Why bloatware could be slowing up your computer – and how to fix it
Bloatware is a curse on modern devices, but there are ways to reduce its impact .
When you buy a new computer, smartphone or tablet, there’s a natural excitement about turning it on for the first time.
It’ll load up (possibly with a few installation setup steps to navigate) and present a desktop interface which you might expect to be completely clear of software.
However, that’s rarely the case.
Nowadays, alongside their essential operating systems, consumer electronics tend to be peppered with software packages pre-installed at the manufacturer’s discretion.
In other words, you don’t get a say about whether they’re present or not.
You might be able to hide them from view or disable them, but they’re so deeply embedded in the operating system that they’re often impossible to delete.
This is a relatively modern concept known as bloatware, and it’s intensely annoying.
Losing the space race
Although it’s often a low priority among consumers, internal storage is critically important – especially on smartphones and tablets where space tends to be at a premium.
There are brand new smartphones on sale today which have only 64GB of storage.
When you consider that the Android operating system (OS) alone can consume up to 20GB of space, that doesn’t leave a great deal of room for everything else.
Google Chrome occupies 4GB by itself, Google Play Services is over 2GB, and social media platforms like Instagram will consume a gigabyte.
That’s before accumulated cache files and temporary data begins to expand each app’s footprint.
Purchase a Samsung Galaxy smartphone and you’ll find Samsung Vision Model (1.37GB), Samsung Language Core (1.13GB) and Personal Data Intelligence (1.17GB) in residence.
The latter is alongside Android System Intelligence (432MB) and AICore (1.5GB).
It’s unlikely you’ve even heard of any of these utilities, but they’re all wired into the OS and can’t be deleted unless you root the device and tinker with the operating system.
Rooting (also known as jailbreaking) is entirely legal, but it exposes your device to safety risks and will automatically invalidate any remaining manufacturer warranty.
It may also be harder to sell an old computer or smartphone at a later date if it’s been rooted.
What’s the point of bloatware?
Bloatware is chosen by manufacturers and generally suits their interests rather than the consumer’s, regardless of how it’s marketed.
Samsung wants people to upload health data to its own fitness tools rather than Strava or Google, not least because it could ultimately increase sales of Galaxy Watches.
Data is a valuable commodity, and knowing people’s fitness routines/goals/issues offers bountiful scope for upselling, targeted advertising and selling this data to third parties.
These paid partnerships, advertisements and data harvesting deals are a lucrative additional income stream over and above the purchase price of the devices themselves.
On computers and laptops, bloatware is often used to try and reduce custom for competitor products, targeting their detriment as much as the OEM’s benefit.
How to tackle bloatware
As mentioned above, bloatware usually can’t be deleted – though that’s not always the case.
Start by exploring a new device and viewing the details of every piece of non-essential software.
Check whether it can be deleted, and if so, consider if it’s ever likely to offer value. If not, erase it – it’s hard to miss something you’ve never had or used.
Even if bloatware can’t be deleted, look to minimise its impact.
Delete shortcuts and desktop icons, hide apps and ensure as far as possible that these software packages aren’t being given any information that will cause their footprint to expand.
Sometimes it’s possible to disable software which can’t be deleted, ensuring it isn’t consuming any system resources other than memory.
On cheaper or more basic devices, bloatware might significantly diminish your scope to store your own media files and install new software.
Tackle the former issue by outsourcing data storage to the cloud – work files to Microsoft OneDrive, MP3s to Google Drive and so forth.
The latter may be solvable if your hardware accepts additional storage through SD cards, or if you have sufficient ports to leave an external flash drive permanently plugged in.
