Samsung’s One UI is a sleek and user-friendly interface, but it’s often marred by unnecessary bloatware. While having choices is great, Galaxy phones already come equipped with the best Google apps, and most people find Samsung’s bloatware apps to be redundant or feature-packed with unnecessary bells and whistles.
To enhance your phone’s performance and declutter your app drawer, let’s explore six Samsung bloatware apps that you can easily disable. Keep in mind that you won’t be able to uninstall them completely, but you can always re-enable them if needed. While these apps might have their admirers, I believe there are better alternatives available on Galaxy phones. Let’s get started!
Samsung Free – Bloated App
Samsung Free is a one-stop content hub that offers irrelevant content. You can easily find these on platforms like the Google Play Store or the Samsung Galaxy Store. The app is divided into Watch, Listen, Read, and Play tabs for easier navigation. But in each tab, you will find cluttered sub-menus and tabs. This makes the user experience overwhelming.
The Watch tab features free channels and a built-in scheduler. On the other hand, the Listen tab provides a curated list of free podcasts from various platforms. The Read tab offers the latest news articles, and the Play tab features casual mobile games. However, Samsung Free is essentially a bloated app. There’s no compelling reason to use it when you have better alternatives readily available.
Samsung Cloud – A Limited Backup Solution
Backing up your Galaxy phone is crucial for data security. Considering that, it would be ideal if Samsung Cloud could handle this task seamlessly. Unfortunately, Samsung Cloud falls short. It offers safe, 24-hour backups for your calendar, contacts, and internet settings. It neglects to back up your gallery, which is likely your most valuable data.
Since Samsung Cloud doesn’t safeguard your precious photos and videos, users are compelled to rely on third-party apps like Microsoft’s OneDrive, adding an extra layer of complexity to the backup process. It’s more logical to use Google Drive as your default backup system, as it stores all your information and allows you to access your photos and other data from other apps within the Google ecosystem.
Global Goals – You Can Donate Through Other Methods
Samsung Global Goals is perhaps my least favorite Samsung app. It’s mostly due to its approach of using a multibillion-dollar corporation’s platform to lecture users about sustainability and solicit donations. The app aims to improve the world by encouraging users to commit to sustainability goals. But it seems that Samsung believes these goals can be solved solely through monetary donations.
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A genuine sustainability app should focus on its stated purpose. But Samsung can’t resist the temptation to offer “free” wallpapers and other content to incentivize donations. Also, the app allows users to enable Enhanced ads from third-party companies. This allows them to raise more money for the cause and promote their products.
Samsung’s lowest profit in 15 years was “only” 4.9 billion dollars last year. So, it would be more meaningful for the company to use the money saved by excluding charging blocks from their devices. This would make them better contribute to these sustainability causes.
Members – You Don’t Need to Be a Member
Samsung Members masquerades as a diagnostic app, but it’s far from effective in providing solutions and only tests functions that you’re already aware of. The app offers a mere ten seconds to test wired charging by plugging in your charger, and you can test your camera by opening the camera app, but only after granting the app permission to use it.
The other side of the Members app encourages users to join the Samsung community, providing exclusive access to support articles, forums, and the Galaxy shop. However, most users find it more efficient to conduct quick internet searches to troubleshoot phone issues, and the irrelevant information on the Samsung Members app is not worth sifting through.
Gaming Hub – Alternatives Are Better
The Google Play Store, Samsung Store, and Samsung Free app offer a vast selection of great games. But Galaxy users also have Gaming Hub, which performs the same functions but not as effectively. The app categorizes titles into Puzzle, Arcade, Dexterity, and Sports, but these categories hardly make a difference due to the overwhelming and visually unappealing interface.
Dedicated gamers might appreciate the shortcuts to the mobile games they’ve played in the past 30 days. However, most users will likely find it easier to access these games directly from their home screen rather than navigating through a cluttered app. The game booster is a valuable feature that reduces battery consumption and optimizes settings, but it’s unfortunately buried under a lot of unnecessary content.
AR Zone – Niche Bloatware
Samsung bloatware apps don’t get more niche than the AR Zone, which caters to a specific group of users who enjoy creating custom emojis and stickers of themselves. The AR Zone suite includes a collection of apps like AR Doodle, Emoji Studio, Emoji Camera, Emoji Stickers, and Deco Pic, all of which offer limited usefulness for most users and should be optional extras rather than preinstalled apps.
While many buyers would appreciate a built-in ruler on their phones, the Quick Measure app in AR Zone has a finicky operation that can be frustrating. The need to move the camera around before starting slows down the process, and its imprecise measurements make it more of a fun toy than a reliable tool for professionals.