Samsung Galaxy S6 to let you remove preinstalled apps

Samsung Galaxy S6 to let you remove preinstalled apps

Owners of the new smartphones will apparently be able to jettison many of the apps that come already loaded.

You apparently will be able to delete certain preloaded apps from Samsung's new Galaxy S phones.Josh Miller/CNET

Buy a Samsung Galaxy S6 or S6 Edge, and you apparently won't be stuck with the all apps that come with it.

Screenshots of the upcoming Galaxy S6 Edge smartphone posted late last week on the XDA Developers forum show that you can uninstall or disable preinstalled apps that in the past would have resisted removal. The three images show several apps already disabled and deletion symbols for such Samsung apps as S Health and S Voice and several Google apps, including YouTube, Gmail, Google+ and even the Google Play Store.

The new smartphones are set for release in several countries on April 10.

Samsung's past Galaxy phones have been criticized for including a large number of apps -- often dubbed bloatware by critics -- that cannot be uninstalled. The company tried to cut down on the number of such apps with its Galaxy S5 and Galaxy S6. But you'll still find preloaded apps that you may not want on your Android OS phone.

Notably, Android maker Google has faced antitrust troubles over its purported policy of forcing Android device makers to accept its standard lineup of apps, such as Google Search, Google Play and YouTube. A lawsuit filed in May in US District Court accused Google of setting up secret agreements with Android device makers to ensure that its own apps are loaded on their devices. The European Union has also been eyeing Google over alleged antitrust violations related to apps. And last month, Russia-based search engine Yandex called for a probe into Google over the same matter.

The ability to delete preinstalled apps should help Samsung's reputation among folks tired of bloatware. The ability could also give Google some ammunition in its antitrust battles. The company can now argue that people can delete its apps, at least on the new Galaxy S phones.

Based on the XDA Developers post, you can either disable a preloaded app or delete it entirely. Disabling the app renders it inactive but keeps it on your device. Deleting a preloaded app removes it entirely. But that doesn't necessarily mean saying goodbye forever. You can always re-download deleted Samsung apps from the company's app store and Google apps from the Google Play store.

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Facebook to developers: Please friend us

Facebook to developers: Please friend us

The world's largest social network, set to host its annual developers conference this week, wants a piece of the app pie.

Mark Zuckerberg wants app developers to help him move with the times.

Facebook last year changed its unofficial motto from "move fast and break things" to "move fast with stable infrastructure," a sign it would stop inflicting weird or inconsistent programming on its partners. Now Facebook's CEO and co-founder is expected to deliver a new message to programmers gathering for this week's developers conference, called F8, in San Francisco: Work with us.

Facebook is a technology powerhouse, racking up ad sales and profit at a blistering pace. Last year alone, the world's largest social network reported sales jumping nearly 60 percent, to $12.5 billion while raising profits by more than a third. Nearly 900 million people -- or roughly 1 out of every 7 people on the planet -- log on to the site every day, making it among the most influential companies on the Web.

But Zuckerberg knows that to stay that way, Facebook needs help from app developers, of all sizes and across industries. When they connect with his service -- whether it's by letting people upload photos, play games or share articles, or even by displaying an ad -- Facebook becomes more ingrained in customers' lives. And Zuckerberg wants more: More apps, providing more ways to engage users and, ultimately, attract more advertising. (Facebook gets almost all its sales from advertising.)

Basically, developers create the glue that makes Facebook "sticky," giving people a reason to spend long periods on the site.

In a way, these developer conferences are as much promotional as they are educational. "They're so developers will work with them, and look at them and build buzz around their products," said Ben Schachter, an analyst at Macquarie Capital.

Don't underestimate the importance of that kind of buzz. As Facebook has grown, it's taken on a broad range of rivals, from titans like Google to skyrocketing startups like the messaging service Snapchat. It needs developer partners to fortify its position.

It's also facing heavy competition for developers' time and attention. Over the next several months, Microsoft, Google and Apple will hold their own developers conferences in San Francisco, seeking to attract potential partners and inspire the next big startup.

A year of messaging

One of the most important technology trends of the past year has been messaging. Snapchat is estimated to have more than 100 million monthly users. WeChat, used primarily in Asia, connects more than 438 million active users. This helps explains Facebook's interest in messaging. The company reportedly attempted to buy Snapchat for $3 billion in 2013. Not six months later, it said it would pay more than $19 billion for WhatsApp, which helps millions of people circumvent text messaging charges between countries. More than 700 million people around the world used WhatsApp as of January.

Facebook last year also began requiring its mobile users to send messages through its standalone Messenger app, instead of through Facebook itself. The rationale for that switch?

"Messaging is one of the few things people do more than social networking," Zuckerberg explained in November. It's a question of numbers: In some countries, more people use a chat app or text messages than use Facebook, he said.

The company is expected this week to announce new functionality for Messenger that will make it easier for developers to share content between their apps and the social-networking service.

A Facebook spokesman declined to comment.

An eye toward the future

One of the key presentations will be when Facebook talks about the future of virtual reality, which immerses goggle-wearing users in 3D, alien worlds. After years of being relegated to science fiction, virtual reality is poised to go mainstream.

At the center of that shift is Oculus, which first ignited consumer interest in 2012 when it began selling $300 prototypes. The video game industry, in particular, saw virtual reality as a new feature to juice sales -- prompting a slew of companies, including Sony, Microsoft and smartphone maker HTC, to produce goggles too.

Facebook last year agreed to buy Oculus for more than $2 billion. At the time, Zuckerberg said the technology had the potential to revolutionize how people use computers and communicate with one another.

This week, Facebook and Zuckerberg will paint a picture of how virtual reality affects our lives. And they'll pitch developers about the role they can play in that change. The question is: Are they game?

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