SmartPhone Bloatware

It depends on what phone you have. I have the Samsung Galaxy S2. There are a lot of different ROMs on xda-developers to try out, once you root the phone.

However, the standard apps on the phone you have now probably is not taking up that much space. It's probably more perception than anything else. Most apps are tiny in size. If the phone works fine for you otherwise I'd leave it alone.

Personally I run CyanogenMod and other ROMs only for other benefits, such as the ability to do wifi tether, etc.

I have an iPhone, and love adding apps here and there that help me out. I have been finding lately that apps I have been using get updated and then I go to use them and now they want you to register with them to use it. I am getting tired of having to register for everything you use and websites you go to just so they can get your email address(sometimes your physical address) so they can send you junk mail and sell your information to others to get even more junk mail.
Sorry, just had to get that out of my system.

To permanently remove or freeze the apps you must root the phone so you have full access to the system directories. The questions for you are:

1. How tech savvy are you?
2. What phone do you have?
3. Are you willing to void the warranty?

The first is important because the procedure for rooting a phone differs from phone to phone and in some cases requires entering commands via a command line. The second is important because as already stated the rooting process differs from phone to phone, with rooting currently being impossible for some phones. The third is important because what is being proposed does have an element of risk. While there are a lot of successful rooting attempts (e.g. I personally have rooted my Aria, my Dell Streak and my roommate's Inspire 4G) it is possible for something to go wrong during the process and render the phone unusable.

So, if you want to root you need to do some research on your phone, reading up on the procedure to root the phone. Only after that should you attempt to root the phone.

Android however is not to blame for the bloatware, because the default Android experience as presented on the Galaxy Nexus has no bloatware, being a developer phone. The blame rests on the carriers, both for the bloatware and for dragging their heels when it comes to OS updates.

The pre-installed apps are generally there - and protected against removal - because your carrier is getting money to have them installed. In some cases the apps come from the carrier itself, such as the apps with Verizon in the name, and in other cases the apps come from a third-party who is paying Verizon to have them on the Verizon phones.

These Android apps are guarded against removal unless the phone has been "rooted". (With the iPhone it needs to be "jailbroken" to remove similar apps.)

With best wishes,
- Tom -

One of the many reason to root your phone

I rooted my phone last summer because Sprint was no longer offering Android updates (stuck at Froyo) and I wanted to install a more capable version.

It's not for everyone -- I've had my share of issues with the ROM I chose, but it has kept my phone useful much longer than it would have been with Sprint's last authorized update.

I tried to delete the blockbuster and kindle apps and couldn't do it. What is worse is when they want to update - I always refuse the update.

Unnecessary with a Verizon iPhone as there are ZERO Verizon apps on the phones when sold. None. Zip. Nada. You're free to go to the AppStore and download proprietary Verizon apps if you desire.

it's not just Apple that controls what you do with apps on your smart phone.

It's not Google either. Vanilla Android, as shown in the Nexus line of phones, doesn't have any bloatware. The carriers are the ones who want the bloatware on the phones, and also want the bootloaders locked down so the users cannot delete those apps.

The tech savvy users will find a way to get this done. Many of the average rank and file users won't care. They'll simply hide the apps in a folder.

+

You must root the phone. Next, use an application like AntTek App Manager to freeze the apps that cannot be uninstalled.

Guaranteed to work and also will improve battery life.

Notes:
1. Rooting your phone may violate your phone's warranty or TOS. However, some carriers like T-Mobile USA look the other way.
2. Do not attempt to root your phone if you are not tech savvy or you may brick your phone.
3. Some of the bloatware apps installed by carriers kill your phone's performance and battery life, even when not being used because they spawn processes that run on the background. "Check my account" apps and video chat apps do that.

When I froze the "T-Mobile My Account" app I got 20% better battery life. All of T-Mobile's bloatware apps had background processes that ran whether you used the app or not, including My Account, Video Chat, and T-Mobile TV.

Thanks to everyone for the insights. i'll definitely proceed with caution.
Seems the carriers have the nerve to plant "permanent"apps on our devices without seeking explicit and clear permission, regardless of whether the phone is bought & paid for up front or paid for over the typical 2 yr. contract.

Have a great weekend.

The carriers are blinded by their profit margins and don't realize or even care that the apps they add are what lead to frustrated Android users, mostly because those apps are always running in the background, draining battery life and wasting memory. However, the carriers don't need your permission or mine to add these apps, because we are but end users while the hardware companies that manufacture the phones are the carrier's true customers. If the hardware manufacturers want to sell their phones they need to submit to the carrier's requests to modify the firmware and include the crapware we end users don't want. Unlike Apple, an Android phone manufacturer doesn't have the clout to tell the carrier to go screw.

If you want a bloatware-free phone without having to root it your choice is the Galaxy Nexus, which runs Ice Cream Sandwich, the latest version of Android. All other devices are going to have bloatware on them, whether you subsidize the price by going into a contract or buy the device outright. The only Android device I know of that actually released different firmware depending on whether the device was subsidized or purchased outright was the Dell Streak 5. All Streaks, regardless of whether subsidized or not, came with a selection of apps (Evernote, QuickOffice, Tune-In Radio, Amazon Kindle, Amazon MP3, Zinio Reader and a few more). The subsidized devices also had all the AT&T bloatware as well.

I have an iPhone myself and have also worked with an HTC EVO 4G from Sprint. Hands down, the iPhone experience was better if only because of all the garbage on the HTC. It reminded me of a new PC loaded down with trialware and crapware you have to uninstall before you can get the PC halfway decent. That Apple was able to force carriers to not put garbage on the phone right out of the box is a big plus and I hope Apple is able to hold its ground. The fact that AT&T managed to get Apple to put the "4G" label on their 3G service does not bode well for the future of the iPhone. If Apple caved to AT&T on that, I am afraid the next step will be stupid carrier icons installed everywhere.

The reason Apple kept most of the bloat off is Apple is proprietary in nature, as such they don't allow anyone to make something they can make themselves and thereby not share the profit with someone else.

http://forums.androidcentral.com/

Go here join the forum find your phone and then read the thread about how to root.

Good info... in Para 2 it seems the suggestion is that with Android Ice Cream Sandwich - ICS, this is pushed without bloatware.
Does this mean that my droid incredible 2 when/if updated to ICS, perhaps the existing "preinstalled" bloatware could be removed?

Unless you have a 'pure' (unbranded) Google phone, chances are ICS will include provider bloatware as well.

If you were to root your phone, delete the bloatware and then update to the latest version of the firmware, the bloatware would return. This is because the carriers take what the manufacturers provide for firmware (including manufacturer-provided bloatware), and add all their bloatware on top of what the manufacturer includes before releasing it as an OTA update. This applies regardless of whether you have Gingerbread, Ice Cream Sandwich, or even the mythical Jellybean.