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How to Get rid of the bloatware?

jungleexplorer

jungleexplorer

Android Enthusiast
Okay, so I just got me a S5 Active. First thing I have to say is, HOLY LIVING CRAB this thing is loaded with BLOATWARE! Between AT&T, Samsung and Google, they hardly left any room for me to put my apps on here. It's nuts!

So my question is, how much of this crab can I get rid of and how do I do it?
 
Here is my system info.

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Now I am remembering why I abandoned Samsung phones to begin with. There should be a law against what they do to their phones. I don't mind them loading them with crapware, but making so you can't Uninstal them, should be illegal. It's like buying a house and previous owner won't let you change out the furniture and apliances.
 
I think I had over 51 apps disabled on my S5 Active. It's just as much the carrier and their branding as it is Samsung. Switched to a unbranded unlocked Motorola X Pure and have been a happy camper ever since. Think I only had a few Google apps disabled before I flashed a custom ROM without any bloat.
 
jungleexplorer said:
Now I am remembering why I abandoned Samsung phones to begin with. There should be a law against what they do to their phones. I don't mind them loading them with crapware, but making so you can't Uninstal them, should be illegal. It's like buying a house and previous owner won't let you change out the furniture and apliances.
Click to expand...

The rest of the world can root their phones and do what they like with them... except for AT&T users, who are prevented from doing this by AT&T. Nothing to do with Samsung. See, #1.6 of 42 Galaxy S5 models - Dummies Guide.

Kim Jong-un, Supreme Leader of North Korea, wants the same totalitarian control over his people that AT&T has over its customers.

 
jungleexplorer said:
Now I am remembering why I abandoned Samsung phones to begin with. There should be a law against what they do to their phones. I don't mind them loading them with crapware, but making so you can't Uninstal them, should be illegal. It's like buying a house and previous owner won't let you change out the furniture and apliances.
Click to expand...

That's the price and penalty of owning a carrier subsidized phone I guess. Rather like buying a house at a reduced price, but with the proviso that you can't change out the furniture and appliances.
 
Well, I just bought a Sony Xperia Z3 international version a few months ago. I wanted to love it but It had the worst antenna reception in the world, the speakers were horrible, the led flash was useless, and the camera mediocre. It was fast and had very little bloatware and I did like the feel of it. But unfortunately, the screen went out and it was going to cost $130 to get it replaced and I was not going to spend that on a phone with so many negs. I found this S5 Active on ebay for $100 so I bought it. I pretty much hate it, but I am without funds to go a different direction at the moment, so I have to make do.
 
Jfalls63 said:
I think I had over 51 apps disabled on my S5 Active. It's just as much the carrier and their branding as it is Samsung. Switched to a unbranded unlocked Motorola X Pure and have been a happy camper ever since. Think I only had a few Google apps disabled before I flashed a custom ROM without any bloat.
Click to expand...

Can I installed a custom bloatwate free rom on this S5?
 
Nada. AT&T locked the bootloader up tight.
I was able to root mine because it was on 4.4.2 when I took it out of the box and update it to 5.0 and kept root. Devs lost interest and development stopped. No working root method for 5.0 and higher.
 
I love carrier bashing. It's my favorite past time.


This is from the s5 user manual....


The software, interfaces, documentation, data, and content provided for your Equipment as may be updated, downloaded, or replaced by feature enhancements, software updates, system restore software or data generated or provided subsequently by AT&T (hereinafter “Software”) is licensed, not sold, to you by AT&T and/or its licencors/suppliers for use only on your Equipment. Your use of the Software shall comply with its intended purposes as determined by us, all applicable laws, and AT&T’s Acceptable Use Policy at: https://m.att.com/shopmobile/legal/terms.aup.html

You are not permitted to use the Software in any manner not authorized by this License. You may not (and you agree not to enable others to) copy, decompile, reverse engineer, disassemble, reproduce, attempt to derive the source code of, decrypt, modify, defeat protective mechanisms, combine with other software, or create derivative works of the Software or any portion thereof. You may not rent, lease, lend, sell, redistribute, transfer or sublicense the Software or any portion thereof. You agree the Software contains proprietary content and information owned by AT&T and/or its licensors/suppliers.

AT&T and its licensors/suppliers reserve the right to change, suspend, terminate, remove, impose limits on the use or access to, or disable access to, the Software at any time without notice and will have no liability for doing so. You acknowledge AT&T’s Software licensors/suppliers are intended third party beneficiaries of this license, including the indemnification, limitation of liability, disclaimer of warranty provisions found in this Agreement.
Click to expand...
 
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Humm.... When I buy a phone, I buy it for the Hardware, not the Software. This user agreement is a software agreement, not hardware agreement. It does not say that they are leasing phone. It says they are leasing the software. So it does not deny that the user owns the hardware. And if a person owns the hardware, they should have the freedom to put whatever software they want on it or take it off.

This passage from the user manual says nothing about getting rid of their software. I my opinion the statements cannot be legally enforced since the use of the software is not voluntary. Since they put the software on the phone and make it impossible for you to take it off, then they cannot argue that you voluntarily entered into the user agreement with them. It was a contract made under duress. I don't want any of their software at all, but because it is on my phone, I am technically using it, whether I want to or not. To put it simply, you can't stick a gun to someones head and force them to use something and then claim they agreed to use it.
 
jungleexplorer said:
Humm.... When I buy a phone, I buy it for the Hardware, not the Software. This user agreement is a software agreement, not hardware agreement. It does not say that they are leasing phone. It says they are leasing the software. So it does not deny that the user owns the hardware. And if a person owns the hardware, they should have the freedom to put whatever software they want on it or take it off.

This passage from the user manual says nothing about getting rid of their software. I my opinion the statements cannot be legally enforced since the use of the software is not voluntary. Since they put the software on the phone and make it impossible for you to take it off, then they cannot argue that you voluntarily entered into the user agreement with them. It was a contract made under duress. I don't want any of their software at all, but because it is on my phone, I am technically using it, whether I want to or not. To put it simply, you can't stick a gun to someones head and force them to use something and then claim they agreed to use it.
Click to expand...
AT$T doesn't release firmware packages and with the locked bootloader.......
You could erase the software, but there is nothing to replace it with.
 
jungleexplorer said:
Humm.... When I buy a phone, I buy it for the Hardware, not the Software. This user agreement is a software agreement, not hardware agreement. It does not say that they are leasing phone. It says they are leasing the software. So it does not deny that the user owns the hardware. And if a person owns the hardware, they should have the freedom to put whatever software they want on it or take it off.
Click to expand...


Do you truly own the hardware though, given that this S5 was supplied and locked to AT&T, and didn't have to pay the full cost of it upfront, i.e. it's subsidized subject to a mandatory two year contract. And if you default on the contract, AT&T will make it useless as a phone by blacklisting it, so your hardware basically becomes a small WiFi tablet or a paperweight.

See also Note7, and Samsung remotely neutering and crippling people's personal property, i.e. the forced 60% charging update.
 
You must have missed the part where I said I bought this phone off eBay. It is unlocked. I have not signed a contract with any carrier since the mid 1990s. I buy all my phones straight out and unlocked. So none of what you said applies to me.
 
Good point. Also, a large portion of that software is in fact open source. Android itself is free! The hardware that runs it is not... and the UI and Bloat is the proprietary software they speak of.

Edit: You jumped in on me sorry. The phone was originally an AT&T that was then unlocked?

Not sure I've ever seen a true non carrier branded Samsung device.

I think "Nexus" was the key word there too. ;)
 
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jungleexplorer said:
You must have missed the part where I said I bought this phone off eBay. It is unlocked. I have not signed a contract with any carrier since the mid 1990s. I buy all my phones straight out and unlocked. So none of what you said applies to me.
Click to expand...

A G900A, AT&T version wasn't it? Which means it was still supplied by them originally(very likely subsidized), and is subject to AT&T's Stalinist control and demands. It's your personal property, but AT&T wants to make sure you're locked out of it though, like not possible to root and remove their stuff. Rather like you bought a house, but the realtor won't let you have the keys to get inside it though, to remove their garbage to make space for your furniture and appliances.

I just never buy any carrier version devices, even in China.
 
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Hi Bg260, I have a factory unlocked phone on the Giffgaff network, there is only Samsung bloatware on mine definitely no carrier bloatware, even so I have rooted my phone so I can get rid of some of Samsung's rubbish. Phil
 
As the Galaxy S5 approaches its 3rd birthday and Samsung and carriers end their support with Marshmallow and owners are coming to the end of their contracts, we are seeing a lot of pre-owned S5's available. These Samsung Galaxy S5 phones can prove to be an excellent bargain for those who wish to root them and install the latest, fast, debloated, custom ROMs for Android 7.0, Nougat, and receive ongoing Google security patches every month. These will continue, in my experience, to be updated for another 2 years or even longer. Infact, I have a 5 year old Galaxy S2 that is still being updated. :)

However, for the AT&T models, the carrier branded AT&T, G900A/G870A, it is the end of the road I am afraid, in terms of support from its carrier and the ability to root it, debloat and update it. This was always going to be the case, since I tried to warn readers, 2 years ago, about this model's shortcomings, in #1.6 of 42 Galaxy S5 models - Dummies Guide.

What AT&T, G900A/G870A, owners have now, is as good as it gets. :(
 
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