nothing to do with Samsung. Malware would be my thought too.
And the "Mobile Services Manager" app seems to come pre-installed on carrier Android devices from Samsung and Motorola (i.e. bloatware), at least when bought from carriers in 'Murica. That "Mobile Services Manager" bloatware is meant to auto-install and update even more bloatware that carriers want to see installed on their carrier Android phones.
This is why I don't buy devices on contract with the carriers anymore. They're always loading extra crapware that we don't need.
Yea... Flashing grapheneOS has been the best I could ever do for my phone
What smartphone brand is safe to buy nowadays? It feels like every single one is terrible and anti-user.
Google pixel + GrapheneOS
FairPhone?
Either way you'll be locking yourself into either Google, who will extract more money from advertisers, or Apple who will extract more money from you.
Google Pixel phones (easily allows bootloader unlock and custom ROM if you need to but I can't be bothered until EOS most of the time)
Nothing Phone (same as above but with different light skin, interesting design and not Google if that bothers you)
You don't get any of this crap with the Pixel Android phones.. I believe Motorola used to be good about not loading up junkware also, but that was years ago and I dunno if they're still like that.
Yep, never had any of my stock Pixels install anything I didn't put on them intentionally
I've stuck with the Pixel since they came out and won't go back until they really screw it up. Every couple of years Verizon will run a special where you get the previous model for free, which works for me.
Get one designated for European market, we have two Samsungs at home at neither of us get autoinstalls or ads
Ive had a couple Nokias now (Nokia is Finnish) and find them pretty robust and both have been Android One phones so there is basically nothing on them which isn't just stock android. Plenty fast enough for me. Note: I only buy low end phones (~$300) so YMMV
So I don't know about Samsung specifically but most commonly this whole "installing random apps by developers you've never heard of" is most commonly not from the manufacturer but caused by purchasing a carrier variant of the device. Traditionally Verizon did that a lot, but they've shaped up some in recent years.
Make sure to buy direct from the manufacturer or otherwise ensure you purchase the manufacturer unlocked variant to avoid this (there's also an unrelated "carrier unlock" which is a carrier variant that has had the modem unlocked to allow you to use it on other carriers than the one it's branded to, but your still stuck with the carrier's variant of the software and hardware.)
Also worth noting carrier models will in some cases actually have differing hardware from the unlocked model too. Traditionally this was usually related to the modem for carriers using uncommon cellular network technologies but some large carriers will even cut down the memory or storage just to squeeze a buck or two off the price!
TLDR don't buy direct from the carrier and make sure to buy manufacturer unlocked phone!
This happens on mine with facebook book being installed by samsung themselves, i dont think i get the mobile services manager thing. And mine isnt from a carrier or locked to one
in india, we dont have the carrier based phones yet Samsung will install all unwanted apps when you set up first time
I just got a Galaxy S23 about 2 weeks ago. It came with Facebook and Swiftkey as well as a bunch of Microsoft Apps. But no Tiktok, Games or other crap. Even after updating the OS nothing like that had been installed.
My guess is that a lot of people do not read anything and just rush through the initial setup process, thereby confirming things like wanting recommended apps to be installed.
Also there are some mentions of rooting here. I suggest to first give adb a try. It lets you uninstall any app without rooting (including Facebook and Swiftkey in my case).
+1 for ADB. Online tutorials are dead simple to follow. De-facebooking my phone and killing Bixby are the two things that made me decide not to trade this in for an old Razer Phone instead.
Yeah, I had a similar experience. I got my phone directly from Samsung, so it's also likely it might have just been the Carrier that did this.
The answer is literally in the second line of the screenshot: “Mobile Services Manager”, so yes, provider branding.
Or you could just not buy a $2k phone loaded down with shitty bloatware.
Sent from my $700 Google Pixel 7 Pro
Aww yeah Pixel gang 😎
pixel 7 pro launched at 900$. s23 ultra launched at 1,200$. not an insane difference there for the amoled screen, better cameras, and s-pen. let people buy what they want 😭😭
I'm assuming you are new to Samsung? They are the kings of junk software.
This isn't from Samsung. They don't install this junk. It's from the phone carrier (ie: AT&T or Verizon). Quit spreading FUD.
"Mobile Services Manager" is not Samsung, it's provider phone branding.
What model + what country + did you get your phone subsidized by a carrier? Literally never had this happen on any of my multiple samsung phones.
Ever since the "you can't disable the fully charged notification" update that hit the same week as 5 unremovable apps with full phone permissions, I am done with Samsung. Such a scumbag way to remind you it's not your phone.
No idea what this is but just a thought, can't you just create a Routine that limits charging to 95% (or 99%) so that a notification is never shown?
As for unremovable apps, just disable them? I used to get irritated by unremovable apps but they hardly take up any memory on a 128gb phone.
I read comments saying google never adds bloat ...yet i tend to remove/disable more google shite than anything else!
whats wrong with a fully charged notification?
I highly recommend lineageOS, or better yet lineageOS with microg.
Running a completely degoogled android phone right now, and it feels smooth as butter. Microg has gotten so good, the vast majority of playstore apps work completely fine even without Google services, including things like my banking apps.
Feels liberating as fuck, not gonna lie.
Only apps that don't work for me are ones that require IaP's. About 30% of those I can crack with LuckyPatcher. I can also crack other paid apps with license protection.
Mostly I havent needed to do any of that though, because I've found that there are so many great open source apps that do the things I need.
Where do you get the apk for banking apps if not the play store?
I just barely had to go get a new phone because my Note20 broke. Was hoping they'd have another in stock but of course not. That's waaaaaay to outdated 🙄 so I got the s23 or whatever. We moved all my data from my old phone to my new one. Once it updated everything I had 12 "new" apps and games installed. Wtf. Deleted most, but some are so damn hidden and protected. Samsung truly makes you know you don't own your own device.
I was reading an article about how LG wants to do the same thing with running ads and subscriptions for their smart devices and how this will grow their annual revenue to like 70 billion.
We're sinking into some dystopian shit where you are supposed to never own anything anymore.
Which devices? TV's maybe?
LG got out of the smartphone gig
Stop buying them. Samsung has been doing this for decades but people keep fucking buying them. As long as you keep buying them, they will continue doing this.
There are a handful of phones that don't come loaded with a littany of shitty bloatware. None of the shitty YouTube reviewers will tell you which ones they are.
I got a Pixel and it had very little bloatware. Then I installed GrapheneOS and that removed even more.
There are a lot of negative things that I will say about Apple and iOS, but this would NEVER EVER fly on an iPhone. The fact that we just kind of accept it on Android is infuriating.
Apple once put a U2 album onto everyone's phone so they certainly aren't squeaky clean
Android itself is a great thing, and bloatware is not inherently a part of it. SAMSUNG, who makes Android phones is a whole different story, though.
But just way too many conflate Samsung with Android. Android is like the Linux of the phone world. Everyone can have their own distro, tailored to their needs. Samsung just happens to tailor the more AIDS type Android system.
That'd be true if it were only Samsung doing this. The reality is that the vast majority of Android phones are this way, to various degrees.
I have only ever tried that and (the also Android based) MIUI on Xiaomi phones, but the latter is just as much of a cancer as Samsung ones, in terms of bloatware.
You can't even uninstall some of those, like the Emoji keyboard, for example. You can use something else but you can't remove it (without rooting your phone, at least). So then you get this notification about the update for the Emoji keyboard. Then you don't tap it, because you don't want to install it. So you swipe the notification away.
Then, a day later you wake up to the notification that it has been installed successfully. Without even asking you. So yeah, I'm not saying Samsung is the only one. But try a Pixel phone. Or so they say.
Been using Pixel phones for years for that reason (among others)
Not everyone on Android just accepts this. I use a Pixel precisely for this reason. It might install some system apps, etc., but it will never install some bullshit games like this.
Which is why the first thing I do when I get a new Android phone is to install LineageOS.
Oh no, no one accepts this at all. In fact, it was much worse just a few years ago.
For the exact same reason, I've only been using Pixel devices for years now. Before that, Nexus devices.
Every now and then, I get interested in what Samsung has to offer, and their top end devices are without a don't often among the very best out there.
But it's shit like pre-installed apps, Samsung's tooth-and-nail fight against unlocking the bootloader, bloatware that re-enables or installs itself with system updates, and generally Samsung's attempts to pull users into it's ecosystem and sell them more Samsung stuff that makes me keep it at arms length.
The reason Samsung does crap like this is because it's like 20% of the GDP of South Korea, they practically own that country. If Companies had Egos I don't know where Samsung would be in the list of biggest but I know it would be high up.
The modern dilemma: do you, the consumer, prefer to have apps installed that you don't want? (Android) or to not be able to install the ones you do (Apple)?
[This comment has been deleted by an automated system]
This is mostly true however there are sometimes discounts on phones without all this shit. I just got my son a Pixel 7 yesterday (my wife and I already have one). T-Mobile took $400 off the phone and waved the activation fee. It came out to $4 a month.
This is mostly for cheap phones. People don't accept it on Android.
Pixels are essentially the default android phone, and they're mostly a great software experience, little bloat ware and no strange ads like this.
It's likely this is the carrier anyway.
Not quite true. I have a cheapo Doogee and there is 0 bloat. Super happy with the little brick.
Depends on company. I know from experience Samsung and Xiaomi are obnoxious with ads and unwanted software so I just avoid their stuff.
I recently got a cheap Doogee X97 as a backup phone. It was pretty much AOSP except for the launcher and 2 extra apps. I was impressed by the value of the $60 phone. 16 GB flash was too little for me though. I handed it to a friend and got the sturdier, waterproof S51.
No holes in my screen, 5 days of daily use battery and 4GB/64GB + dual SIM + NFC + microSD + headphone jack for $100 is pretty sweet. Also OEM unlock is possible from the dev menu without extra steps. Firmware is available as a zip from their forums.
Is it weird that I'm partially relieved seeing this post? I found all these weird apps on my phone the other day and thought I had been hacked or something. whew...?
You were hacked by the manufacturer.
I have an unlocked s23 and don't have any bloatware. Is yours unlocked? Which region?
T-mobile absolutely pushed crap on my phone - it's why I went unlocked at my next chance.
Wow. Such thing never happened to me on my Samsung phone. What's your model?
Might be the wireless carrier bundling it in with the firmware on an update to the android OS?
It isn't a universal bundling across all devices.
Samsung will load shit on devices made by them if they feel regulators won't care. This is why I will no longer by Samsung. I wish LG still sold phones, but the Pixel isn't horrible.
I got really tired of that shit, so I got a Google Pixel when it was time for my upgrade. By far the best phone I've had since my Samsung Intensity.
On the same page, last android device I had was a Samsung. Great hardware but really shitty software. It had two office suite (MS and Samsungs), Facebook and what not. All those I couldn’t uninstall only disable. Why the fuck I need to have Facebook installed on my phone?
That's why I quit Samsung, too much bloat.
I love my Pixels. Just solid, clean Androids.
Samsung makes nice phones that I don’t buy for this reason. Apple doesn’t allow this. Pixel is another option if you don’t wanna go through the hassle of changing ecosystems.
Disable "Mobile services manager". Samsung phones are lousy with crapware these days so I would avoid them like the plague. An eldery relative asked me why he kept seeing ad popups and his device had something called "Samsung Free" that cannot be disabled or completely turned off which pushes news articles, ads and other shit at him. I just turned off as many "interests" as I could and attempted to opt out of the software but it's still there and swiping left on the home page re-enables it. Samsung phones are absolute dogshit these days. I wouldn't go near one unless they could be rooted and flashed out of the box.
I swore off Samsung for this reason after I had the S3. I thought the bloatware situation had gotten better over the years…
Had a few devices with stock Android that I really liked (such as the Nexus 5 and Moto X) over the years, but even then it’s difficult to escape some of the built-in bullshit.
Kind of gave up on that and switched to iPhone a few years back… You still get the mandatory vendor apps, but at least now I also get the ecosystem benefits.
you can disable the app manager thing and it should stop these.
or just buy an S series phone, they don't come with any non-samsung bloatware. A series are partially bloatware-funded.
edit: this looks like carrier bloat to me
Sheesh, even my S-series phone comes with a few extra things that I cannot easily get rid of or uninstall...
ah that must be it.
This should be illegal!
Proprietary software moment...
T Mobile keeps trying to have me install their crappy suggested apps every time they do a software update. And I cant make the pop up go away till I go through their shit and uncheck everything.
Was wondering if I'd see this comment. Had the same thing with my phone. Fuck no I don't want T-Mobile to automatically install bullshit recommend apps! The audacity.
And its been doing it every update, lately!
That is why i rooted my phone as a tech noobie, and it gives me security warning everytime i restart it. As if their shitty apps are not security breach, lol.
A rooted phone is definitely a bigger security risk if you don't know what you're doing, as anything with root access is unbounded by the usual android permission system, and can completely demolish your OS. Additionally it can serve as a big warning if someone else has tampered with your device.
Indeed, though I have yet to meet somebody that “doesn’t know what he’s doing” in matters of rooting. Basically, the phones that are still the easiest to bootload unlock are usually only appealing to tech geeks, while the most mainstream phones have a much more complex and hacky (if at all possible) process to unlock. So that in itself filters a lot of tech non-savvy users from getting into the subject…
I’m not sure I agree though with "as anything with root access is unbounded by the usual android permission system, and can completely demolish your OS”. Android’s permission system is imho garbage. It may on paper tick the “provides user with permission management” but since apps that are ill-intended will usually 1) drown the layperson in a multitude of permission requests to do anything,, it will usually translate to the user blanket accepting everything defying fine permission management as a whole 2) finer ID / privacy related data acces permissions don’t even get prompted for access, and only rely on the completely broken dev declarative scheme on the play store. IMHO, the finer permission management solutions that the Android community came up with ages ago (well before Android/Apple even thought fo implementing any permission management) did a much better job.
Rooting comes with a root manager (magisk, superUser…) that modal-prompts the user for either permanent or one-time allow / deny access when an app requests root that can be secured by fingerprint/password. I’d argue Root managers are more user-stupidity-proof thant Android’s own permission manager.
As for malicious apps requesting rooting, well, in the end, if the user is 1) stupid enough to download such apps (I’m guessing shady warez / cheat enabled games for the masses) 2) even stupider to accept a root access request from such an app… let natural selection do its job.
A lot of people definitely don't realize what rooting actually means. If a user blindly accepts all permissions, there's no way it can be framed as an OS problem, that's definitely a user problem. If an app requests permission I think it shouldn't have, I deny it. If the app doesn't work afterwards, I don't need the app.
Totally true, yet this thread app access requestments are more scary to me. I would like to limit those kind of apps. I root to install some ROMs and have fun, by "noobie" i meant that i can't follow the steps without a guide. I didn't mean that i run havok with root accesses left and right.
Thanks for the warnings, yet i still think a literal gambling app is much more risky. I don't use my mobile phone on sensitive password saving apps or banking apps as i think those are risky on rooted phone too. I am just having fun as a careful newbie.
A lot of banking apps in europa don't work on rooted phones, so that is not an option.
No problem with Magisk, been using banking apps on rooted phones for years
Fortunately you can use magisk to hide the rooted status from most apps. At least in Finland, I have had no problems with Nordea or Danske Bank. I remember that some app was troublesome, but I think I figured that one out also eventually.
Magisk (latest release) + Universel SafetyNet Fix v2.4.0-MOD_1.2 (kdrag0n github) + add the apps to the zygist deny list + rename magisk manager. → does the job for me.
Rightfully so. I don't think rooting a phone is a save option for banking purposes. I use my PC for that
It's been happening lately on my S22 Ultra. Very annoying. If I didn't think I'd brick my phone, I would root it. Well first I would figure out what rooting is... :\
One of the drawbacks of rooting is that it might keep you from using certain apps like banking apps because they see this as a security risk.
I fucking hate how banks have taken security to be as intrusive but never secure. Fucking plane text card numbers and no 2fa or confirmation of purchases and limited ability to stop usage besides ordering a new card is fucking lazy at this point.
That might be your bank. My bank is as annoying as you describe, but it is as secure as you're saying it should be. 2FA, they hold up suspicious purchases to see if it's really me, I can lock and unlock my cards from the app. Smaller banks tend to be the way to go, or credit unions if you have a good one nearby.
All those disclaimers are out there for liability purposes. It is highly unlikely that you will brick your phone as long as you follow the instructions and avoid making any modifications to the way the hardware runs (do not overclock, do not underclock etc).
Yeah, I understand. Maybe I'll get more confident. I'd feel better if I had my old phone to practice on first. Thanks!
Great. As an appliance salesman I’ve been saying about Samsung that “well at least they make great phones and TVs” but now I can’t even say that.
I used to work doing dish, I used to suggest tv brands as, Samsung >Sony >lg and avoid everything else. But after all the shit Samsung does with their tvs, forcing their bullshit on them, forcing their smart tv shit over what you want. I no longer would suggest Samsung, they've fallen down to the likes of Roku.
On my Samsung tv I wanted jellyfin, needed to side load it. When doing so it blocked access to the Samsung servers and most Samsung features. I had no idea the tv could be so fast and responsive.
About that LG recommendation... LG wants to turn your TVs and other products into ad and subscription machines
LOL welcome to Samsung. This is why I stopped buying them after the S6.
This isn't from Samsung. There phones don't come with this. It's preloaded from the carrier OP has phone service from. Quit spreading FUD and get your facts straight.
Just my 2 cents I am on an unlocked S20 and don't have these apps getting installed
I have had the recent S series Samsung phones and no bloatware was uninstalled via updates like this, that's still disappointing to see
When will the Lemmy phone launch? I'm ready to cancel anything now
In the meantime, if you have or can find a compatible device, there is LineageOS.
That's how I have a Xiaomi phone without any of the MIUI bullshit.
+1 to this. Next time I'll be buying a new phone, I'll have a look at what phones are supported by LOS
Right now I'm on a Xiaomi CC9 with LOS. It felt a whole new phone after I got rid of MIUI (which didn't receive any updates in about one year and half)
The problem is getting a brand new model compatible with LOS.
Last year I specifically got a Redmi Note 9 Pro (brand new unit), which at the time was a 2 year old model, because it was one of the few models that matched the specifications I was looking for AND it was officially LOS supported.
I mean, I'm pretty happy with it, this thing is a beast and I'm not one of those guys who need the last model of everything, but I paid the around same of what the new Redmi Note 11s costed at the time. No regrets; anything to have a Xiaomi without that MIUI cancer.
So...stupid question, how do you have service? Like, you would still have to contact one of them (t-mobile, at&t, verizon) to make the "cell" part work, right?
You still use the carrier sim card for a connection. That doesn't depend on what OS you're using.
Nope... it just works, really, like with a stock rom. I'm Europe, but I don't think that matters.
AFAIK, smartphones just get those settings automatically from the service provider. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.
I had been using Samsung for the longest time before my current device and lemme tell ya, even with their flagships they pull this shit, I'm always having to go in and delete whatever shit they download, like, no, I have no desire to play fucking ROYAL MATCH please stop asking me
Ah yes the Samsung and their bloatware.
On S23 is almost 60GB https://www.neowin.net/news/heres-the-apparent-truth-behind-the-60gb-android-os-on-galaxy-s23/
That's why when a look for a phone, always research if there's custom ROMs for it, AOSP based.
I control what's on the phone, not otherwise
It's bad but not 60GB, as per the linked article:
"In other words, the lost storage in the case of a 512GB S23 would be around 35GB after subtracting 477 (the actual available capacity) from 512 (the total advertised), while the actual One UI installation size of S23 Ultra comes out to around 22GB when we deduct this 35GB from the 57GB reported in the original article."
Still not great at 22GB though
That's why I only ever bought one Samsung phone (a galaxy 6 I think) . They do have a tendency to install shit on phones that you will never use but can't delete.
There were a few ways of deleting those apps from Samsung on the web but I focus on buying clean phones with no shite loading (like OnePlus and Pixel). Although my first Pixel send to be bullying me to put my everything on their cloud servers - where all your datas are belong to them 🤣😂 via EULA.
I love my Pixel with Niagara launcher for the love translation. Wtf Google with that locked-down home screen. I'll live with the removed call record even though it's legal in the free world.
Yep, I bought exactly one Galaxy, never again
I've had a Galaxy Note 10+ for 3 years and I've now had an S23 Ultra since around February. Not once have I had random apps installed.
I'm with Rogers Wireless in Canada.
Mobile Services Manager, that my friend is what we call Carrier Bloat.
None of my Samsung since Galaxy S6 has that, given they were all were retail bought.
https://www.theregister.com/2020/07/18/samsung_bluray_mass_dieoff_explained/ shoutouts to the time Samsung bricked my blu ray player
My family all have Samsung phones, I guess because we like to stick with what we know. That said, this has never happened to us. I suspect it is a carrier thing, we purchase our phones outright from Samsung or an electronics store, not from the phone carrier on a plan. We are also in Australia, which may have an effect.
You scared the crap outta me man. For a second I thought connect for lemmy sold out! Haha
Ironic that I'm tired of this post about unwanted apps popping up in every feed of mine every time I refresh to see new ones 😂🤦
It's better to sort by New or Hot than Active, I've found. Hot tends to be 90% memes though (I should probably hide some of the meme communities), New is a bit more balanced.
Wow. Such thing never happened to me on my Samsung phone. What's your model?
https://lemmy.world/c/assholedesign
Hi there! Looks like you linked to a Lemmy community using a URL instead of its name, which doesn't work well for people on different instances. Try fixing it like this: !assholedesign@lemmy.world
Yeah, Windows does the same!
This is why I don't buy an Android device if it won't allow me to unlock the bootloader and sideload a ROM of my choice. Android OEM operating systems suck nowadays (at least the ones I've been subjected to recently: Samsung's and Xiaomi's).
https://www.samsungsfour.com/tutorials/how-to-root-samsung-galaxy-s21-s21-s21-ultra-using-magisk.html
I would certainly recommend giving rooting it a shot, then you won't have this problem anymore.
Samsung phones just sucks.
Switched to fairphone and could root it without installing twrp, there was only one extra app and I could just disable the google apps and switch to foss ones.
Of course it did. What phone is it?
This is not a Samsung issue. Your carrier is doing this because you have a carrier locked phone. To prevent it, buy a carrier unlocked phone and it won't happen.
Source: Me who always buys carrier unlocked
As long as the difference is $2000 for an unbranded phone vs $20 for a carrier version, I'll keep putting up with the bullshit (or rather installing a custom ROM). But you are absolutely right. This is mostly a carrier thing. Though of the two times I got an unbranded phone, one of them was the Galaxy 4, and it still had bullshit I couldn't get rid of or didn't want. It also was one of the hardest to install custom firmware to. I would never buy a Samsung phone carrier branded or not.
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?
Samsung's PR got better, not the company.
That will never be true
Yah this happens with my work phone on a Verizon network but not my personal on t-mobile.*
*totally not sponsored by t-mobile
So this is where this came from I didn't even realize how these had shown up on my phone. This is so stupid.
They do this even with their A7X series phones, which is priced in the upper mid range / lower flagship category. Not only do they use a lower end chip than their competitors in the same price segment, they have the audacity to give software updates disguised as ads. No amount of money will satisfy these greedy companies.
Not cool, Samsung.
Wish it was easier to just install stock Android on a new phone.
What an awesome surprise! How did you even manage to get through the day before these amazing new apps came into your life? Just sit back, relax, and watch your bank account dwindle as you gamble it all away
Can you nuke Mobile Services Manager, or is that “critical to the functionality of the system” according to Samsung?
Soooooo you don't want to play solitaire Grand harvest?
Why I don't even consider Samsung phones.
Bought a Xiaomi phone, rooted it, loving it, so cheap and still private enough. I'll just can't get my head around in spending almost a grand for a freaking phone.
When people ask why I switched to and stuck with an iphone, I always go back to "Google doesn't know how to do text messages", but I forgot about this lovely issue. You can't truly own an Android that isn't a Pixel and expect software OS updates on a regular basis without bloatware. Additionally, the update does not need to go through your carrier, something that is the largest red flag for me to stop buying non-unlocked Android phones (at least the last time I looked this was a thing).
Imagine if you went to a dealership, and go to buy a brand new car, but the dealer says they have to do some "improvements" to it before you can drive it off the lot. Only, you don't know what they did or why, and the car manufacturer doesn't know either. It's fucked up.
A SIM card doesn't have that kind of power over your phone. I've gone through 4-5 MVNOs on Pixel phones and not once has a SIM card done anything except provide cellular service.
They do have a lot of power over the device. They run the Oracle Java card standard and are a complete computer that can even run a webserver. They can interact with host events like call starting and call ending. Not sure if they can install user apps. But I have had a carrier push a voicemail shortcut into my app draw that would auto call the voicemail number when pressed. I couldn't remove it unless I removed the Sim.
A good read
That's insane, I didn't realize that tiny thing is a computer, let alone one running a tiny J~c~VM! Thank you for the educative link!
I worked in support for a phone manufacturer for a while. I have once seen an app get pushed by the SIM. I also however have seen plenty of really sketchy apps preinstalled or installed with updates by the carrier on carrier branded phones.
Some years ago I forget if it was Ting or Cricket would preinstall the Wish app and it received an update that added ads that would pop up at random while using the device including on the home screen (and fairly frequently at that) so for a while we'd get calls about that and pretty quickly get the Wish app off of those folks phones
Then one of the TracFone brands preinstalles a bunch of advertising directly on the home screen. It was something called app box or something like that and it would literally show an app icon on your home screen so you'd click it and maybe choose to install it
Happened with me too few times. Irritating!