from the if-you-don't-like-it-you-can-keep-it dept.
Samsung is facing a battle with end users concerning its agreements with software companies to set some preinstalled software on Samsung mobile phones to be undeletable. Users have found that applications like Facebook can't be uninstalled, which has caused some distress given the recent data breaches and lack of respect Facebook has shown towards its users in the past decade. Some users have sworn off getting another Samsung phone if apps can't be uninstalled. The argument that users can just hack the phone to get root access, and then force remove the apps does not hold with non-technical users and anyone who can't risk bricking their device. Samsung has refused to comment on this, and specifically will not provide details about agreements it has with software vendors to force their applications to always be installed on Samsung phones. By comparison, the iPhone does not ever come with pre-installed third party applications.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 09 2019, @06:48PM (25 children)
I’m surprised this is just now getting attention. I know it irritated me so much I switched from Samsung to Apple, years ago, and never looked back. I would only ever go back to Android if I was guaranteed an unlocked boot loader so I could remove all the bloat ware/spyware.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 09 2019, @07:37PM (5 children)
Your iPhone has even worse software that can't be uninstalled. It's called iOS.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 09 2019, @08:06PM (1 child)
But it's not 3rd-party software.
(Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 09 2019, @08:14PM
And it has ‘courage’ 😂
(Score: 4, Insightful) by ilsa on Wednesday January 09 2019, @10:26PM (2 children)
How this god modded insightful, I have no idea. Just cause you don't like something, doesn't make it inferior. It just doesn't do the job that YOU want it to do.
I'm not even going to go into the reasons because this has been argued to death an almost infinite number of times already. I guess I should be thankful that you didn't use the word "sheeple".
It would just be nice to just ONCE have an OS discussion with it immediate devolving into petty knee-jerk reactions that are treated as valuable contributions to the discussion.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 10 2019, @12:50AM
Part of the problem with having a discussion of Operating Systems is that Apple ties their system to their hardware, so you cannot have a discussion purely about the OS. Apple has such specific hardware choices, many of which cause a plethora of metoo copycatism that ruin other systems in some people's eyes, that kneejerk reactions are almost guaranteed. People blame Apple and their marketing for the loss of mobile keyboards, removable batteries, headphone jacks, almost all ports, optical media drives, the rise of chiclet keyboards and glossy screens, and so on. They also remember how god-awful the first iPhone was, having no external programs ("web apps" only), no copy-paste, etc. So when someone suggest the fix to a stupid and somewhat minor problem on their system is to throw out everything that they prefer in the first place, they don't take kindly to it. A similar thing happens when GNU/Linux users (as apposed to Android) suggest Windows users switch to fix their problems with Windows.
Personally, I am considering going back to a BlackBerry 10 system, or picking up a Nokia E7 now that I am aware of continued custom firmware development: http://www.allaboutsymbian.com/news/item/23324_Released_Delight_17_Symbian_OS.php [allaboutsymbian.com]
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 10 2019, @02:24AM
"Inferior" is a value judgement in a context. If it doesn't to the job I want it to, it is by definition inferior in that context. Anyone arguing about this is an idiot who treats their value judgements as objective facts.
(Score: 5, Interesting) by DannyB on Wednesday January 09 2019, @07:59PM (11 children)
After my Samsung Galaxy S5, which was a great phone, I decided to try something different because of the pre-installed bloatware.
Over the life of my S5, Samsung had decided to add even more non-removable crapware to the phone . . . after the purchase. Eventually I could not even do OS updates and have the things I wanted to have. And when I bought the phone, having 32 GB of storage was considered fairly generous.
After the S5 I bought a Google Nexus 6P. It came with very little pre-installed software. I just replaced that Nexus 6P with a Pixel 3 XL. Once you've had an unlocked phone with just the basic apps you'll never go back. I can always go to the play store and add apps that I want.
I was also so pleased with how nice Google made the experience of moving from the old phone to the new phone that I mention it here.
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.
(Score: 2) by mobydisk on Wednesday January 09 2019, @09:47PM (4 children)
I currently have the same problem with the S5. Even if I remove all the apps I have put on, I barely have enough space for OS updates. Every now and then I look at the pre-installed apps and go "I don't remember that being there!" But I always figured it was me. I didn't realize they were actually adding them on. If they think doing this will make me buy a new Samsung phone, they are mistaken.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by DannyB on Wednesday January 09 2019, @10:59PM
You are not mis-rembering.
They were mistaken in my case. On my 2nd Google phone now, not likely to ever go back.
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Wednesday January 09 2019, @11:00PM (2 children)
One more thing . . .
On a Google phone, you are first in line for updates. And security updates are monthly, sometimes more. OS updates are prompt.
That was something else I didn't get from Samsung.
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 09 2019, @11:46PM (1 child)
Wow, more random updates that turn on random menu items I had disabled and move them around. Just what I always wanted.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Thursday January 10 2019, @02:22PM
The monthly updates don't seem to be disruptive. The major OS updates always have some changes, but are infrequent.
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by The Mighty Buzzard on Thursday January 10 2019, @03:51AM (5 children)
I still have a Samsung Galaxy S4 running rooted LineageOS with nothing but what I want on it. Not even any Google crap. When the wheels fall off or 4G networks get taken offline I'll start looking for another. Until then, I haven't seen a single compelling reason to buy a new phone.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by lars on Friday January 11 2019, @12:51AM
Same here, works just fine, has nice, new android, removable battery, microsd. I just bought a spare one for $50 CAD ($30 USD). Only wish would be waterproof, better camera.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 11 2019, @12:58AM (3 children)
We have Samsungs and the bloatware IS out of control. Should we consider Huawei? :)
I have to investigate how hard it might be to root a Samsung and install LineageOS. Would it work with my provider though?
(Score: 3, Interesting) by The Mighty Buzzard on Friday January 11 2019, @03:15AM
It's not hard at all if you're methodical. Measure twice, cut once and you are highly unlikely to render it unbootable. Even if you do, it's generally not terribly difficult to fix without even cracking the case open or special tools.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Friday January 11 2019, @03:16AM
Sorry, missed the provider bit. It should. I haven't heard of providers giving a damn what phone you use as long as you pay the bill on time. I don't read every forum post on the Internet though, so best to check into it yourself as well.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2) by lars on Friday January 18 2019, @10:55PM
Here are the instructions I wrote out for myself:
Instructions for koodoo s4 i337 white:
TWRP first:
You can install a new one over the old one, no problem, probably best to
samsung usb drivers
reboot computer
d/l odin just get latest
d/l twrp for jfltexx even though phone is a jfltecan google "jfltexx twrp" and get latest .tar (.img is for adb, not odin)
boot phone with volume down and power to get into a built in recovery that all phones have
connect usb, press volume up, odin will connect in odin click "AP" button and load the .tar
clock options tab in odin, make sure only "auto reboot" and "F. reset time" are checked, click start to flash, should take ~10 seconds and show "success"
TWRP installed, to check, power on with volume up, keep it held down after the phone vibrates, might need a second try
Download a rom, gapps,Magisk v16, Magisk v16.3 (not sure here, guess get whatever is latest magisk, do some reading)
Google jfltexx and the rom name to find a nice rom and matching gapps, goomanager seems to be a rom downloader/finder, might work
add the zips to sd card
Backup with twrp:
Backup "system" and "data" under "backup" or "advanced backup" depending on twrp version.
https://highonandroid.com/android-howtos/how-to-backuprestore-rom-using-twrp-recovery/ [highonandroid.com]
Wipe:
Select Wipe and then Advanced Wipe.
Select Cache, System and Data partitions to be wiped and then Swipe to Wipe.
Install:
in this order, using built in "add zip": rom, gapps,Magisk v16, Magisk v16.3
reboot, this took a long while, at least 15 min, maybe 30
if it fucks up, install the backup, but that will take a long while too because it has to rebuild the cache
You gotta install the samsung usb drivers and reboot first. Probably get the latest magisk too. Just get a spare phone to play with first. there are lots of dire warnings, but it's really just like reformatting a or doing a bios flash on a PC.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 09 2019, @09:14PM (3 children)
I'm thinking of switching to Android, because Apple no longer offers a phone with a headphone jack, and apparently will soon enough no longer offer one with a fingerprint reader either. No, I don't want my phone knowing my face, thank you. But at least Apple doesn't spy on me (as far as has been proven, at least).
With Android, I will be tracked and spied on. But at least I'll be able to put a SD card in so I won't have to worry if my music will fit, I can get one with a headphone jack and fingerprint reader.
I don't really want either alternative. I just have to decide which bucket of suck I'll jump into next.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Apparition on Wednesday January 09 2019, @10:09PM (2 children)
High-end Android phones have removed the headphone jack as well, and mid-range Android phones have started to remove the headphone jack as well. I don't expect headphone jacks to be on Android phones at all in a couple of years.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 10 2019, @01:37AM (1 child)
I know that Android phones will probably lack headphones jacks in the future. At that point I will get a standalone mp3 player (yeah, they still make them) and a feature phone, and the apps can go to hell.
At least feature phones in some form will probably still be around, since plenty of people need a "burner" phone.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 10 2019, @02:22PM
Don’t wait, start now. Check out the stuff from FiiO. Not a shill, just a satisfied customer of several years.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by ilsa on Wednesday January 09 2019, @10:28PM
I did the same thing with my S3. It got to the point where I felt I had no choice but to root the phone and install cyanogenmod because the default setup Samsung provided was THAT bad. That one change increased by battery life by almost a full day. I was shocked.
It was then I decided this would be my last Android device until everybody involved with the android ecosystem decided to pull their heads out of their asses.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by RandomFactor on Wednesday January 09 2019, @10:50PM
As royally pissed as I am at Google for other reasons, I still have my Nexus 6p as my daily driver, fully unlockable, flashable, rootable... My Moto X Dev edition before that was also the same.
Getting an unlockable phone has long been an option (yes, there are less choices, and it typically will cost you a bit more - notice both the phones i mention were 'flagships' in their day). If more people simply said 'can't unlock, don't want, trying the next brand' loud enough this whole BS approach to screwing customers would rightly die out.
В «Правде» нет известий, в «Известиях» нет правды
(Score: 4, Interesting) by Spamalope on Thursday January 10 2019, @01:16AM
I had an iPhone. App updates and installation were tied to constant forced IOS updates and new more restrictive legal agreements. Each update required wiping the data from the phone, but iTunes includes backup software that verifies the backup.
When I tried to restore the phone, iTunes reported a problem with the backup and refused to allow me access to my files.
Then I found out the error was fake, and this was done intentionally to anyone who has music or video not purchased through Apple's store. They'd destroyed my notes and photos intentionally to coerce purchases with them. They're a hard no after that!
(Score: 2) by PartTimeZombie on Wednesday January 09 2019, @06:49PM (8 children)
Have you ever tried to get rid of that stupid and pointless "Stocks" app on your iPhone?
Yeah, me too. Can't even remove the icon from the home screen. Makes no difference to me if it's not a third party app, I want it gone.
(Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 09 2019, @07:11PM
I'm running iOS 12.1 and you absolutely can remove the stocks app. And the calendar. And the mail app. Even the iTunes store and the music player app.
(Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 09 2019, @07:32PM
That's why I switched to Nokia. All their phones ship with Android One, which means that virtually nothing is on there that an't be uninstalled. Pretty much just the things essential to having a working system.
(Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 09 2019, @07:58PM (1 child)
Congratulation. You've just proven to anyone with a clue that you haven't touched an iPhone for years.
(Score: 2) by PartTimeZombie on Wednesday January 09 2019, @09:57PM
I have an iPhone 7 as a work phone, but only use it for calls and texts.
You are quite right, the only time I ever interact with it is when I send or receive a call or text, so I was not aware I could get rid of a whole bunch of stock apps.
Now I know, which is nice.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 09 2019, @08:21PM
I use the stocks app a lot to keep an eye on my portfolio, So I never tried deleting it. You’re not much into investing I suppose?
(Score: 3, Informative) by ilsa on Wednesday January 09 2019, @10:36PM
You've been able to do that since iOS 10.
And even when I couldn't do that, I ended up just creating a "Crap I don't need" group, put all the unwanted stuff in there, and moving the group to it's own home screen so it didn't clutter the screens I actually used.
Finally, the stocks app barely qualifies as a little widget. The facebook app is a 3rd party monstrosity that takes up half a gig of storage and siphons your personal data whether you like it or not. The difference between the two apps is staggering, and trying to equate them is disingenuous.
(Score: 2) by SpockLogic on Thursday January 10 2019, @01:37AM (1 child)
I made a folder called iCrap and dragged all the unwanted apps that I couldn't delete into it.
Overreacting is one thing, sticking your head up your ass hoping the problem goes away is another - edIII
(Score: 2) by PartTimeZombie on Thursday January 10 2019, @02:15AM
Yeah, me too. It's a poor solution though.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 09 2019, @06:54PM (4 children)
Was able to remove almost all the things I didn't like, google play services are baked into the image so you gotta reflash your device to remove those. So many apps use google services though, wish you could give Uber / Lyft a street corner or that they would support non-google location services.
(Score: 3, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 09 2019, @07:08PM
Not all phones are rootable, at least not until a hack is found:
https://old.reddit.com/r/androidroot/comments/99zost/why_is_the_usa_version_of_the_samsung_galaxy_s9s9/ [reddit.com]
(Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 09 2019, @07:16PM
You can use lyft through your browser:
https://blog.lyft.com/posts/lyft-mobile-web-browser [lyft.com]
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Wednesday January 09 2019, @08:08PM (1 child)
First, you shouldn't use Uber. Scum company doesn't deserve your hard-earned (I suppose) money.
Second, it's not that hard to install a GPS spoofer on your android phone, and tell anyone who wants to know your location that you are in Burundi, until such time that you need the GPS to tell the truth.
Third, you really shouldn't use Uber.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 09 2019, @09:21PM
Don't worry, I live in too small of an area for uber / lyft to even operate! On the occasions I go to a bigger city I have wanted to use one of them, regular taxis are awful if you have to call dispatch. I will be using the lyft web portal mentioned above for future rides.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday January 09 2019, @07:01PM (8 children)
Why do we pay good money for stuff that we don't own? I like Newegg. I buy stuff, and it's mine. I like Linux. I don't have to buy it, but it's mine. We seriously need naked hardware, and a Linux distro for that hardware. But, we don't need a proprietary version of a Linux distro provided by Google. Android is Linux done all wrong.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by bob_super on Wednesday January 09 2019, @07:08PM (3 children)
> Why do we pay good money for stuff that we don't own?
Because the average people doesn't care enough to either learn to fix it, or put up a fight.
Approximating the average for the median, about half of the population doesn't give a shit. Have you seen the latest cat video ? The ad before it was quite fun, too !
(Score: 5, Interesting) by MostCynical on Wednesday January 09 2019, @08:53PM (2 children)
I dispute your laim to "average"
Even the hyper-geeky end of town (which seems to cover quite a few on this site) doesn't reflash phones.
I have friends who have tried apple, samsung, windows and nokia, but I can count on one finger the number who have installed lineage (me).
Many people are interested in my experience, but not prepared to spend a few hours actually doing something about it. Their current phone may spy on them, track them, report their activities to third parties, but, it also makes calls and sends recieves text messages, so why change? It "works".
As the tech/aware of the spying end of town doesn't switch to *something else*, someone Actually-Average certainly isn't.
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Wednesday January 09 2019, @10:05PM (1 child)
I was leaving some margin for those who are annoyed by this stuff, yet unable to do anything about it, if at all aware that there are solutions.
Saying that half doesn't give a shit, doesn't realize these things are there, or -gasp- appreciate some of the apps we consider bloatware, was just a way to point out the manufacturers have zero incentive to stop.
Like 95.872% of stats, i pulled that estimate out of my ass, of course.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by bzipitidoo on Wednesday January 09 2019, @10:50PM
Oh, I fight it, but of late, I've been losing that one. I hacked an old Samsung Galaxy tablet to put Cyanogenmod on it. Had to, as the last version of official Android available was 4.0, and I wanted some features that weren't available until 4.1. Like, the very simple ability to go full screen, really full screen, and have no space at all taken up by that so called "awesome" bar. With Cyanogenmod, I get the equivalent of 4.4. From what I read, there's no point upgrading that tablet more even if possible, as it doesn't have the hardware to support Android 5 or later.
My phone is Android 6, and I'm not much liking it. It's hard to know who's responsible for the bloatware. Is it Google? Seems unlikely. Is it the phone manufacturer? Or the service provider? Could be either.
The part that annoyed me greatly was the tease with what they call "virtual voicemail". Download your voicemails to your phone. Android 6 is the first version to have it built in. I upgraded my phone from 5 to 6 to get that feature. And my phone had it for a brief while. Then what seemed a routine update quietly took away the virtual voicemail without so much as a notification. At first, I thought I had merely misremembered where it was. Took me some time to figure out what had happened. It infuriated me so much I canceled that phone service and didn't even take the number with me. I was also motivated by the apparent lack of any way to root the d*** thing. That's a huge problem with a lot of phones. Now I don't trust updates, and often refuse them.
Anyhow, I've since decided I don't want voicemail at all, since these spammers who fake having the same area code and exchange can leave voice messages. Only way to stop that is not have voicemail. I heard a while ago that they can now go straight to your voicemail without making your phone ring, all the more reason to kill voicemail dead, dead, dead.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 09 2019, @07:10PM (2 children)
https://puri.sm/products/librem-5/ [puri.sm]
(Score: 1) by nitehawk214 on Wednesday January 09 2019, @09:24PM (1 child)
Sounds interesting, but I expect it will end up like much other "open source hardware". Either it will never gain traction, never be released, or end up being a scam from the beginning.
"Don't you ever miss the days when you used to be nostalgic?" -Loiosh
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 09 2019, @09:36PM
They've already released laptops though.
(Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 09 2019, @08:24PM
Really good point— But why stop at just the software, when the hardware is still proprietary. We need open source hardware as well. I’m really excited for companies to start putting out open source RISC-V ISA based phones!
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 09 2019, @09:12PM
My first cell phone was Siemens C35i with its terrible Internet pop-up from menu, killable with settings. Next, a small blue-lit Nokia (I don't remember model) was quite OK. With a good experience with this Nokia I bought my first "smartphone": E61 with Symbian. To remove some proprietary apps which kept popping up I had to use a security hole made by antivirus plug-in. Literally I had to hack into my phone. I sold it quickly, getting a Samsung dumbphone thick like two E61s, and I still have it, as it was possible to just delete all Java apps, install my own (picture viewer and resistor color code translator) and disable Internet function by deleting its connectivity options.
When my friends got iPhones and Android devices, I tried these phones and I found that their phones are not theirs anymore. Just like in a shell account - if you're not root this is not your system, and of course not your data. What more, while in these shell systems there usually was something like "being a d*ck factor" of sysop/root, here it exceeds maximum and license agreements change like in this "frog boiling" story: First it was analyzing users' data for maintenance purposes, then advertisement, now I see a complete passing of own work's copyright. So I decided to wait for an acceptable smartphone with any user control in 2007 or 2008... and I still wait.
What I recommend as a workaround, is to buy an UMPC and install Linux on it. Much better control, and comparing to some phones, longer battery life.
(Score: 2) by arslan on Wednesday January 09 2019, @09:25PM (3 children)
My Sony phone comes with a bunch of Sony crapps, I can uninstall it, but the next update will reinstall them. They're not 3rd party per say, but takes up storage, memory and battery - some of them insist on running in the background after install; I can disable it, though I normally delete it until it reinstall itself and runs again after an update.
Apart from this and some extra heat, which is good in winter to be honest, its a well built phone. Prior to these I was on LG for a couple gen, though fairly light on preinstall apps, the phone built and quality is really bad, wear and tear a lot quickly due to lots of cheap plastic parts. Gonna go Nokia next now that they have Android phones - the new owners seems to be doing right by the Nokia legacy.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by anubi on Wednesday January 09 2019, @11:31PM (2 children)
You still trust Sony?
I have avoided that company since that rootkits like businesses avoid hiring an ex-con.
They sold off, for a quick handskake, that which meant nothing to a Sony Executive:
Their Reputation.
For a Hand-Shake.
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
(Score: 2) by arslan on Wednesday January 09 2019, @11:49PM (1 child)
Yes, it was a big deal back then. Nowadays, you can no more trust them like another of the other big corps like Google, Samsung, Apple, Microsoft, the various Chinese manufacturers. So yes, I'll use their product as much as I'll use Google's or Apple's or MS's or Samsung's, etc.
(Score: 1) by anubi on Thursday January 10 2019, @12:16AM
Understood.
Don't trust them much, either.
I still do not have a Google account. I am afraid that once I give them any kind of payment credentials, any number of "think outside the box" types will post charges to it with the same reckless abandon that current "rights holders" "update" my stuff behind my back.
Apparently, only governments seem to consider this kind of crap to be a "right".
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 09 2019, @10:01PM
My current phone is XiaoMi 5x. My mom has a 4x. My sister has a Huawei, dont know the model.
We are all sattisfied and quite happy with these phones, which all cost around half the price of a similar hardware Samsung, a S7 I think it is, that my inlaw has. And I could even say we scoff not as often as he does when these phones misbehave.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by fyngyrz on Wednesday January 09 2019, @11:19PM (2 children)
What if you never have, and never will, use Facebook? What's their excuse for their unremovable bloatware then?
The trend of vendors to take things out of the users control is nothing less than disgusting.
--
Do you ever go out, and while you're out,
think "this is exactly why I don't go out"?
(Score: 3, Insightful) by anubi on Thursday January 10 2019, @12:21AM
AFAIK, Facebook is to a computer as a STD is to people.
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
(Score: 2) by Spamalope on Thursday January 10 2019, @01:21AM
Some will. I really liked my Note phones. I switched to Pixel over this issue. (not that Google is innocent, but you've got everything they're doing on the other android phones too)
(Score: 3, Interesting) by iamjacksusername on Wednesday January 09 2019, @11:32PM (1 child)
Samsung does not care because people keep buying their phone. I have been using Sony Xperia XZ phones for a few years and, to their credit, Sony has been aggressive about getting their stuff into the AOSP and making it very simple to unlock the bootloader. I was just looking at the XZ2 Compact Dual SIM model because you can use it, with a bit of effort, on both VzW and ATT and it is certified for VoLTE on both.
So, if it is such a big deal, vote with your money and do not support companies that block you from managing your phone.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 10 2019, @09:23PM
Xperia phones also have first-class support for SailfishOS, which is really nice. I'm using a Xiaomi though, and they also make unlocking and reflashing easy.
(Score: 5, Informative) by AthanasiusKircher on Wednesday January 09 2019, @11:51PM (3 children)
No, Samsung is not "nonplussed," a word which traditionally means "perplexed" or even "surprised and confused."
There's a relatively recent trend in American English to use "nonplussed" to mean "unconcerned" or "unperturbed," but this is not yet accepted as standard.
There are places where I'm willing to give up the usage fight because it's been long lost (as in the case of "beg the question," which no longer means what it once did even among the vast majority of educated people). But "nonplussed" still means "perplexed." It often creates significant ambiguity to use it in the novel sense, as it does here -- I read the headline as though Samsung is confused about why software can't be removed from its phones. Except the summary implies it merely doesn't seem to care about users' complaints... It's pretty clear Samsung likely understands what's going on here.
(Score: 4, Funny) by arslan on Thursday January 10 2019, @12:30AM (2 children)
I'm nonplussed as to whether Samsung is nonplussed by way of the traditional or the recent meaning..
(Score: 2) by AthanasiusKircher on Thursday January 10 2019, @12:37AM (1 child)
I was nonplussed about it too, but then I read TFA, and now I'm positively plussed. (?!)
It's clear Samsung understands the situation perfectly.
(Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 10 2019, @03:40PM
And that's what makes it double plus ungood!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 10 2019, @03:42PM
Tell on Samsung to Europe. There's a commissioner Margrethe Vestager over there, who hates anti-competitive and anti-consumer.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by stretch611 on Friday January 11 2019, @02:17AM
The last time I had a phone without pre-installed bloatware was back when I had an original Google Nexus (By HTC at the time.) Of course that was nearly 10 years ago.
Since then, I have had a couple of LG phones, HTC, and I am currently on a Motorola Moto G3. (I only replace every few years when it dies or the battery is horrible.)
Every phone has had some type of bloatware and useless apps that could not be uninstalled. At least with recent versions of Android, you can disable them, but that still leaves them taking up memory.
On my MotoG3, at least the crapware are generally only "stubs." A small shortcut app that is not the full app, but a link to download the manufacturer/carrier specific version of the app. This can be disabled but not removed... However, they stop being disabled after every OS update.
I'm not sure if it is the manufacturer or the phone carrier that is responsible though. I know either can add the uninstallable apps. It is kind of like Windows which has all the crapware pre-installed... I remember that HP used to be horrible with all the third party crapware it used to install... but even if they didn't install any, Microsoft would have a few things like "30 day M$ Office Trial" preinstalled.
Of course this used to be a problem on my computers until a few years ago, I stopped even bothering and just wiped the hard drive and installed linux. Unfortunately, with all the different models and hardware/radios, phones are not as easy and you can't just blow away android and install open source ROMs because of reliability issues.
Now with 5 covid vaccine shots/boosters altering my DNA :P