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Google to Trim Android Bloatware a Bit

Aug 24, 2015, 7:33 AM by Eric M. Zeman

Android device owners will soon see fewer Google-branded apps on their smartphones. The company has altered its requirements and phone makers will no longer be forced to stick Google+, Play Games, Newsstand, and Play Books on their smartphones, according to sources cited by the Wall Street Journal. The change comes in response to an investigation the European Commission is conducting into Google's potential monopolistic business practices. Google has long required handset makers to include a series of core apps, such as Gmail, Google Maps, Calendar, and the Play Store. The list of these required apps has grown over the years. Unwanted apps — especially those that cannot be deleted — are often referred to as bloatware. The EU saw the presence of these unwanted and unremovable apps as unfair competition to third-party apps that do the same (or similar) thing. Google has not commented on the matter in any official way. The news was first reported by Android Central.

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Brad K

Aug 26, 2015, 1:36 PM

What's next?

Are they going to stop pizza places from including toppings because of how unfair it is for pepperoni sales at the local market?

Shirts probably shouldn't include buttons then because it's unfair to third party button makers.

If they want to include extras in their product then let them. Obviously people are happier with their product over the competition, givin their market share. If people really don't like it then buy an iPhone or Blackberry or a Windows Phone. If enough start doing that, Google will respond accordingly.

T Bone

Aug 24, 2015, 11:31 AM

Google is a monopoly

Google has 68% of the smartphone market in the US and closer to 80% overseas, and they do use their position of dominance to try to squelch competition. There's really no question of that. Windows Phone only has about 2% market share, hardly a monopoly.

And they are a monopoly in many other areas besides smartphones. They have a monopoly on search engines (by one estimate more than 90% of ALL internet traffic goes through Google), they have a monopoly in online video (when was the last time someone sent you a video link to a site other than YouTube?), they have a monopoly in maps and navigation apps (who uses Bing Maps, or Yahoo! Maps, or even Mapquest?), and they keep expanding into more and more areas.

Brad K

I think your confused to what a monopoly is. A monopoly is the exclusive possession or control of the supply or trade in a commodity or service. You literally said they have a monopoly in maps and navigation then immediately contradicted yourself by...
(continues)

Jaden10

Aug 24, 2015, 8:40 AM

What Monopoly!?!?!

Google is NOT Microsoft! You also have Apple (Which is a monolith unto it's self), BlackBerry (Who was the king of Smartphones at one point), Microsoft who is King of the Desktop's. The EU needs to worry about there internal issues, like fixing Greece. Which is more important then a damned OS.

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