Lawsuit forces Samsung to issue software patch allowing users to delete bloatware, but only in China
As an Android “power user,” there’s probably nothing more frustrating than knowing you’re stuck with all that bloatware that comes preloaded onto your device, especially when some devices come with such little internal storage to begin with. While some devices are definitely more guilty of this than others, and it seems this practice has finally landed Samsung in hot water.
A Chinese consumer rights committee sued Samsung over some 20 apps that come preloaded on the Galaxy Note 3 (N9008S). After losing the suit Samsung will now issue a software patch next month that allows these pre-installed apps to be removed from the Galaxy Note 3. The better news is that Samsung China is now saying that they’ll allow customers to delete “unwanted applications” even in newer devices like the Samsung Galaxy S6/Edge.
In a previous version of Android, Google made it possible to “disable” these apps from running on devices, removing the icon from the app drawer. The problem is that these apps were still there, eating up internal memory. While this news is all good and dandy for users in China, we can’t help but wonder why the same doesn’t apply to OEMs in other regions. Here’s to hoping this catches on.