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South Korea Rules Pre-Installed Phone Bloatware Must Be Deletable (zdnet.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the just-the-basics dept.

New industry guidelines in South Korea will allow smartphone users the option of deleting unnecessary pre-installed bloatware. "The move aims to rectify an abnormal practice that causes inconvenience to smartphone users and causes unfair competition among industry players," said the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning, in a press release. ZDNet reports: The measure will also help give users more data storage and improve battery life, said the ministry. Under the new guidelines, telcos are required to make most of their pre-installed apps deletable except for four necessary items related to Wi-Fi connectivity, near-field communication (NFC), the customer service center and the app store.

4 of 112 comments (clear)

  1. That means you can even delete the dialer by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    So operators are completely out of the loop if you use data only and use vpn and a VOIP dialer. This could work for Android but what about iOS?

  2. Can we make rules for removable batteries too? by fustakrakich · · Score: 5, Interesting

    And headphone jacks, let's bring those back...

    When the market fails us, call in the cavalry

    --
    “He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
  3. Google probably lobbied for app store exemption by knorthern+knight · · Score: 1, Interesting

    Google Play probably runs 24x7 in the background so that it's "instantly available" when you click on it, instead of having to wait a second or 2 while it loads. Of course this drains the battery and makes other apps slower because Google Play is "stealing cycles" in the background.

    --

    I'm not repeating myself
    I'm an X window user; I'm an ex-Windows user
    1. Re:Google probably lobbied for app store exemption by wierd_w · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Agreed, I was point out that you can potentially get the playstore back again if somebody deletes it.

      (and a properly backed up system image will have a legit copy in the backup.)

      Sideloading is intended for testing apps, and for installing private apps that are not on the app store. However, it can be used to get out of the sticky problem that was posed-- what happens when end user deletes the store app.