How come Verizon keeps installing junk apps on my blackberry?

I go to remove cheesy games, social networking apps, and other junk that I'll never use, and guess what? They appear right back on the phone! Turns out that Verizon is pushing that junk right back on the phone. Why? Why can't I choose what software I have on my phone? Why can't I make more memory available on my phone without Verizon cluttering it up again with the same garbage I just got rid of?

Should Verizon force applications to be installed on our phone that we don't use? Should they even be allowed to do this? Why can't I have the freedom to choose what apps I will and will not have on my phone? What does this tell us about Verizon as a company?

Just curious. What do you think?

ScreemsNames

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ScreemsNames

Never mind. Any slaves out there want to buy a POS BB dirt cheap? I'm not going to put up with this.

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Spiral

ScreemsNames wrote:
I go to remove cheesy games, social networking apps, and other junk that I'll never use, and guess what? They appear right back on the phone! Turns out that Verizon is pushing that junk right back on the phone. Why? Why can't I choose what software I have on my phone? Why can't I make more memory available on my phone without Verizon cluttering it up again with the same garbage I just got rid of?

Should Verizon force applications to be installed on our phone that we don't use? Should they even be allowed to do this? Why can't I have the freedom to choose what apps I will and will not have on my phone? What does this tell us about Verizon as a company?

Just curious. What do you think?

ScreemsNames

Nobody likes it but at least in the case of BB they are only icons and not actual applications. Being icons they take up very little space and can be hidden in a folder.

I recommend that you create a folder called "Junk" and place these icons (and others that are pushed by VZW) in there and then hide the folder. This removes it from your view and you will forget about them quickly.

ScreemsNames

haha. You're right. It's just icons. I saw them pop back up in the menu and wanted to throw the **bleep** thing out the window.

is there a way to get to a command prompt and maybe deal with it from there? What about using the firewall? Is there a way I can create a policy that says "reject pushes from Verizon that try to reinstall these apps/icons?"

If nobody likes it, then why does Verizon keep doing it? Are they trying to tick their customers off? Doesn't sound like a good business plan to me.

ScreemsNames

Spiral

They keep sending them because they are paid by the developers (or company sponsors) to push them to their handsets. Al the carriers (at least the major ones) participate in these programs. This makes it a profitable revenue stream for VZW.

As far as rejecting them, I have never read of any successfull way to do it long term. Best thing is to hide them. Another benefit of hiding is that it is still on your handset, so it is not pushed multiple times.

TBhouston

Why do I have to watch commericals during the superbowl?

Why do I see these billboards on the way to work everyday?

How come Nascar can't just race cars without all the stickers?

ScreemsNames

On my Droid, I've deleted everything I didn't want and they never came back. Then when I rooted it, compiled my own custom Android, it was totally customized (just had to be careful about updates :smileyhappy: ). But the point is that I got rid of everything I didn't want without them coming back. There has to be a way to do this on the BBs as well.

I just tried to delete the service books relating to the apps I didn't want and the icons disappeared (yay!). Upon rebooting, they still came back though (Boo, Verizon! Boo!).

LCromwell

There is a program called. "shrink-a-os". You can remove or not install parts of an operating system. It is free. Do an internet search for it.

ScreemsNames

The junk that Verizon is pushing back on the phone has nothing whatsoever to do with the operating system. I haven't gotten to the point of wanting to cut down on the OS6 fat. I'm done with this piece of "junk" BB anway. My Droid is being re-activated right now.

Hiding them is not the answer. Saying "No" is the answer and unless enough people stand up to Verizon and start telling them "No," they'll keep doing it (the condition of slavery).

My comment about this being one of the many problems with proprietary operating systems simply means that the control of the operating system is out of my hands. That's what makes the Android so great. It puts the controls to the user. All you need is the source code and SDK, freely available from Google (free as in cost and free as in freedom), and a little finger grease. :smileyhappy:

ScreemsNames

Fluffythecat

I have hidden some of the icons I don't want to look at, and deleted service books of others. By deleting the service book, it will totally remove the icon from the phone. However, if you ever have to get a new set of service books during troubleshooting, those icons come back. Then you have to delete the service book again. It is a little troublesome, but at least the icon is gone.