Digital Turbine's Ignite is here to light the fire of your bloatware-gripe anew

Hate bloatware? We're pretty sure we know the answer to that question. In fact, users have been quite vocal about the large packages of programs that come pre-installed on their carrier-issued devices. These are usually pretty limited apps, as they are, in most cases, trial versions, which quickly show their true colors and ask the phone owners to shell out some cash for the full program. Truth be told, though, lots of people find very little use for them, or just find free apps that cover more or less the same functions. And, of course, there is the fact that these programs can never be truly uninstalled from a device, unless it is rooted, which further adds to the users' dismay. Thus – the rather unflattering name – "bloatware".

And why do carriers do that, you ask? Well, sponsorship is the answer – the best way for a developer to advertise their app is to have it pre-installed on brand new phones, and to have it reinstall itself if a device just so happens to be factory reset and re-sold on the second-hand market. For this, they pay the carriers. Understandable – business is business, but when your customers' user experience is threatened, things start going astray.

One would think that after all the griping from users, mobile providers would look for a solution, a sort of a happy medium. Nope, instead, we now hear about another service being employed by US carriers, which may get you a little bit angry.

It's provided by Digital Turbine and is called Ignite. What it does is, it not only allows carriers to install bloatware on new devices without requiring the help / approval of phone manufacturers, it will also let them install apps post-sale, via over-the-air updates. As opposed to regular bloatware, these post-sale installed apps will be user-removable... but – if you restart your device, DT Ignite will re-install them. Users report that their handsets did not even prompt them on whether they wish to install new apps – which would mean that Ignite bypasses Android's app security.

So far, it is known that this “service” is being employed by T-Mobile and Verizon, with the Ignite app being pushed to devices with an OTA update. If you wish to rid yourself of potentially unwanted app installs – go to Settings → Apps, and look for DT Ignite. If you have it, disable it (you can't uninstall it unless you are rooted – but we can't say we are surprised).



source: Android Authority, Reddit via Android Community