Apple will not allow Verizon to preload software on iPhone

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Comments

  • Reply 21 of 96
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post


    Verizon has been a leading proponent of bundled software on its mobile phones, a practice users often deride as "crapware." In addition to forcing its own V CAST mobile music and app store and Navigator subscription GPS software, Verizon has also partnered with others to include apps for things that users can't remove without rooting their BlackBerry and Android phones.

    .







    The iPhone comes with lots of crapware as it is. The stocks app? Weather? They suck and cannot be removed.
  • Reply 22 of 96
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by redbarchetta View Post


    Wikipedia defines it as "Pre-installed software is the software already installed and licensed on a computer bought from an original equipment manufacturer (OEM)," which those clearly are.



    That is the definition for pre-installed software. Crapware has a seperate definition a little further down the page.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Wikipedia


    Often new computers come with pre-installed software which the manufacturer was paid to include but is of dubious value to the purchaser. Such unwanted preinstalled software and advertisements are derogatorily called craplets, a portmanteau of crap and applet, and crapware.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by redbarchetta View Post


    At any rate, the stock app is just one of several that are completely useless to me, and are certainly "crap" by virtue of it being useless and unremovable.



    These apps are useless to me as well, but they aren't trying to sell me anything, or push ads in my face either. They sit in a folder, on the third page, nearly forgotten about. Just because I don't use these apps, doesn't make them crapware though.
  • Reply 23 of 96
    I'll take 20+ years of Cocoa expertise for those Apple apps first and foremost.
  • Reply 24 of 96
    sockrolidsockrolid Posts: 2,789member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by redbarchetta View Post


    There's nothing "attempted" about it--Google developed and successfully released two Nexus phones without "crapware."



    And only one of them is still around. Because it was released just barely over a month ago. I give it another month of life.
  • Reply 25 of 96
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by sflocal View Post


    I use the compass app quite often when teaching surface navigation on beaches and parks to students preparing to take underwater navigation. I train folks all the time using the app. It does the trick perfectly. It doesn't even click at first for some of my adult students that their iPhone has a compass with the necessary markings. Save's them a little $$ in purchasing a dedicated compass.







    But the iPhone compass is totally inaccurate. Try pointing it straight north, and then turn it 180 degrees. No way will it read straight south.



    Try it.
  • Reply 26 of 96
    mjtomlinmjtomlin Posts: 2,673member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by redbarchetta View Post


    Actually it is, according to many definitions. Wikipedia defines it as "Pre-installed software is the software already installed and licensed on a computer bought from an original equipment manufacturer (OEM)," which those clearly are.



    At any rate, the stock app is just one of several that are completely useless to me, and are certainly "crap" by virtue of it being useless and unremovable.



    Actually you missed the OEM part of that explanation. Apple does not buy its hardware from an OEM, Apple makes the hardware. Apple also does not license software, it develops its own. Any software that comes pre-installed by Apple is a feature of the device. Whether you find that feature useful, is up to you, but it most certainly isn't crap ware.



    The difference... HTC makes the hardware (OEM), Google provides the OS, and then Verizon jams a bunch of "crap" on the device to push its services. It is crap because it has got nothing to do with the device itself, it is only there to push services a user may or may not want and is completely worthless unless the user subscribes to those services.
  • Reply 27 of 96
    Apple will not "allow"? All we know is that it's not there. We don't know why.



    The title may as well be "Apple payed Verizon to keep preloaded software off the iPhone" or "Apple gives Verizon exclusive access to iPhone 5 to keep preloaded software off the iPhone" as "Apple will not allow Verizon to preload software on iPhone" is just one possible scenario.
  • Reply 28 of 96
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Mazda 3s View Post


    .... I'm just saying that the apps are useless to me, I never use them, and they must be "hidden" in a folder as they have been replaced by me with more functional apps. ...To me, the apps are "crap" that I don't need. ...



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by redbarchetta View Post


    ... the stock app is just one of several that are completely useless to me, and are certainly "crap" by virtue of it being useless and unremovable.



    The two posters above are absolutely right. Apple loads it's own crapware and it *is* crapware by definition. It's unwanted, it's *not* useful, and you cannot remove it.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by jlandd View Post


    To compare Verizon's crapware to Apple's crapware is absurd. Verizon's bundle has zero usefulness and is HUGELY annoying. Apple's you can easily ignore what you don't want to use and it doesn't make you wish you had a different phone.



    This is faulty reasoning. "Usefulness" is subjective. To me, and obviously to many others, this is completely useless software, it's not a part of the main OS (not required), but can't be removed.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by jdsonice View Post


    One man's crap is another man's gold.



    I use Apple's apps all the time.



    The difference is that you can move them out of the way and they are FREE and cost you NOTHING. Whereas CRAP from Verizon costs its customers lot of money.



    So yes Apple preloads standard apps but I would not call them crapware.



    Also faulty reasoning. If you can remove them, they are regular apps. If you can't, they are crapware by definition if you don't find them useful and they aren't a part of the main operating system or needed by the OS to function.



    I would add a few others to the list, but we all have our differing needs. For instance you couldn't pay me to use the crappy email app on the iPad and since I always have my iPhone anyway, so the email app on the iPad is "crapware" to me. GameCentre is also completely useless to large portions of the iPhone buying public. Even if some of these apps have hooks into the OS, they could easily provide a way to hide them from view.



    It also makes a big difference how you use your phone or device. If you are one of those that has 8 billion apps on the thing, then a few extra icons is no big deal. You might not even come across them only once a month. If, like me, you only have the apps that you want and are using, then five or six extra icons is a whole page worth of garbage that you have to look at every day when you don't even want it.
  • Reply 29 of 96
    mjtomlinmjtomlin Posts: 2,673member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by redbarchetta View Post


    No, but plenty of other things about the iPhone do (yes, I still own one).



    So, you're saying you're basically just a masochistic jerk and we should all ignore you, because you enjoy using a product that gives you something to complain about and love bitching about it on these message boards?



    Good for you.



    <ignore id="redbarchetta"/>
  • Reply 30 of 96
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by CEOstevie View Post


    But the iPhone compass is totally inaccurate. Try pointing it straight north, and then turn it 180 degrees. No way will it read straight south.



    Try it.



    I did. It did. Next.
  • Reply 31 of 96
    recrec Posts: 217member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by redbarchetta View Post


    Actually it is, according to many definitions. Wikipedia defines it as "Pre-installed software is the software already installed and licensed on a computer bought from an original equipment manufacturer (OEM)," which those clearly are.



    At any rate, the stock app is just one of several that are completely useless to me, and are certainly "crap" by virtue of it being useless and unremovable.



    Wikipedia does not, in fact, explicitly define crapware. It defines pre-installed software, and has a subcategory on that page that defines the concept of craplets. But it does not have an explicit entry for crapware. Urbandictionary does, so I believe it to be the more authoritative source in this case.



    Lets look at this definition shall we?



    http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=crapware



    Quote:

    crapware

    (1)malware



    No. It definitely does not meet any definition close to malware.



    Quote:

    (2)useless software, not malicious in nature, shipped with OEM machines, or installed by computer users



    While it could potentially meet the definition of 'useless' software, this is a highly subjective definition. I could say that Safari is 'useless' if I wanted to, because I choose not to like it personally, and therefore it is crapware. Clearly that doesn't hold up, and that's not what 'useless' means in this situation.



    'Useless' here means useless to people generally, software that is harmful or not useful to the general population. Do the preinstalled apps that Apple gives on its iOS devices meet this definition of useless? Clearly no. They are useful and good to many users who just want basic apps that work.



    This is the fundamental difference between pre-installed software and crapware. Both are pre-installed, but only one kind is either malware, or bloat, or clearly definably useless (and not just subjectively useless).



    Calculator on Windows is pre-installed, but does not meet the definition of crapware for this reason. It's small and light, doesn't harm the user even if its never used.



    Now anything Verizon might pre-install almost certainly would be crapware, but that's not what is happening here. So no worries!
  • Reply 32 of 96
    mjtomlinmjtomlin Posts: 2,673member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Prof. Peabody View Post


    The two posters above are absolutely right. Apple loads it's own crapware and it *is* crapware by definition. It's unwanted, it's *not* useful, and you cannot remove it.



    You are absolutely wrong...



    Sorry, but "crap ware" is an actual term that has an actual definition. It is not subjective. It is pre-installed software/features beyond what the original manufacturer or developer shipped with.



    Crap ware is not only defined as "any software or feature that is useless and/or unremovable", but also includes, "installed by a separate party."



    By the actual definition, not yours, Apple's pre-installed software is not crap ware, because it is considered a built-in feature of the device or OS.





    Yes, it may be complete crap to you, but that just means it's useless to you. Bloatware, might be a better term to describe some of the pre-installed applications. There's absolutely no reason for Weather, or Stocks, other than Apple wanting a few basic applications.





    On the flip side...



    If Verizon were to create their own phone using their own OS and had their apps pre-installed, then it would not be considered crap ware, it would simply be a feature (or bloatware) of Verizon's phones.
  • Reply 33 of 96
    eh270eh270 Posts: 60member
    I completely disagree that it would "all but destroy the business model behind selling 3G service plans for the iPad to existing iPhone users".



    iPhone 2GB Data = $25

    iPhone 2GB w/ Tethering = $45

    iPad 2GB Data = $25



    Those who have a 2GB iPhone data plan and 2GB of iPad data get 4 GB between the devices for $50. Assuming they allowed tethering over wifi, users who chose to go that route would pay $45, just $5 less, for 2GB of data -- half as much.
  • Reply 34 of 96
    djsherlydjsherly Posts: 1,031member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by sflocal View Post


    I'll gladly take what you consider to be Apple "Crapware" any day over what the telco's place on phones.



    Those three apps do come in handy and they are nowhere near obtrusive when compared to the competition.



    I use the compass app quite often when teaching surface navigation on beaches and parks to students preparing to take underwater navigation. I train folks all the time using the app. It does the trick perfectly. It doesn't even click at first for some of my adult students that their iPhone has a compass with the necessary markings. Save's them a little $$ in purchasing a dedicated compass.



    That's great for you, but I have next to zero use for the compass or stocks apps. Why can't I remove them?
  • Reply 35 of 96
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  • Reply 36 of 96
    djsherlydjsherly Posts: 1,031member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by mjtomlin View Post


    You are absolutely wrong...



    Sorry, but "crap ware" is an actual term that has an actual definition. It is not subjective. It is pre-installed software/features beyond what the original manufacturer or developer shipped with.



    Crap ware is not only defined as "any software or feature that is useless and/or unremovable", but also includes, "installed by a separate party."



    If you take that definition, all the rubbish that comes with a Windows PC cannot be crapware, because the original manufacturer, be it HP or whoever, shipped it that way.



    As it happens, the last Dell I bought didn't have any of this, it was a vanilla install of Windows +Dell drivers. At least I don't recall it being so.
  • Reply 37 of 96
    eh270eh270 Posts: 60member
    I wouldn't call these crapware because they use up negligible disk space, don't run unless you open them, and won't nag you to pay for a subscription. You can easily move all of Apple's "crapware", as you call it, into a single folder and never open it. Even if you move all of Verizon's usual crapware off your main screen, they take up more space on average and will nag.
  • Reply 38 of 96
    aeolianaeolian Posts: 189member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by mjtomlin View Post


    You are absolutely wrong...



    Sorry, but "crap ware" is an actual term that has an actual definition. It is not subjective. It is pre-installed software/features beyond what the original manufacturer or developer shipped with.



    Crap ware is not only defined as "any software or feature that is useless and/or unremovable", but also includes, "installed by a separate party."



    By the actual definition, not yours, Apple's pre-installed software is not crap ware, because it is considered a built-in feature of the device or OS.





    Yes, it may be complete crap to you, but that just means it's useless to you. Bloatware, might be a better term to describe some of the pre-installed applications. There's absolutely no reason for Weather, or Stocks, other than Apple wanting a few basic applications.





    On the flip side...



    If Verizon were to create their own phone using their own OS and had their apps pre-installed, then it would not be considered crap ware, it would simply be a feature (or bloatware) of Verizon's phones.



    When did 'what's not good for one' become 'not good for many'? I was ripped when I bought my iPad and it didn't have the Weather app... I have since found a replacement, because I had to, but I rather liked it and still enjoy it on my iPod touch.



    So what if I started jumping and screaming that the iPod app is crapware because it's pre-loaded and useless because I use a different app?



    Seriously, you're all just fighting Apple hater trolls here.
  • Reply 39 of 96
    mjtomlinmjtomlin Posts: 2,673member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by djsherly View Post


    If you take that definition, all the rubbish that comes with a Windows PC cannot be crapware, because the original manufacturer, be it HP or whoever, shipped it that way.



    As it happens, the last Dell I bought didn't have any of this, it was a vanilla install of Windows +Dell drivers. At least I don't recall it being so.





    Yes, they are the OEM, but not the developer of what's actually being promised, a Windows computer. Microsoft didn't provide Windows in that condition to the OEM. The OEM took Windows, installed extra stuff and sold it as a "Windows" computer.



    Verizon uses Android, installs a bunch of extra stuff on it and passes it off as an Android phone.



    All of that installed extra stuff is crap ware.



    It is crap, in the sense of it is something that isn't supposed to be there by the moniker being used.



    If you walk into your living room and all the clothes from your bedroom and all the dishes from the kitchen are laying all over the place... the first thing you think is, "What is all this crap doing here?"



    When you buy a Windows computer or an Android phone and see a bunch of other stuff, you think, "What's this crap?"



    When you buy an iPhone, you get exactly what was originally promised, no extra crap, i.e. no crap ware.
  • Reply 40 of 96
    pmzpmz Posts: 3,433member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Mazda 3s View Post


    Too bad Apple also includes plenty of "crapware" (in this case, apps with limited functionality that you can't remove if you don't want/need them)



    Stocks (I use eTrade Mobile Pro)

    Compass (who gives a *&^%)

    Weather (I use The Weather Channel)



    I've got them all rounded up in a folder on my second page of apps.



    Don't bother posting again.
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