Bloatware is the bane of many mobile users’ lives, and in fact, you’d be hard-pushed to find anybody who is in favor of having immovable, mandatory apps taking up precious storage space even if they’re not wanted nor needed. But in a story that will surely be the subject of a massive backlash across the Android community, a newly rolled-out service will begin to allow both device manufacturers and network operators to "post-load" apps without the permission of the owner.
Whereas pre-loaded apps are those that you’re graced with when you first run your device, and cannot get rid of, post-loaded apps work similarly in that they can’t be removed – even if you don’t require them. The added controversy with post-loaded apps, however, is that they can appear at any time, install apparently without your permission, and command space that you might have utilized for content that you actually wanted.
It sounds almost criminal that this should even be the case, and while many of us have long since battled against the swathes of pre-installed apps hoarding storage space at will, it’ll soon apparently be flanked by the phenomenon of post-installed apps.
Digital Turbine’s "Ignite" service has been created to make the process of post-loading apps easier for both carrier and manufacturer, and with many users already embroiled in a constant, cache-clearing battle to preserve every last megabyte, this system is likely to serve as the proverbial red rag to a baying mob of Android-wielding bulls.
I’d certainly count myself among the hordes of angry Android users if I began seeing apps pop up without my say-so, and according to Forbes, Verizon and T-Mobile are already on board and could begin shipping apps in this manner at any time.
Gaining a large install base is what many app developers, publishers, and other purveyors of such content and services yearn for. But just having an app icon on a large number of devices is not enough, as Microsoft found out a few years back when Internet Explorer began hemorrhaging users to Google and Mozilla, and if I personally had apps appearing on my own device that I couldn’t budge, I’d make a point of never using them based on what I would deem to be malpractice.
This is obviously a touchy subject, so I’d love to hear your thoughts on the matter, and if you have a comment to make, please do so via the usual mediums below.
(Source: Forbes)
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