Unwanted app being pushed to phone on software update.

[Bob2u]

Every "security" update I get always comes with unwanted games apps. Today's 3 were BlockBlast, Royal Kingdom and Woodoku. I try hard to keep data mining apps off my phone and here verizon is just pushing them right on us. I brought this up a couple years ago when I first noticed it and the Verizon agent tried the Jedi Mind trick with be and basically said Verizon would never do such a thing even though I told them exactly what games were added. I wonder how much they get paid pushing these apps to unsuspecting people under the guise of a software upgrade

[SynthpopAddict]

All carrier phones are an "ads" version.  Different companies use different means for 3rd parties to market on the devices, but that's why you keep getting games or other 3rd party apps with software updates.  You'll have to disable the Verizon App Manager any time a software update releases to prevent it from downloading outside apps.  Otherwise, the only other way to get around this problem is to buy factory unlocked devices directly from the manufacturer.  It cuts both ways because factory unlocked devices won't run any carrier-specific apps except for the "My [carrier]" one, and if your device starts acting up, you're on your own.