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T-Mobile proudly announces their Nexus 6 won’t have logos, bloatware

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Nexus_6_Midnight_Blue-3

AT&T dwellers got their hands on the Nexus 6 and immediately noticed a few things that didn’t sit well. Carrier logos, boot animations and network restrictions — while not all that horrifying — annoyed enough people that a big stink was made about it. Fortunately for those folks AT&T’s Nexus 6 isn’t that hard to “fix,” though T-Mobile’s proud of the fact that you won’t have to “fix” their variant at all.

Company man Des Smith, a senior product manager who launched the T-Mobile G1 for the company way back when, took to Google+ to speak directly to the followers of their Uncarrier movement and told them they won’t have to worry about any big bad carrier stuff being shipped off with their Nexus 6 units:

No Corporate Logo, No Bloatware, no crap you don’t want on the #Nexus6 from+T-Mobile​:

That’s Un-carrier – listening to our customers and giving them what they want, not sticking a stupid corporate logo and a bunch of crap software I know you guys don’t want on your #Nexus device.

We know you guys buy a #Nexus6 to avoid that kind of thing!

Google did want to highlight the Virtual Preload (VPL) capabilities on Lollipop, so we made MyAccount available if you want it… But you can totally delete it. That’s what we do.

Hope you like what we’ve chosen to do there (or more importantly, what we’ve chosen not to do).

And the little stuff like that is the reason T-Mobile has gained a lot of momentum this past year. Let’s hope they keep this up (even if only to keep everyone else on their toes and the edge of their seats).

Quentyn Kennemer
The "Google Phone" sounded too awesome to pass up, so I bought a G1. The rest is history. And yes, I know my name isn't Wilson.

Android Wallpaper: Winter Wonderland

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38 Comments

  1. I was happy I only had two or three preloaded TMO apps on my Z3. My HTC One and PadFone X had 15 or so

  2. T-Mobile all day baby!

  3. I’m on att and I gotta say i love what T-Mobile is doing, who the hell wants crappy apps slowing down their phones?? No one, att you suck

    1. Did you not get from this very article that they BOTH download bloat apps that can then be removed? This is more about the globe on the back and the boot screen, which do not slow down the phone.

      1. Oh that’s my bad, here I thought the globe did in fact slow it down

  4. So in a way, this corporate douchebag does admit to bloatware “and a bunch of crap software I know you guys don’t want” that they deliberately put on other devices, just not on Nexus devices…

    So if he acknowledges it to be “crap software I know you guys don’t want”, why put it on ANY device at all?

    1. What bloatware do they put on other devices? Their stuff, not OEM stuff.

      1. T-Mobile only put their T-Mobile MyAccount app on the device, but you can uninstall it yourself without requiring root permissions. Can’t really complain about that.

      2. I haven’t had a T-Mobile phone for months but let’s see if I can remember…

        T-Mobile My Account
        T-Mobile TV
        T-Mobile Name ID
        System manager… And a few more that are part of system manager.

        That’s just what I remember off the top of my head. And it’s definitely worth noting that T-Mobiles bloat, through the my account and system manager, actually runs in the background constantly, monitoring every aspect of your devices status (including location) to ”help ” with diagnostics on the phone. System manager can’t be disabled on ANY T-Mobile device that it comes on.

  5. left them after the failed merger because they lost their data roaming agreement with att. would return in a heartbeat if they had better coverage.

  6. Isn’t one of the major selling points of a nexus is that its stock android at its best with no bloat? I’m convinced that John Legere is right when he says ATT and Verizon don’t listen to their customers.. They clearly don’t get it… Or don’t care lol.

    1. It is for us, but since these are being sold from carriers stores with financing and subsidy they are going on the same sales floor as the Samsungs and HTCs of the world. So there is a good chance they will be bought for their price/features as opposed to what it means to be a Nexus.

    2. There is still enough bloadware on a Nexus device. I wish it would be possible to remove some of Googles Apps.

  7. T-Mobile Nexus 6 on Verizon’s network; loving the best of both worlds right now.

    1. How’d you work that? Bought from T-Mobile and stuck your Verizon sim in?

      No problems at all? I’m looking to do the same thing.

      1. yeah, I bought the T-Mo and popped in the Verizon sim…no issues. However, if you have a friend or someone you know on T Mo, I would suggest going to the store with them so it can be purchased through their account. T Mo won’t sell the phone straight up with no activation.

        1. You’re a godsend, I’ll have my colleague purchase one for me I think.

          Thank you! :tipofcap

  8. Yeah the T-Mobile one still downloads bloat that you have to remove so wtf phandroid? Playing into T-Mobiles hype machine again? They both have pure android with updates straight from Google. THAT is the point of a nexus. As annoying as a freaking globe may be to some people, it’s certainly not worth even considering changing carriers. So what’s the point of this article? I understand T-Mobile grasping at straws to find anything to claim they’re better than AT&T at, but it’s meaningless bs.

    1. You’re really complaining about one app that you can easily uninstall without rooting?

      1. Wait what? I’m not the one complaining about bloat here.

        1. Well you mentioned how Phandroid is playing into T-Mobile hype machine. I think its pretty commendable by T-Mobile for doing what they are doing with the nexus 6.

          1. How. Explain how it’s commendable that they didn’t paint a T-Mobile logo on the back. It at least, why it’s worth writing an article to praise them. Every other phone they sell is loaded down with bloat that constantly runs, hogging system resources and draining battery. So their claim that they give customers what they really want is false.

            Both Nexus 6s have pure android and get updates straight from Google. Both download bloat account apps that can then be removed. One has a globe. Oh and, the one with the globe will get better service in more places and comes with better customer support by a mile.

          2. they wrote an article about it because a ton of people complain about logos on this site. Have you ever been to a page that features a verizon phone? 75% of the posts refer to the logo being unsightly. So they figured an article about such a thing wouldnt be useless to their fan base.

            Sure ATT has a stronger network in many places… but not everywhere. Personally i never go to Idaho, so i couldn’t care less about tmobile’s coverage in Idaho. So if someone is in my situation where they would essentially get the same service from att and tmobile (NYC), then you go down to the next item on the list… some of those items might include, price, phone selection, updates, etc. This is just one of those things. No one is saying you will switch carriers just for a phone with no logo, but they arent advertising it as such. Its a bulletin point. That’s all.

          3. It wasn’t something along the lines of “this is nice for T-Mobile customers” phandroid said I should be excited that T-Mobile has no branding. I just wanted to know just how excited I should be and why should we be excited if we, for example aren’t on T-Mobile. Like most people.

          4. yes, most people arent on tmobile, and most people don’t have a nexus 6, or an xperia z3, but they still do reviews… “most people” arent on att either.

            ANd as i said before, go to any article about a verizon phone and look at the 20+ comments about the logo. I think the article is just about phandroid knowing its demographic.

          5. The article is about T Mobile being proud of said facts. Perhaps you read a different one than I.

          6. The link to this article said “you should be excited”, as in everyone. And there article seems to give kudos to T-Mobile. It was referencing a post by Des Smith ranting about how awesome T-Mobile is for not branding the nexus and every other carrier is doo doo. He specifically claimed T-Mobile ” gives customers what they really want… None of the bloat and crap “. Since that is not true because every other phone they sell is locked down and full of bloat, I don’t feel they deserve a pass on this.

          7. I didn’t think we were talking about the link. I was talking about the article.

          8. I believe the one with the globe has more than 1 “bloat” app. Also, the one with the globe has a carrier boot animation that can’t be removed without root. Also, the one with a globe has AT&T ringtones preinstalled. ALSO, the one with the globe is Sim locked. You left those differences out.

    2. As long as they’re not AT&T, they’re better than AT&T. I’ve been on AT&T since they merged with CIngular and I would rather get an STD than stay with them but T-Mobile doesn’t have coverage where I live.

      1. Well that’s a perfectly logical argument with sound points. I’ve been on both. I was on T-Mobile for 2 years and will never go back. Their signal isn’t really worse, bit literally everything else about them other than price, from updates and phone selection to billing and customer service, are hideous. AT&T is a dream comparatively speaking. And that’s saying a lot because they’re not special.

    3. Google did want to highlight the Virtual Preload (VPL) capabilities on Lollipop, so we made MyAccount available if you want it… But you can totally delete it.

  9. so they leave the nexus 6 alone but nerf the z3? Ok My voice isn’t heard

  10. Even though t-mobile sounds great let’s not forget Google themselves are taking up the bloat slack

    1. At least they aren’t raping us with their Google plus crap. They even let go the exec behind that which is pretty much an admission it was a mistake

  11. I see a logo… a Motorola logo.. so much for “their Nexus 6 won’t have logos”

  12. Gotta love tmobile!!

  13. After calling around all day, T-Mobile also doesn’t have any nexus 6s

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