Samsung’s Galaxy S6 may unbundle the bloatware to win buyers back

BY GreenBot Staff

Published 29 Jan 2015

Samsung may go easy on the bloatware in its Galaxy S6 as the company tries to revitalize its sagging smartphone business.

Unnamed sources tell SamMobile that Samsung’s next flagship won’t have nearly as much pre-loaded software as previous Galaxy phones. Instead, Samsung will reportedly offer these apps features as optional downloads. There’s no word on exactly which apps Samsung plans to cut, but SamMobile speculates that a hful of core apps like S Health will remain on board.

This isn’t the first report of leaner software from Samsung . A couple weeks ago, a source told BusinessKorea that Samsung was aiming to “get rid of unnecessary functions” have a simpler interface “at the level of ’s Nexus 6.”

’s Nexus phones run stock Android with no additional software from the phone maker. ile additional features from phone makers aren’t always a bad thing—see Motorola’s Moto X, for example—phones that hew closer to stock Android typically run smoother receive faster updates. e-loading less software also frees up more storage space for things that the user actually wants.

The story behind the story: though Samsung is still the largest Android phone maker, it has struggled mightily over the last year as sales profits have plummeted. Its flagship Galaxy S5 phone lags behind the previous model. Rival Apple’s sales have soared, has achieved its own sales records with the flagship G3. In emerging markets, Samsung is getting squeezed by competitors like Huawei, novo, Xiaomi, all of which posted big gains last year.

l of these trends set the stage for a big reboot from Samsung, with company executives admitting that they need to “fundamentally reform” their product portfolio. Software would be a great place to start, given that people hardly use Samsung’s bloatware to begin with.