OnePlus has confirmed that it has struck a deal to include Facebook App Installer, Facebook Services, and Facebook App Manager for its smartphones.
Starting with the OnePlus 8 series and continuing with the Nord devices, users have had to put up with a bunch of Facebook-owned apps. OnePlus also adds up to a few background services on their brand-new smartphones, some of which cannot be installed.
OnePlus and Facebook Tie Up
Bloatware on devices is akin to junk mail stuffed into conventional mailboxes. Mostly, these kinds are unwanted and ignored until there’s just too much of it.
It comes in two damaging forms: the preinstalled type which can be seen on computers and mobile devices. This type is unknowingly downloaded and installed from websites.
The term “Bloatware” is all too common in the Android world, and its lack of it is something OnePlus is often praised for. But today, the praise is gone and replaced with a lot of questions.
OnePlus has been pre-loading services and apps from Facebook that cannot be uninstalled entirely with its latest smartphones. And according to 9to5Google, this latest tie-up news is not stopping any time soon.
Starting with its OnePlus 8 and 8 Pro launched earlier this year, it kind of shifted under the radar when the company preinstalled Facebook on its smartphone devices. However, that issue was brought to the spotlight recently when Max Weinbach tweeted his frustrations.
Weinbach’s tweet directly talks regarding the App Manager, which was installing Instagram on his OnePlus 8 Pro. We all know that Facebook and Instagram are two of the most popular social media apps in the world. That is why many understandably missed the fact that they were preinstalled on these smartphones.
I hate this so much pic.twitter.com/0cViyKaMGV
— Max Weinbach (@MaxWinebach) August 1, 2020
OnePlus confirmed, too, that it intends to continue this practice with future smartphone releases in North America, India, and Europe.
The Installed Applications
Since then, OnePlus has confirmed that it has struck a deal to incorporate Facebook apps as system apps on its latest smartphones, which are OnePlus 8, 8 Pro, and Nord. The applications that are already installed and ready to use are FB App Installer, FB Services, and FB App Manager.
OnePlus says that by preinstalling these FB services, apps such as the main Facebook app, as well as Messenger — both of which are also preinstalled — they’ll end up eating less battery life.
Facebook, Messenger, Instagram, and other Facebook-owned apps are not installed on your device permanently. You have the freedom to uninstall them. However, the underlying Services, App Installer, and App Manager apps will remain installed as system apps that cannot be removed and only disabled.
Image used courtesy of Marques Brownlee/YouTube Screenshot