Droid X bloat rant

[Deleted User]

I have been a big fan of android since I heard about it a few years ago and when my carrier finnaly got a android phone I jumped at it. The day the Motorola droid came out I bought it.

The Motorola Droid is a great device and I am really happy with it.

Fast forward last week I bought a Droid X for my girl friend and at first we both thought it was an amazing device. But after using it some more I noticed all the CRAP that comes with the phone.(she will never use skype and all the other junk ) I am mad at google for letting companys like Motorola add all this useless crap on a phone with no way of removing it.

Also the battery only lasts a few hours with only twitter and facebook installed on the device? WTH

With out rooting it does anyone else know a way to remove these apps?

 

[Steven58]

You can't remove CitiID, Blockbuster, and other bloat without root.

Root is easy, but understand that it voids the warranty. There are ways around that, if you know what you are doing. They'll never know you rooted if you need to bring the phone back. Just restore.

 

[drone46]

Blaming Google makes no sense. Android is an open source OS. Meaning that companies like Moto can modify it however they want and put it on their devices. If Google tells them what they can and can not do with it, then its not really open source anymore and Google is no better than Microsoft, Apple, RIM, Palm, etc. If you want to be mad at someone, be mad at Moto and Verizon for adding all the bloat. But what we need to remember is that Moto adds that stuff to make money from the software companies to offset Motos cost of the devices and lower the cost to the end user. If you do not want a phone with all of the bloat, find a Nexus one for sale. If everybody stops buying devices with bloat on them, the manufacturers will get the message and give us more options. But as long as we buy the bloated products, they are going to assume that is what we want and keep pushing it on us. That is how the free market works. The suppliers will supply what we the consumers demand.

Knowing what I know now, If I could go back I would buy one of the many brand new Nexus One's for sale on Ebay and use that. Not because I do not love my DX or because I think that the Nexus one is a better device. I just like the idea that it is a pure Android device. I want Moto and HTC and Samsung and all of the manufacturers to offer us options of the same devices with just basic Android installed. If their UI's are so great, put them up somewhere for download and let us choose if we want them or not.

If I could have anything I wanted, my ideal device would be an HTC EVO on Verizon's network running stock android 2.2 rooted. Launcher Pro as my launcher, beautiful widgets on the main page, widget locker for my lock screens and whatever apps I want. The fact that I can not have that is not Googles fault, it is the phone manufacturers and carriers.

The battery on ALL smart phones are crap and dont last. The Droid X actually tests better than most. Read around the forum and you will see many suggestions of how to extend your battery life.

There is currently no way to remove the bloat without rooting. And even if you do root and remove it, you need to back it up to have any hope of installing future OS updates.

 

[Riverman]

Just install Launcher Pro and hide the apps you don't want to see. The bloatware has never really bothered me. It's just a few apps and some stuff on the home screen that's easily deleted or replaced. I actually like Motorola's News & Weather widget and their toggle widgets for wifi, Bluetooth, airplane mode, and GPS.

 

[Kiwibru]

Having spent a lot of time reading this forum (and others) I have come to the conclusion the best option is to start with either a DX with 2.1 or 2.2 and then root it.
Clean out all the blot ware, add your fav Droid Apps and then live in luxury with the result. The phone will be good to go for the two years you may find in it's life and it will go away when rendered obsolete with new phones coming down the pike.
So what if you can't "upgrade" to the latest updates, many have expressed the many flavors of discontent with those upgrades. I say if the phone works with the apps you want, root it, clean it then use it! If it bricks or dies that is a warranty issue, not the fact that you rooted it and used some of the many apps out there to clean house.

 

[wxman2003]

Most consumers dont think it's bloatware. In fact, many think wow, look at all the applications i'm getting for free. For Motorola its about what sells. If not adding those apps would sell more phones, they would do it. It's about perception. If the consumer percieves they are getting a great deal with all that bloatware, motorola will continue to add it. With that being said, motorola should still give us the option to delete whatever app we want.

 

[in2uition]

Is your g/f using the twitter and facebook widget? I noticed that my battery life was horrid when using these.

The bloat doesn't bother me and I can ignore the crappy Moto skin with LauncherPro.