one man's "crap"...

Posted Nov 18, 2010 20:18 UTC (Thu) by dmarti (subscriber, #11625)
In reply to: Did Google Arm Its Own Enemies With Android? (HBR) by doink
Parent article: Did Google Arm Its Own Enemies With Android? (HBR)

ReadWriteWeb: Pre-loaded mobile applications - the so-called "junk" apps (aka "crapware") that come pre-installed on mobile handsets - aren't as despised as you might think.

one man's "crap"...

Posted Nov 18, 2010 20:45 UTC (Thu) by error27 (subscriber, #8346) [Link] (1 responses)

It's as if the author of that article and the people who answered the poll are speaking two different languages.

"Only 35% said they did not use pre-loaded apps" That doesn't mean they throught the pre-installed apps are "bloated", it means that they only use their phone to make phone calls. Anyway, most people have no way of telling the difference between stock Android apps and stuff that was added by their wireless provider so the poll is not very meaningful in that sense.

The study shows that less than 5% jail break their phones so the pre-installed software matters a lot.

I also think most people probably are not comfortable installing new apps. I don't have a smart phone anymore but I tried installing software on a blackberry and it was a royal pain. That was 3 years ago so probably it's better now.

To me the study shows that people care about their software but they don't know an easy way to fix it if it's not installed correctly to begin with. Often there is no easy fix. Wireless providers have been known to deliberately brick your phone if you try change the software.

built-in apps and market apps

Posted Nov 22, 2010 3:51 UTC (Mon) by skierpage (guest, #70911) [Link]

Both the phone manufacturer and the wireless provider not only add apps, they replace apps. E.g. our HTC Evo and LG Optimus S both run Froyo 2.2 and both have a "Clock" app, but they are unrelated apps with different features, e.g. one has a countdown timer, the other doesn't; they have different Music and Contacts apps as well.

Installing new apps is very easy. The problems lie in the dozens of available apps for every search term, and uncertainty from the Android permission model (does a stopwatch program need to "directly call phone numbers", have "full Internet access", and "record audio, take pictures"?); but those are better problems to have than few apps and no security model.

I would like all of Google's Android apps to be available and heavily featured in the Android Market, both to make it easy to retreat from a carrier's customized skinned phone to the default apps without having to root or re-image, and to set a high bar for third-party apps.