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Protect Your Android Phone By Killing All Its Crapware
jfruh writes "Like Windows, Android has built a dominant market share because any hardware manufacturer can license it — and as they did with Windows, those manufacturers are loading up Android devices with their own proprietary crapware. Although the process is a bit convoluted, you can get this crapware off your phone — and in doing so you'll actually make the device more secure."
This is why anytime someone says IT (as opposed to CS or engineering), I think moron.
How funny - I get the same impression from people who think IT, CS, and engineering are interchangeable terms.
An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
My Android phone is a pay-as-you-go Virgin Mobile phone. No contract and I pick up a $35 card at the drugstore each month for unlimited data and 200 min voice. I had to give google one of my gmail addresses and some payment info to get set up with their app store, but little else. I specifically browse the web only with Firefox and never sign into any google property with it. Google keeps trying to encourage more Google+ connectivity, and lately every time I acquire something at the Play Store a dialogue pops up with them wanting my cell number for some form of SMS password recovery. The popup has my number all entered in it and it's an OK button click away from them having it. So their software already has the number, and I'm presumably just acknowledging that fact if I click OK.
The privacy issues with Android, since we've all dialed into the googleplex to have a Play Store account, deserve some thought.
I agree. I've twice deleted the google+ accounts i didn't want,
getting rid of an adwords account is even harder.
1. Get a throwaway email address from gmail (or anywhere).
2. Log into your personal account.
3. Send invitation to the new email address.
4. Log out completely from all Google properties.
5. Click on the link in the email (the new address)
6. Select "I already have an account" and continue.
7. This adds the new address to your account.
8. Log out
9. Log back in with the old address.
10. Confirm the addition and promote new user to admin
11. Log out completely.
12. Log in with the new address.
13. Remove your old address from the account
14. Log out completely
15. Proceed to accept invitation to the new account. (Select "I already have an account")
WFT!
This really is one of the better reasons to get an iphone. Apple fought the carriers HARD to get their nickle-and-dime shitware off the iphone, and as a result only ATT was willing to pick up the iphone at first.
Who do none of you fandroids remember the bad old days of carrier phones where built-in features were turned off, replaced by carrier specific crapware and sold back to you at a subscription-only premium? Want music? Maps? Ringtones? Games? Share photos? That will cost you. Each time. And you have to pay a monthly fee just for the privilege of giving us more money each time.
I just got the 5c and it was effortless. (Previously had a 4)Turn on phone, choose restore, punch in icloud credentials Done. All apps, music, photos, settings, accounts all migrate back over. Easy. Done. Nothing I didn't want. (The fingerprint unlock isn't a gimmick by the way. Its fucking amazing. It's literally faster to unlock the phone than punching in a code, and you can easily and consitantly unlock the phone without looking at it)
My co-worker got a galaxy S4 at the same time. Nice looking, huge screen, great display. Loaded to the brim with throw-away features that half work, samsung's really awful attempt at copying icloud, and a full page of ATT shitware that actually makes the phone objectively and subjectively worse. She's still trying to get all of her stuff moved over. - The google services, though, migrated perfectly. Google has their shit down, but they lack the clout to tell carriers to go fuck themselves like apple can.
+10 agree. Google are the NSA in disguise. The internet was built on anonymity and we're going to have to fight to keep it that way.
Maybe we should all start using "Luther Blisset" as our "Real Name" on anything that ask for one ?
Hell let's all actually change our names to Luther Blisset :)
Sky subscribers are morons. They pay to be advertised at !
...there is only cyanogenmod. What is this crapware you speak of?