Published Mar 2, 2026, 8:00 AM EST
Rajesh started following the latest happenings in the world of Android around the release of the Nexus One and Samsung Galaxy S. After flashing custom ROMs and kernels on his beloved Galaxy S, he started writing about Android for a living. He uses the latest Samsung or Pixel flagship as his daily driver. And yes, he carries an iPhone as a secondary device. Rajesh has been writing for Android Police since 2021, covering news, how-tos, and features. Based in India, he has previously written for Neowin, AndroidBeat, Times of India, iPhoneHacks, MySmartPrice, and MakeUseOf. When not working, you will find him mindlessly scrolling through X, playing with new AI models, or going on long road trips. You can reach out to him on Twitter or drop a mail at rajesh@androidpolice.com.
I switch phones at least once or twice a year, and every new device comes loaded with a barrage of preinstalled apps. I mostly ignore them since they are duplicate browsers, preloaded games, or carrier apps that I did not ask for.
But over time, the constant notifications and the cluttered app drawer started to wear me down. And so, I finally decided to clean house — and the difference surprised me.
Most Android phones no longer ship with as much bloatware as before. Or at least that's what it looks like at first glance.
Gone are the days of half a dozen carrier-branded apps. However, that does not mean bloatware has gone — it has simply changed form.
Unwanted carrier apps and tools have been replaced with duplicate app stores, browsers, texting apps, galleries, and more. You may not find many preloaded games anymore, but there are still apps and cloud services you didn't ask for.
It's still clutter; just more legitimate clutter. And that's a bigger problem.
When I set up a new phone, I see two browser apps. It does not immediately trigger as junk in my brain, and so I let it be. After all, more choice is always good, right?
Eventually, I began to notice the problems these duplicate apps, which are just bloatware in disguise, were creating.
Every time my wife used my phone, she'd use the wrong browser. Or use the preloaded gallery app instead of Google Photos and then complain about not finding previously shared albums. That created confusion.
Plus, I always replace certain preinstalled apps on every new phone. This added to the chaos.
Another annoying problem? Every time I open a PDF, image, or Word file, the "Open with" dialog pops up with multiple options — many of them preloaded apps I never use.
Instead of seeing a simple, predictable list of the apps I actually rely on, I have to pause, scan through the clutter, and pick the right one before tapping it.
All this made me realize that bloatware is not only about apps occupying unwanted storage or running background processes.
Modern bloatware silently ruins the experience by trying to offer you more choice — one that you never asked for in the first place. They try to create multiple ecosystems, making the phone more complicated than it needs to be.
There's another form of bloatware on most Android phones today. It disguises itself as a feature that automatically changes your lock screen wallpaper.
When the pop-up for the feature first appears, it's easy to dismiss it as harmless — or even enable it, thinking it might be useful. A rotating wallpaper with news, entertainment, or shopping suggestions sounds appealing at first.
In reality, though, features like Glance turn the lock screen into a content feed you never asked for. So, instead of a clean, distraction-free space, you're met with trending stories, ads, and unwanted recommendations.
Things eventually reached my tipping point. What felt like a minor annoyance initially became an unwanted friction.
So, I finally decided to take the time and fix the issue for good. Unlike in the past, I did not have to root my phone or install any advanced tools.
Instead, I opened Settings > Apps and went through the preinstalled apps one by one.
Anything I couldn't uninstall, I disabled. And anything that could not be disabled, I turned off its notification. All this took me only 10 minutes, but the difference was immediate.
The phone didn't suddenly become twice as fast. Its battery life didn't magically double either. But over time, the cleanup made a noticeable difference. It reduced friction and finally put an end to those little moments of confusion.
Now, when my wife uses my phone, she does not open the wrong gallery app or the browser. Photos opens directly in Google Photos. Everything works predictably and reliably, and there's no second-guessing.
Even better, unwanted notifications stopped cluttering my phone's notification panel. I was no longer dismissing notifications from apps that I never used. As someone who receives hundreds of alerts daily, this made a noticeable difference. It reduced the chaos in my life.
My phone's app drawer finally looked intentional instead of chaotic. It made me realize how long I had been tolerating silent bloatware without even questioning it.
After doing all this, I turned my attention to something even more intrusive: the lock screen. Turning off Glance made it mine again. No more headlines, ads disguised as personalized recommendations, or constantly changing wallpapers competing for my attention.
The lock screen went back to doing what it was supposed to: showing the time and unread notifications.
Cleaning up my phone made me realize that removing bloatware is not just about uninstalling unwanted preinstalled apps to free up storage. It is about removing the friction and unwanted distraction that modern bloatware poses itself as.
It also made me rethink what bloatware really means on modern Android phones. It's no longer limited to obvious preinstalled apps. It can hide inside system features or present itself as more choices that only complicate the experience.
Removing these unwanted additional layers helped make my phone cleaner, less chaotic, and more personal.
