I delete these 7 Google apps every time I start up a new Android phone

I've been a long-time Android defender (and user), but I'll admit it's always had a major problem: bloatware. Sure, iPhones have this issue too, but it doesn't make it okay.

Google's never fixed its bloatware problem, and I'm not only talking about the obvious offenders. I roll my eyes at the dodgy games you find on budget Chinese phones, or the weird union of LinkedIn, Booking.com, and WPS Office, but it's worse.

Stock Android has far too many pre-installed Google-made apps. When you boot up a new phone, you're left staring at the cluttered interface of the company's tools, making your sparkly mobile look busy and worn out.

Basic Android isn't the only offender, and other Android Police writers have written about deleting Samsung's unremovable apps. Still, for me, stock Android is meant to be the cleanest interface by default. Yet it isn't.

Having tested Android phones for nearly a decade, I've become used to quickly removing loads of pre-installed apps that don't justify their existence. Recently, I've developed a hit list of seven apps I remove straight away.

I don't delete them, because you can't delete them. But removing them from my phone's home screen makes it appear far less cluttered. It also saves space for useful apps.

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Posts 13
By  Anu Joy

YouTube Music and Fitbit: Rival services

I'm sorry, Google, I'm seeing someone else

Two of the pre-installed Android apps are easy to remove, not because I want to free up home screen space on my phone, but because I want to replace them with something else.

These are YouTube Music, the pre-installed music streaming service, and Fitbit, the health app designed primarily for owners of Fitbit wearables.

I fit into the large majority of people who use Spotify for all their music needs. And even when I'm playing around with rivals, it's to test out Tidal or Qobuz for high-quality music.

Like other Android Police writers who've tried to ditch Spotify for YouTube Music, I can't square away Google's decision to make a video-first streaming service. So there's no chance I'll be tempted by the platform.

And Fitbit? Well, I don't own a Fitbit. And I know that Google tried to pitch the app more as an all-in-one health service, but there are plenty of rivals which do use data from wearables I own.

The simple fact that Google is killing Fitbit on new phones just proves my point.

Google TV and Google One: Middleman apps

I don't want an extra step

Of the countless Android phones I've tested, I don't think I've ever used Google TV or Google One. Not because I don't use their services, but because they needlessly insert themselves in the way.

Google TV is the interface I use on my projector; it's useful there because my Google account knows which streaming apps I use. But on my phone, it only serves to sell me movie rentals.

In theory, it's meant to act as an aggregate for all your streaming services, but other than the occasional pointers that a movie is on a free streamer, it serves only to make me pay. No thanks, I'll just open the Netflix app if I want Netflix.

Then there's Google One. I've been a subscriber to this service for years, so I have loads of storage space on my Google account. It's basically necessary if you use an Android device professionally.

But I don't need an app to tell me how much storage I've used. All the individual platforms like Drive, Gmail, and Photos do this anyway. An entire Google One app for this function just isn't useful. So it's the One to remove.

Google Home and Find Hub: What do you do again?

So how do you know the host?

At the end of the day, I don't really understand why Google Home and Find Hub exist at all.

Find Hub lets you find most devices logged in to your Google account, like tablets, phones, and earbuds. Some of the gadgets I've tested are listed here, but not all of them.

By only giving a general location on the map, it's only useful in telling you if you left your gadget at home or somewhere else. I've never had any doubt as to the actual address of my tech, just its specific location in my messy flat, so I've never needed to use it.

The only exception is my smartphone, which I've lost from time to time. But a phone app to help me find my phone is redundant, and I've only ever used the web-based Find Hub.

Google Home is a repository of all your smart home tech, but very few of my gadgets are actually compatible with it. Even my Google TV-enabled projector isn't listed.

The ones that are have far more functionality when used alongside their own app. Or, it's an item that doesn't really benefit from being controlled by a central hub.

I imagine that some people who own fully decked-out smart homes might find Google Home a little more useful than I do. But if my home were an aurora of smart lighting, I'd rather set them up via their own app to use all the useful features.

Gemini: No, Google, I don't want your AI

Get that AI off my phone

I know some tech journalists love using AI tools, but I'm not in that group.

The more Google tries to shove Gemini down my throat, either by stuffing its phones full of the bot or advertising it incessantly, the more I make a point to avoid it.

Google has made it so that Gemini is always opening on your phone, and forces the feature on Google One subscribers at an astronomical fee.

I long for the yesteryear of tech, before AI was a thing, but until my time machine is built, I'm stuck living surrounded by those things. But I don't have to like it, and I don't have to field the Gemini app on my phone.

Well, technically I do, because it's impossible to uninstall Gemini. But I always remove it as soon as I boot up an Android phone, and I've only had reason to retrieve it when taking photos for this article.

At least, with a bit of elbow grease, it's possible to get rid of Gemini from specific Google apps. That's the next best thing to removing it entirely, I suppose.