The one cause I do not purchase Samsung telephones is bloatware

As , Samsung is a juggernaut of the smartphone business. Even in North America, the place Apple’s iPhone reigns supreme, it controls slightly below 1 / 4 of the market, relegating manufacturers like Google and Motorola to also-ran standing. Simply primarily based on the percentages, it is protected to say that should you’re searching for an Android system as a substitute of an iPhone 16, you are in all probability going to decide on a Galaxy S25 over a Pixel 9.

Whereas my every day driver is an iPhone 16 Professional, I’ve owned a couple of Android telephones previously. I typically take into account making the swap again, notably once I see the digital camera specs on some newer units. However whereas Samsung is among the corporations main within the specs race, I am steering away from the model for one main cause: bloatware. And sadly, I do not assume it should change course anytime quickly.

The bloatware dilemma

A singular proposition is not all the time a very good one

For me, the main downside is One UI, Samsung’s Android pores and skin. There are literally lots of sensible benefits to it — it allows a couple of issues that are not but constructed into Android, such because the Now Bar, which mimics Apple’s Smart Stack. On some units, it is important for Samsung’s multitasking and AI capabilities. And naturally, it provides each Samsung system a singular look, filled with rounded icons and signature fonts. I am largely onboard, irrespective of my complaints about particular person options just like the Now Temporary.

The downside of One UI is that if you need the most recent model of Android, it is an impediment. In the intervening time, as an illustration, the one Samsung units with the non-beta model of One UI 8 — primarily based on Android 16 — are the Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Z Flip 7. Samsung is planning to convey the software program to extra units in September, however should you’ve received a Galaxy S25 Extremely, all you are able to do till then is envy your pal with the Pixel 9, who received Android 16 earlier this summer season.

Comparable delays are current with different Android manufacturers, to be honest. However the extra software program you layer on prime of units, the slower updates are prone to roll out, and lots of what Samsung does feels extraneous. I would a lot moderately have “naked” Android 16 as quickly as potential than one thing custom-made a number of months later. Certainly, if I ever do bounce again into Android, it is in all probability going to be with a Pixel, since I have been spoiled by Apple’s capacity to replace all its suitable units on day one. iPhone 14 homeowners would naturally be irritated in the event that they needed to wait till subsequent 12 months to improve to iOS 26, regardless of having completely suitable {hardware}.

One UI can be straightforward to forgive if Samsung averted loading every cellphone with an arsenal of apps which are redundant with Google’s, or simply plain pointless. There’s little cause to make use of SmartThings in your good residence when Amazon Alexa and Google Residence are much better supported. For well being and health, Google Match and Well being Join cowl sufficient of the identical floor as Samsung Well being. You get Samsung Pockets as a substitute of Google Pockets, and do not even get me began on fluff like Samsung Free and Samsung TV Plus.

In some circumstances no less than, it is potential to disregard these apps, however utilizing a Samsung cellphone all the time appears like I am indulging in a CEO’s deep need to repeat Apple’s walled backyard. Apple has an excuse to fill its telephones with proprietary apps, nevertheless — iOS is its personal working system. With out first-party software program, key capabilities would both be lacking or susceptible to being taken away at any second. Likewise, Android is already well-stocked with the whole lot it wants — which is one thing most cellphone makers appear to have accepted. The Nothing Cellphone 3, as an illustration, has little or no bloatware. The worst offenders are Nothing X and Important Area, which nonetheless have no direct analogues in Google’s library. If you are going to add to an OS, there ought to be some simple worth to doing it.

Will Samsung ever ditch the bloat?

By no means say by no means, however…

Wanting a disaster, Samsung is unlikely to jettison One UI. The obvious cause is that it could take an incredible quantity of effort and time to decouple the options Galaxy homeowners genuinely need, and a few of them won’t survive the transition to impartial apps, regardless of the flexibleness of Android. Furthermore, Samsung has tied its company identification to the software program — if the Galaxy S26 instantly regarded lots like a Google or OnePlus cellphone, some customers is likely to be extra inclined to see these different merchandise as equal alternate options (gasp). To be constant, Samsung may additionally have to revamp the interfaces of non-Android merchandise. That form of shake-up is commonly a non-starter for smaller companies, not to mention megacorporations price a whole lot of billions.

The decoupling challenge carries over to some key apps. The Galaxy Watch presently requires Samsung Well being, and dropping SmartThings for Alexa or Google Residence would wreak havoc with the corporate’s good home equipment. Transitioning to different apps is doable, although, so the overriding issue is sort of definitely the push for ecosystem management. For those who’ve received a watch that will not work with out a Samsung cellphone, you are in all probability going to stay with Samsung typically for some time. For those who’ve received a Samsung equipment, you’ll be able to safely ignore SmartThings, but it surely creates the temptation to take a position extra in that platform to get essentially the most out of it. One factor I take pleasure in about my Google TV is the flexibility to set a film night time scene for the whole room with a single voice command.

I truly do not begrudge Samsung an excessive amount of for what it is doing. That will be hypocritical, given the variety of Apple merchandise I personal that successfully demand an iPhone or an iPad. However one of many strengths of Android is meant to be the liberty from lock-in, and Samsung continues to lean too arduous within the mistaken course.