Bloatware is a term that is usually synonymous with Android devices. However, iPhones also come with a lot of pre-installed apps, some of which can be called bloatware. So, does an iPhone actually come with more bloatware than Android? Find out below.

What is bloatware?

Your smartphone will come with many apps and services pre-installed. However, not all of them should qualify as bloatware. Some are utility apps like clock, contact list, and compass that you might need on a daily basis.

As for bloatware, these are apps that send spam notifications, steal your data silently, or run unnecessarily in the background and hog valuable resources. These apps do more harm than good. For example, your network operator might pre-install their own app on your phone and keep bothering you with new random offers whether they interest you or not.

Some bloatware can be uninstalled or disabled to make it less annoying, but not all.

Bloatware on Android devices

Pre-installed apps are part of both iOS and Android, although there is a difference in how the two platforms handle them. Android device manufacturers tend to partner with certain companies or developers and pre-install certain apps and games on their devices.

For example, the Facebook app comes preloaded on most Android phones because Meta has partnered with manufacturers. Worse still, in most cases, you can only disable these apps and not uninstall them permanently. Similarly, various Google apps and services also come pre-installed on Android devices as the big G uses the platform to push its other products and services.

The number of pre-installed apps or bloatware on an Android device varies by manufacturer and whether you buy an unlocked or carrier-locked model. Smartphones from Chinese manufacturers are known to come with lots of third-party apps and games that can be classified as bloatware.

They would run in the background and spam you with notifications or promote some third party service. You can uninstall or disable some pre-installed Android apps, but not all.

Bloatware on iPhone

Out of the box, an iPhone comes with nearly 50 apps preinstalled. However, not all of them can be called bloatware, although some apps are there to push Apple’s own services like Podcasts, Maps and the iTunes Store.

Unlike Android, preloaded iOS apps rarely send spam notifications. Also, you will not find any third-party apps or games pre-installed on the iPhone. Thus, they probably shouldn’t be called bloatware.

Yes, an iPhone comes with many apps pre-installed, but if you don’t open or use them, they stay there. They cannot run in the background, steal your user data, or send spam notifications.

Similar to Android, you can uninstall some pre-installed iOS apps; however, this will not free up space on the device. So, for example, you can uninstall the Apple Maps, Tips, and Stocks apps from your iPhone if you don’t use them, but that won’t free up space.

As for the apps you can’t uninstall, you can hide them from the home screen and just access them from the app library when needed.

iPhone Comes With Apps Preinstalled, But It’s Not Bloatware

Although both iOS and Android devices come with many pre-installed apps, there is a big difference between them. Very few pre-installed iPhone apps qualify as bloatware, but the same is not true for Android devices. Apple also doesn’t preinstall third-party apps on its devices, a practice that plagues the Android world.

Ideally, however, Apple should let iPhone users decide which apps they want to install on their phone during the installation process. This way, they can save storage space by not installing apps that they never plan to use.

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