Engadget posted an interesting article yesterday, pondering whether carriers are destroying Android, by preloading Android devices with “bloatware.” The article compared this to what happened in the PC industry, where computer vendors loaded all sorts of crapware on machines, filling up the drive and slowing the system down.
It’s deja vu all over again for mobile phones. More and more devices I look at are coming installed with applications I don’t want, often popping up messages to try and upsell me on services I have no interest in. Even worse, unlike PCs where offensive applications can be removed or the OS reinstalled cleanly, there’s often nothing that can be done to get rid of unwanted mobile software without arduous work.
The iPhone certainly restricts what apps can get into the App Store, but at least the user isn’t forced to keep an undesirable program on the phone (aside from the basics, like the App Store app, the Photo app, Mail, etc.). Or is it worse to not have access to certain apps at all, like on the iPhone?
You tell us – what is worse, a smartphone where you can’t even get certain applications because of a restrictive app review process, or a smartphone preloaded with garbage that you can’t remove?
Entelligence: Will carriers destroy the Android vision? [Engadget]
Photo by svensonsan.
super says:
hello from the iPhone stocks app….
September 13, 2010 — 10:17 pm
Evan Kline says:
Good point. I think I’ve only ever opened the stocks app once, and it is now several screens deep on my iPhone.
September 14, 2010 — 11:03 am
Klaus @ TechPatio says:
I’m a bit biased since I’m an Apple user, but I honestly think that bloatware is worst in this case.
I don’t even bother jailbreaking my iPhone because I think the App Store apps are just fine. Sure there are a few utilites that would be nice to use if it was jailbroken, but it’s more “nice to have” than “need to have” so I prefer to play it by the book. My priorities have kinda shifted from “the tinkering guy” to “i just want it to work”-guy, on that matter.
But I love how iOS and Android are so different in terms of openness and restrictions because that means there’s a device for most people.
September 14, 2010 — 3:48 am
Evan Kline says:
The one app that I really miss is a Google Voice app. I’ve tried Voicecentral (HTML 5 web app) and Google’s Voice web app, and both were just too slow. I’ve seen the whisperings that Voice may be able to get in the App Store with the latest changes to Apple’s policies, so I’m crossing my fingers.
September 14, 2010 — 11:04 am
Josh says:
On my iPod Touch I’ve created a folder that I call “Crapple” and I just dumped all of the programs in there that they won’t let me uninstall, so it’s not too much of an issue for me (now that they let you create folders).
On my Android the bloat was really annoying, especially since the stock way the apps are displayed is a “drawer” that lists everything on the phone in alphabetical order, so without third party apps you you have to go through everything to get to the app you’re looking for.
Having said that though, because you can tweak every aspect of your phone, I have. I’ve installed third-party apps to allow me crate real-time widgets, apply labels, folders and shortcuts and more to slice and dice the apps so it’s not a factor anymore. I know you mentioned there may be some performance ramifications to bloat but I haven’t noticed any, of course I wouldn’t know how fast it would otherwise run since I’ve not seen it without the bloat…
September 15, 2010 — 11:33 am