Today’s topic goes way back to the PC days where OEMs would load them up with software that you didn’t need, and most users didn’t want. The term for this software? “Bloatware”.

Pocketnow reader Laurentiu sent in the following question:

What do you think about built in Apps in Android devices, starting with launchers (Touchwiz, Sense, etc), daily apps like memo takers, voice recorders, email clients, Kies air and the corresponding widgets for these applications.

Many refer to them as bloatware, while I find them useful and better integrated with the OS than third party apps.

Cheers,

Laurentiu.

Great question, Laurentiu! How does bloatware on today’s smartphones and tablets compare to the bloatware of yesteryear, and what can you do about it? That’s the topic for this edition of The Android Guy Weekly.