Less bloatware by this popular phone brand, but still no simple solution to put an end to the other drag
While the Far East contender in the Chinese vs. Western smartphones battle offers an ever-expanding list of reasons why you should ditch Apple, Google, and Samsung (yeah, I'm counting this one as a "Western" brand as well), there are numerous reasons not to.
Xiaomi is one of the brands that offers insane value for money and their top-notch devices are among the very best one can get. However, they (and the rest of the Chinese champions) do come with pre-installed apps on them: the so-called bloatware. Also, some devices show pesky ads in the user interface. Not fun.
Unpacking a camera-centric beast with 100W fast charging capabilities is great, but once that gorgeous display fires up, you're bombarded with a ton of apps and banners that (probably) don't mesmerize you. You need to remove, disable, and hide those: that's a pain in the you-know-what. I'm speaking from experience here.
That's why, when rumors floated about the possibility of Xiaomi adding a simple, single toggle to turn on and off ads, many people rejoiced. However, now's the time to get back to reality. Xiaomi has provided Android Authority with the following statement:
So, less pre-installed apps! That's a promise I expect them to keep, but the lack of a centralized toggle is surely a disappointment. I'm afraid that the claim that such a toggle would be found by "only a small amount of users" doesn't make any sense: of course everybody out there will find it in 30 seconds!
For reference, if a user wants to disable ads on Xiaomi now, they need to do so via disabling the MSA app (buried deep in the settings menu) and then checking each app's settings to disable ads again.
Manufacturers or software developers sometimes include bloatware to promote their apps, make deals with other companies, or provide extra features. These can sometimes clutter the device's interface and make it harder to find the apps you actually want to use.
In many cases, you can't easily remove bloatware, as manufacturers sometimes restrict uninstalling these apps. However, you can often disable them to prevent them from running. Some advanced users even choose to root their devices or use special software to completely remove bloatware, though this can be risky and may void warranties.
Xiaomi is one of the brands that offers insane value for money and their top-notch devices are among the very best one can get. However, they (and the rest of the Chinese champions) do come with pre-installed apps on them: the so-called bloatware. Also, some devices show pesky ads in the user interface. Not fun.
That's why, when rumors floated about the possibility of Xiaomi adding a simple, single toggle to turn on and off ads, many people rejoiced. However, now's the time to get back to reality. Xiaomi has provided Android Authority with the following statement:
We are re-optimizing our business strategy in this regard to improve the user experience through reducing pre-installed apps and content display entry pages. Users should be able to see these results quite soon in our upcoming flagships. However, our philosophy is to make changes that are easily accessible and beneficial to all of our users, so we aren’t currently planning to add a toggle that realistically, only a small amount of users would discover and use.
– Xiaomi responding to Android Authority, July 2024.
In many cases, you can't easily remove bloatware, as manufacturers sometimes restrict uninstalling these apps. However, you can often disable them to prevent them from running. Some advanced users even choose to root their devices or use special software to completely remove bloatware, though this can be risky and may void warranties.
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