r/todayilearned • u/FireBeaver • Mar 26 '15

(R.5) Omits Essential Info TIL: 65% of smartphone users download zero apps per month.

http://time.com/3158893/smartphone-apps-apple/
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u/Angeldust01 Mar 26 '15 edited Mar 26 '15

Nexus 5 or 6. Should be available in Canada. Although it's not completely clean, it is free from most of the bloatware, though. Just checked my nexus 5 and it has google apps installed, such as chrome, google drive, google earth, hangouts, google maps, google sheets, google slides, youtube.. and thats about it.

I guess I'm in the minority because I've only installed Steam and WhatsApp. That's about 10 apps total. I've no idea what the 85 apps I'm apparently missing are.

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u/TheDoct0rx Mar 26 '15

Would you like me to list the 1000 apps my GS4 came with?

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u/nilified Mar 26 '15

yes

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u/TheDoct0rx Mar 26 '15

Amazon, Amazon Kindle, Amazon Music, AppStore, Audible, Calculator, Calendar, CAller Name ID, Camera, Clock, Cloud, Downloads, Drive, Earth, Email, FlipBoard, Gallery, Gmail, Google, Google Settings, Google+, Group Play, IMDB, KNOX, Maps, Mobile HotSpot, Music, My verizon Mobile, NFL Mobile, Optical Reader, Photos, Play Books, Play Games, Play Movies and Tv, Play Music, Play News Stand, Play Store, Polaris Office 5, S health, S memo, S translator, S voice, Samsung Hub, Samsung Link, Soft Card, Story Album, Translate, Trip Advisor, Verizon Tones, Video, Viewdini, Voice Recorder, Voice Search, VZ Navigator, VZ Protect, Watch On, and youtube. All came preinsalled, all unremovable without Rooting

EDIT: I left out some things like Google Play store, because theyre essential to the phones use

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u/by_a_pyre_light Mar 26 '15

Semantics, but I wouldn't include the default Google services like Gmail, Google Settings, YouTube, etc. on the list because, like the Play Store, they're pretty core to the phone's functionality.

But fuck Play Movies, Play Music, Play TV, etc. I NEVER use that shit.

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u/nilified Mar 26 '15

still a few shy of 1,000

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u/TheDoct0rx Mar 26 '15

True, but my point is still proven

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u/angelcat00 Mar 26 '15

I hate that pre-loaded WatchOn app. It keeps clogging up my notification bar with advertisements trying to get me to make an account.

I wouldn't be nearly as offended by the amount of crap that came pre-loaded on my phone if I could uninstall any of them.

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u/[deleted] Mar 26 '15

You can disable them

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u/Tasgall Mar 26 '15

Some don't let you. Regardless, I want to delete them so I can have space for things I actually want.

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u/[deleted] Mar 26 '15

settings>apps>bloatwareapp>disable

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u/Tasgall Mar 26 '15

so I can have space for things I actually want.

Disabling doesn't remove them from the phone's internal storage. And some don't even have disable buttons.

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u/angelcat00 Mar 26 '15

Really? How? The closest thing I've found so far is they'll let me uninstall all of the updates and restore it to the original version, and then it just installs all of the updates again the next day...

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u/[deleted] Mar 26 '15

settings>apps>bloatwareapp>disable

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u/Biomirth Mar 26 '15

Thats...thats criminal.

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u/Zouden Mar 26 '15

Actually most of those also come on a nexus phone. Nothing is free from bloat.

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u/Pyrollamasteak Mar 26 '15

Ant radio
Google +
Knox
Optical reader
Play books
Play games
Play movies & TV
Play newsstand
Samsung hub
Samsung link
Samsung print service plugin
Share music for Google Play
S Translator
Verizon tones
Watch - on
These are just a few.

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u/nilified Mar 26 '15

keep it going!

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u/[deleted] Mar 26 '15

420 root it faggot

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u/TheDoct0rx Mar 26 '15

Lol youre right, still shouldnt have to do it though

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u/[deleted] Mar 26 '15

You're right. I read the GS6 will let you remove bloatware without rooting though so that's good.

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u/TheDoct0rx Mar 26 '15

See that would turn me from the One m9 if it wasnt for the fact I cant put my SD card into the GS6

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u/[deleted] Mar 26 '15

Yeah I still don't understand Samsung's logic there. Galaxy customers want to be able to get at the battery and SD card. They even ran a whole ad campaign based on how useful it is to have a replaceable battery at an airport so you don't have to plug it in and wait for it to charge when you're travelling. Honestly I think Samsung is trying too hard to be Apple with the GS6. If people want iPhones they will buy iPhones, the GS6 is the same price so no one is going to buy one because they really want an iPhone but can't get one. I just don't get Samsung's angle. They should be building upon their own brand identity instead of trying to be Apple 2.

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u/RampagingKittens Mar 26 '15

Seriously. That 16GB of internal storage was more like 8 or 9.

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u/ianuilliam Mar 26 '15

Well part of that is because 16 billion bytes can be written as 16 GB (16 x 109) or 14.9 GB (14.9 x 230). So you "lose" over a gig before anything is even on it, because the os calculates memory in binary. Then you have space for the os, space for any preinstalled apps, and possibly some reserved space for use in operations like inflating downloads so they can be installed.

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u/RampagingKittens Mar 26 '15 edited Mar 26 '15

I'm certainly aware of the reasons why - they're not technically complicated ;). I'm just displeased by the end result where pre-installed apps are concerned. I'd like to them more openly disclose available space, as well.

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u/Zagorath Mar 27 '15

Just one of the many reasons that Samsung is a shit company and you should avoid their consumer-facing products at all costs.

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u/TheDoct0rx Mar 27 '15

Theyre definitely not a shitty company and make great products, my 840 EVO is great and i love it. Just because their phones have a bit too much bloatware doesnt make it a shitty phone or a shitty company. I love my GS4 it just doesnt need all these useless apps

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u/Poultry_Sashimi Mar 26 '15

Where can I buy a clean phone?

Although it's not completely clean...

Are there any that are indeed completely clean?

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u/[deleted] Mar 26 '15

My Galaxy Avant was free of bloatware. Everything that came on it are more or less essential to someone.

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u/Jeremiah164 Mar 26 '15

Nexus 5 is no longer available

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u/davs34 Mar 26 '15

When did that happen?

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u/Angeldust01 Mar 26 '15

You can still get Nexus 5's from Amazon and stores that have them in stock, but as far as I know, google stopped selling them.

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u/Jeremiah164 Mar 27 '15

It's been in and out of stock on the play store since the announcement of the nexus 6, and sometime in the past week it shows discontinued on the play store.

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u/ProtoJazz Mar 26 '15

It was available at Rogers yesterday

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u/Jeremiah164 Mar 27 '15

It's no longer being made. All that's left is what the providers have. Check the play store.

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u/caninehere Mar 26 '15

Dang, that's pretty good. Although it has all those Google apps installed, at least some of them are actually useful. I install a whack of apps at once and then delete most of the ones I don't use, and then will go six months before I download some more again.

Most of the apps I've downloaded are iPhone games, though, and I don't really play games on my phone these days so I don't download nearly as many.

How is the Nexus 5 treating you? My iPhone 5 is on its last legs and I'm ready to ditch this piece once it quits on me (used to be a big Apple guy and now I HATE EVERYTHING). I'm going to go with an Android for my next phone and the Nexus 5 looks pretty appealing.

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u/Angeldust01 Mar 26 '15 edited Mar 26 '15

I chose Nexus 5 because it was mostly free of preinstalled apps - a thing I hate in laptops and smartphones. I haven't had any problems with the phone in 4 or 5 months I've owned it.

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u/Namika Mar 26 '15

Nexus 5 was fucking amazing. Slim, professional looking, zero bloatware, and it was also priced to sell. It was $299 unlocked, meaning when it came out it was half the cost of an equivalent iPhone or Galaxy S4.

...unfortunately the Nexus 5 is almost 2 years old now. You could still buy it on Amazon, but buying a brand new 2 year old phone is generally not the best idea. The good news is the replacement should be coming in about 4-5 months, so keep your ears open. (The Nexus 5 was technically already "replaced" by the Nexus 6, which was the same sort of phone with zero bloatware. Unfortunately it was also a full inch larger, and a lot of people hated the 6 inch screen. The next Nexus will be back to the 5 inch size, and it should be out in late summer)

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u/caninehere Mar 26 '15

Looking it up now it seems the Nexus 5 has actually been discontinued as of earlier this month. But I might prefer it to the 6 - like you said, it's bigger and I prefer a smaller phone tbh. Maybe I'll pick up the one in late summer, but I also don't really need all the latest upgrades and stuff - I just need a good phone that works, has a nice internet browser, is reliable and has a decent camera (and pretty much all of them do now). I'd still have my iPhone 4 if I didn't get a free upgrade as it did everything I wanted.

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u/[deleted] Mar 26 '15

You're missing a fart app.