
Make a Samsung Smartphone Great by Switching Out Its Apps - pavornyoh
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/17/technology/personaltech/make-a-samsung-smartphone-great-by-switching-out-its-apps.html?ref=technology&_r=0
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clumsysmurf
Mossberg said in a recent review "Premium devices shouldn't be vehicles for
carrier come-ons".

[http://www.theverge.com/2016/3/8/11176606/walt-mossberg-
sams...](http://www.theverge.com/2016/3/8/11176606/walt-mossberg-samsung-
galaxy-s7-smartphone-review)

I can't imagine spending $700-$800 USD for a device and then having to
uninstall junk.

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Shebanator
I have no love for carrier or manufacturer bloatware, and Android devices are
worse than iOS for both. But I have to say that iOS isn't immune - I have a
folder full of Apple apps that I don't use and can't even disable on my iPad
(Health, Watch, Maps, Find Friends, Tips, etc etc etc)

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santaclaus
I thought I was the only one with an unused builtin app folder hidden on my
last screen! For the life of me, I don't understand why Apple won't let you
remove the Tips app, of all things...

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JustSomeNobody
They don't want to field the support calls from people who delete Safari.

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snoldak924
At this point it is quite clear that OEMs only put these apps on consumer's
devices to make a profit, and that there is no eye towards the affect on the
product.

The bigger question is, why do the carriers want so badly for me to use their
NFL app?

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deciplex
They don't, but they got a fraction of a penny to put the app in front of you.
Nobody (to a first approximation, and especially on the Android side) buys a
phone because of the software - they just look at the hardware (if that) and
make their decision. By the time you're being annoyed by NFL apps it's too
late.

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ubercow
It's not just about the apps with Samsung Phones, the long delay on new
Android versions and the "TouchWiz" skin make it inferior to a Nexus or even a
"close-to-native" experience like the Moto X pure.

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cheeze
Touchwiz with a custom launcher is completely fine. I actually ended up
getting a note 5 because Samsung phones have a killer feature that I can't get
anywhere else (yet), which is multi window. Being able to browse
internet/reddit/hn and watch TV shows or netflix is an absolute necessity to
me and at the time, I couldn't find any other phones that had it.

So in my case, TouchWiz + a launcher actually provided me value that I
couldn't get through other Android phones.

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dogma1138
Android 6 has native MW support, and there have been MW launchers since
Android 4 if not earlier.

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rcthompson
This article describes the exact process I went through with my Galaxy S3.

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barbs
Interesting that the author makes the point that choice is important for an OS
like Android, and then recommends only Google-made alternatives to make it "as
Google intended". Google software != best software, necessarily.

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it_learnses
Yeah, but many people like myself use Google services on android, so it's a
good alternative.

~~~
elcapitan
Even if it is choosing the default, then that is still something I actually
wanted. What really enrages me is to see how all that stupid Samsung software
lives its secret life for itself on my phone, without me being able to make
the choice to get rid of it. That stuff sits there, updates all the time and
annoys me. Like a bunch of squatters living in my house.

Thanks for that "HP printer driver" btw, I really needed that one, Samsung.

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dharma1
Did the same steps with my S7. Much better after replacing the launcher and
keyboard

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dba7dba
Make apple devices great by using Google services.

