Samsung’s Galaxy S6 is as Bad in Bloatware as its Predecessors

Just when we thought Samsung might have learned a thing or two from its past mistakes but despite all the criticism, its latest Galaxy S6 flagship smartphone comes pre-installed with 6 apps more than the 50 you find on the Galaxy Note 4, even though both S6 and S6 Edge appear to be less cluttered at first glance.

But in actuality, both smartphones come with plenty of bloatware installed with 56 applications in total, consisting of stuff like Google Play Newstand, new Microsoft apps like OneDrive and assorted social apps including Whatsapp and Instagram, according to Gizmodo’s count.

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Even though Samsung has issued statements like, “Samsung has allowed users to remove the pre-installed applications on Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge”, it’s not entirely true.

Turns out the best thing you can do to get rid of these is by “disabling” them, which merely removes them from the app drawer and the homescreen, but not from the phone. In short, you are basically opting to put them in a sort of hiding, out of sight but not out of storage. “Some apps can be uninstalled while some can be disabled, and this varies by region and carrier”, according to Samsung.

So what is different from last time around, software-wise? Not much. The new Lollipop version of Samsung’s TouchWiz Android skin makes it slightly less painful to disable apps in rapid succession. You can disable the calculator on the S6, which you couldn’t on the Note 4. But that’s about it. Minor, minor stuff. This is, for the most part, the same old bloat despite all our wild hopes.

Well, it seems the annoying chore of disabling all the bloatware apps that comes with every new Samsung Galaxy smartphone purchase, is at least slightly simpler than it has been in the past.

Of course, Apple’s iOS has apps that can’t be deleted either (everyone has an Apple junk apps folder), but not to the point where third party apps are installed and cannot be deleted. Could you imagine if your iPhone 6 came with Microsoft OneNote pre-installed and it could not be deleted, but rather just ‘disabled’? That’s just gross.

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