Bloatware

Anyone who switches on a new phone or a new laptop rarely finds an empty device. Usually two dozen programs are already installed: games, trial versions of antivirus software, shopping apps, music services. Some of it is useful, some of it was never wanted by anyone. It’s precisely this unwanted part that is called bloatware. The English word “bloat” means to swell up, and that’s exactly what’s going on: the device is stuffed full of things the buyer didn’t order. The term is a value judgment, not a technical category — whether a program counts as bloatware depends on whether you want it.

Why manufacturers pack devices full

The main reason is money. With cheap phones, the profit margin per device is very small, sometimes just a few euros. Software companies pay the manufacturer to have their app placed on millions of devices straight from the factory. For the manufacturer, this is a second source of income that lets it push the sale price down. So you pay for part of the device with your attention instead of with money.

For the user, this creates three drawbacks. First, storage space disappears: on entry-level devices, pre-installed apps can take up several gigabytes before you’ve even taken a single photo of your own. Second, many of these programs keep running in the background, checking messages or sending data. This costs processing power and battery life. Third, some of these apps collect usage data and pass it on to their providers.

On top of that there’s a security problem that’s often overlooked. Pre-installed programs sometimes have more privileges on the device than regular apps from the app store. If such a program has a security flaw, the resulting damage is correspondingly greater. And because the manufacturer has to take care of updates, such flaws can sometimes remain open for years.

Why the stuff often can’t be deleted

Bloatware isn’t installed afterwards like a normal app. It’s part of the system image, i.e. the finished software package that gets written onto the device at the factory. Programs in this area count as system components as far as the operating system is concerned. That’s why the delete button is often missing entirely, and at best the app can only be disabled.

Disabling means: the app disappears from the menu and no longer launches. Its data, however, remains on the storage, so the space isn’t freed up. Completely removing it usually requires deep interventions in the system, for instance via special tools on a computer. That’s risky for laypeople and can void the warranty.

It’s important to distinguish this from malware. Bloatware is, as a rule, legal, visible, and doesn’t do anything secretly destructive. It’s annoying, not malicious. Between the two lies a gray area for which the term “crapware” has become established: trial versions that keep nagging you to buy after 30 days.

Where you come across the term

You read it most often in phone reviews. Almost every review of an Android device mentions how many third-party apps come pre-installed. Brands that pre-install little now advertise this aggressively — a clean system is considered a mark of quality. The effect is similar with Windows laptops, where it’s often trial subscriptions for antivirus software and office programs.

Politics deals with it too. The European Union’s Digital Markets Act obligates large providers to make it possible to delete pre-installed apps. That’s why, on newer devices in Europe, things that used to be permanently fixed in place can now be removed.

The term is also migrating into other areas. When a program gets overloaded with features that hardly anyone uses, people likewise speak of bloat. Something similar is currently being said about AI assistants that manufacturers build into phones, browsers, and office programs without being asked. Whether that’s useful functionality or new bloatware is, in the end, for every user to decide for themselves.