Can the Android bloatware user interfaces be turned off?

Posted by Charbax – July 24, 2010

I am an Android fanboy. But I don’t like the different custom Android user interface designs such as Motorola Blur, HTC Sense, Samsung TouchWiz, Sony Ericsson’s nor Acer’s custom user interfaces, I think they are confusing and they are like visual bloatware. Please investigate following:

1. Is there a home replacement in the Google Marketplace that returns the full UI in Android to the default Android UI in all of the different Android phones? If not, then why isn’t Google officially releasing this default Android UI in the Google Marketplace? Does anyone have any contacts at Google to whome they could ask about this?

2. Will that Default Android UI Home Replacement provide a way to have exactly the same UI as on the Nexus One? And without voiding any of the warranties? And without consuming any extra RAM memory or slowing anything down in any way?

It’s very simple, but we need simple and definite answer on this. And we need answers from Google officially. Thanks.

I do understand that the reason for each of these different layers of designs on top of Android is that each of the phone makers feel that they have to differentiate their Android offerings from the competition. That consumers have to think that they are buying a HTC phone and that only HTC phones can do that or look like that. And so on.

But I would rather that the Android ecosystem immitate the Windows world, let all the default desktop user interfaces look the same. Stop confusing the consumers. Let them recognize the true value of the whole Android ecosystem. And phone makers should preferably compete on hardware and features for the prices.

I understand this idea is disruptive to the current Android business plans of each of the companies. But please, could we at least just get a little basic Home Replacement somewhere deep in the Google Marketplace that offers anyone with any Android phone to set it back to the Nexus One styled basic Android UI design?

I’ve been told in certain comments that Launcher Pro and some other Home Replacements were good. But I am looking for a Home Replacement that offers exactly the same UI designs as on the Nexus One. Please let me know in the comments if you know of a near or fully Nexus One UI Home Replacement that is available for any of Samsung Galaxy S, Droid X, HTC Desire, Sony Ericsson X10 or any of the other Android phones, what your experience is with it and on which of the phones.

Having to void warranties on those $500 devices just to get a normal UI is a terrible thing.

Read more at droiddog.com: Hey manufacturers, leave Android alone!

  • J Richards

    The easiest way is to get a custom ROM from XDA Developers.

  • http://ARMdevices.net/ Charbax

    But that voids the warranty doesn't it, and that's not good.

    Having to void warranties on those $500 devices just to get a normal UI is a terrible thing.

  • J Richards

    The phone can be put back to normal ROM and even re-locked.

    If it's a terrible thing that's your opinion. Tens of thousands of regular users do it happily. Someone reading this blog is likely technical enough not to worry about it.

  • J Richards

    In the bigger picture, I agree that it would be “nice” of phone makers not to impose their custom UIs on users. If this editorial makes an impact then all the more power!

  • http://ARMdevices.net/ Charbax

    Putting back the phone to normal ROM and locked, can the carrier then not know that the phone's official ROM was tampered with? Things like the efuse coming on the new OMAP3630 processor, can't it detect and leave a mark that an unofficial ROM was installed on the hardware? Thus them voiding the warranty? Otherwise, couldn't the carrier kind of remotely sniff the phone and know that the ROM installed is not official at any given moment and thus mark the customer with a voided warranty?

    I'd rather there just be a two click Home Replacement in the Marketplace to install on any of those Android phones to get Google's main recommended Android UI, without needing to worry about installing unofficial ROMs on those devices.

    Unlocking Pocket WiFi feature, other types of tethering, sure it's nice and useful. But carriers can block unwanted bandwidth usage anyways, packet shaping at the carrier level can instantly know when tethering is being used. So I just don't think it has to blocked in any way in ROM, the carriers can sell more tethering bandwidth as an extra feature if they want to be used no matter what ROM is on the device, and free market competition can even convince carriers to include bandwidth for free that could be used for anything the user wants.

    My point being, Android is supposed to be so cool and open that rooting it, hacking it shouldn't even be needed as anything that any power user would want to do should work on the basic firmwares that are already pre-installed.

  • Paolo Barbella

    Maybe with Android 3.0 this customization will be stopped or minimized.

  • Odin

    Maybe with Android 3.0 this customization will be stopped or minimized.

  • curio

    Hello Charbax,

    I really appreciate your blog and like the news coverage and spontaneity of your interviews.
    This time, it seems that you are really misinformed. Glad this post is a question, even if the title is quite bad.

    About your intro.
    Considering HTC Sense and Samsung Touchwizz 3.0, most user won't agree with you when you just just throw these Android modifications in the bloatware category.

    HTC Sense is much appreciated and many buy HTC android phone in order to get the Sense UI.
    Samsung Touchwizz 3.0 is really good actually. There is more work on user experience on Touchwizz 3.0 than on stock android.

    Now let's respond to your questions :
    1/ Google Nexus One launcher is not installed by default on any other phone I know.
    This launcher is ok but basic, and really not so smooth.
    If you want a similar experience to the Nexus One launcher, install LauncherPro.
    It's just better, smoother and more customizable.
    LauncherPro is based on Nexus One launcher source, with some improvements.
    Nexus One launcher is not in Android Market because it use some private APIs, and Google won't release on market an app with private APIs.
    They use these API to validate and improve them before integrating some in future Android versions.

    2/ No other launcher is the exact replica of the Nexus One launcher.
    But LauncherPro is very close, and smoother.
    You can have the same appearance with this option : Preferences > Appearance Settings > Dock background > Froyo
    Any user will use one or another without having to notice.

    You know, manufacturer modifications usually goes much deeper than just a Launcher.
    They add features in email clients, change music player (Galaxy S play flac files by default), change video player (adding divx, mkv support), add nice switch buttons, smart lockscreens, widgets, better camera UI and features like smile detection…

    Don't forget that many phone have specific hardware capability, and they add software and parameters in settings to use them.

    That's a good thing, especially now because manufacturers just start to know Android better, and their improvements are more and more welcome.

    If you want to get a vanilla android experience, you may buy a phone supported by CyanogenMod.
    CyanogenMod evolves as a standard android distribution, ported to an increasing number of phones.

    Because CyanogenMod is directly based on Android source tree (with just a few hacks), you get an Android experience very close to the Nexus One.
    Every phone running CyanogenMod will be able to show the exact same User Interface.
    Check out http://wiki.cyanogenmod.com/ for more info, and list of supported phones.

    Building an Android distribution is a difficult task right now.
    Android is still young and few people have the required knowledge to complete this task.
    In my opinion, many other Android distribs will surface next years, a bit like current Linux distributions.

    Contrary to a dumb rumor (started by a single misinformed blogger), Android Gingerbread won't restrict anything about custom Android UIs.
    By the way, Google haven't yet decided which version number will be Gingerbread.
    Any news/blog/comment claiming anything about Android “3.0″ is simply not reliable.
    This is what say google employees, you can contact them through twitter or IRC.

    Keep up the good work :)

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  • http://ARMdevices.net/ Charbax

    Thanks for your insights.

    “many buy HTC android phone in order to get the Sense UI”

    I wonder if there aren't more people that buy HTC because it presents the best Android hardware and they just want Android. Or if there aren't even more that don't even know Sense is a custom layer of UI on top of Android and may think that it is a HTC OS they are using, may have no idea what Android even is.

    “Nexus One launcher is not in Android Market because it use some private APIs, and Google won't release on market an app with private APIs.
    They use these API to validate and improve them before integrating some in future Android versions.”

    Do you think that is a valid argument for there not being a basic launcher to provide the exact same UI as Nexus One, with nothing else and nothing more?

    LauncherPro does sound nice, but I've seen it include all kinds of fancy 3D style user interface things and that really makes me wonder if installing Launcherpro doesn't risk to slow things down, as it would take up larger memory, larger RAM than a very basic Nexus One launcher would.

    “You know, manufacturer modifications usually goes much deeper than just a Launcher.”

    I understand, but these apps and settings menu customizations wouldn't have to be uninstalled or removed to install the default Nexus One style launcher would be installed, would they.

    CyanogenMod voids the warranty doesn't it? As I asked in the other comment, can it not be detected by the carrier once ROM is tampered with? Especially in the new 45nm Android processors like that discussion around efuse, installing a different ROM can leave a permanent mark that can be detected by warranty detection staff. Or the carrier may remotely know when ROM is tampered with, somehow?

    I wouldn't want to restrict anything about custom UIs in Gingerbread. I just have a feeling that Nexus One disappearing may be part of Google not anymore releasing what they think is the best UI, but instead them letting all their hardware partners adopt Android as their own OS and make consumers continue to think those are HTC OS, Motorola OS, Samsung OS, Sony Ericsson OS and Acer OS.

    Imagine if every vendor of Windows XP, Vista, 7 had all put in some different desktop backgrounds, different colors for the task bar, different placement for the Start menu, different icons for the programs and tray icons, different things in the control panel. I think it would have confused consumers.

    I do think the Google engineers that are core to Android development also have the best idea as to what is the best way to design the UI. But that whole API thing, I wonder if that even forces all manufacturers to invest in custom UI, maybe they aren't even allowed to use Google's UI by default even if they wanted to. Some things in the Android ecosystem policies and strategies I think need much improvement and change for more openness, such as the way Google Marketplace is awarded to manufacturers and the way they decide to do this everyone needs a custom UI thing.

  • nicole_scooter

    I've got the HTC Legend and it came with tons of bloatware. Which was annoying but I just turned them off, they stopped accumulating data and now the only way they annoy me is that they clutter my apps. I'm not actually sure why everyone complains so much about the bloatware, it doesn't take a genius to tell the apps to stop fetching data.

    I do have to say that I love HTC hardware, I put my phone into the washer and dryer (locked washing machine upon start) and it works with no issues. Now that is a rugged phone!

    This was a great thread, extremely informative.

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  • Dow

    Maybe this tutorial will help you:
    http://lifehacker.com/5600912/turn-off-htcs-sen…

  • http://twitter.com/mrtejkohli Tej Kohli

    I have to ask With the friends he having this Mobile .. Even You can ask customer Care for this Help

  • http://twitter.com/branflake2267 branflake2267

    Complain to the FCC about Android bloatware! -> http://tellthefcc.appspot.com/

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