Bloatware apps are wasting space on your Android phone—here’s how to delete them
Bloatware (all those unnecessary apps that were installed on your phone before you got them) can take up a lot of space, even if it’s just a bunch of visual icons. Deleting these apps is a good idea, and not just for your personal sanity and satisfaction.
Where does bloatware come from?
It is possible to obtain bloatware from many different sources. Sometimes they can be installed by malware or downloaded as part of a package with another application, hidden in the terms and conditions. But a lot of bloatware is installed on your phone as soon as you receive it. Think about all the pre-installed apps that came with your phone that you’ve never used. These could be third-party apps or games or just tools that aren’t very useful.
These apps may be pre-installed by the phone manufacturer or your mobile carrier. They often don’t cause any direct harm, but they cause visual clutter, can take up valuable space, and can even reduce your phone’s performance. As for why these apps are included on your phone, there are many potential reasons. Maybe your phone carrier thinks you really want to use Bixby. Maybe they are paid by other parties to install their apps on your phone. Bloatware is not malicious; it’s just a horror.
Being an eyesore is reason enough to get rid of bloatware, in my opinion. Even if the only thing bloatware does is clutter your home screen, that’s more than enough reason to remove it, or at the very least, disable it.
Some apps on Android cannot be uninstalled
Unfortunately, some apps on Android cannot be uninstalled. This depends on your manufacturer and device. Google Pixels, for example, cannot remove the Chrome, Maps, Drive, or Calculator apps. Some Pixel apps can only be removed during initial device setup. Galaxy phones have their own set of default apps that also can’t be deleted, but there are a few that are easy to get rid of: Samsung Free, Global Goals, Samsung TV Plus, Samsung Kids, and Samsung Shop.
You can easily uninstall apps by holding down their icons on your home screen and selecting “Uninstall.” If you want to delete apps through your phone’s settings, the process is slightly different on Google Pixel and Samsung Galaxy. For Google Pixel, go to the Google Play Store and tap the icon Profile icon. Tap “Manage apps and devices > Manage”; select the app you want to remove and tap “Uninstall”. For Samsung, go to “Settings > Apps”, tap the app name, then tap “Uninstall”.
If you want to uninstall many apps at once, it may be easier to do so from the Home screen. If you hold down an app icon, one of the available options is “Select.” If you choose this option, you will then be able to tap on multiple other app icons to select them all at once. Then you can simply tap “Uninstall” to uninstall all these apps at once.
Technically, there is now a way to remove even pre-installed apps that you normally wouldn’t be able to, using a tool called Android Debug Bridge, or ADB. But ADB is an advanced tool, and using it requires a lot of know-how. This is an option, if you’re willing to learn new tricks, but if you’re not looking to delve deeper into your “hackerman” era, you might just want to disable these apps instead.
How to Disable Apps on Your Android Device
Disabling apps is not the same as deleting them and is not as useful. Unlike deleting an app, disabling it only hides its icon from your Home screen. But it’s technically still installed on your phone and still taking up space. That said, if you can’t do anything other than disable the app, it’s still better than nothing. At least you won’t have to watch it. Besides system-critical apps, you can disable most apps on your phone.
On a Pixel, go to “Settings > Apps > See all apps” to find the apps you want to disable. After selecting them, simply tap “Turn Off” at the top of the screen. For Samsung, go back to “Settings > Apps”, find the app you can’t otherwise delete and select “Disable” instead. You can also find the app on your home screen, hold the icon, and select “Turn Off” or “Delete” from there. Either option will at least hide the app from the home screen.
Ultimately, bloatware doesn’t do much damage to your phone (unless you’ve infected it with malware, you might need to worry!). But its very presence is a nuisance, and unfortunately, there’s not much you can do except remove or disable bloatware every time it’s added to your phone. If you want to do more than just disable it and don’t trust yourself with Android Debug Bridge, there is another relatively simpler method to remove bloatware that you can try.
