Bloatware took over this Galaxy S25 overnight. Here's the culprit and the fix.

That reply drew 351 upvotes. PUP stands for potentially unwanted program, and shovelware is the term for low-value apps bundled onto a device by whoever is paying to put them there.

The same app was doing this ten years ago

DT Ignite isn't new, and neither is the complaint. We covered it arriving on Verizon's Galaxy S7 through an update back in 2016, and the reaction then reads almost identically to the thread today.

On Verizon phones it tends to run alongside Verizon App Manager, and the recurring complaint is that both quietly switch themselves back on after a software update. Verizon publishes no support page explaining how to turn either one off, so most of what owners know comes from each other on the carrier's own community forum.

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If you're on an iPhone, none of this reaches you, because Apple doesn't let third parties install apps in the background. Pixel owners and anyone who bought their phone unlocked are mostly clear too, since this software ships inside the carrier's build rather than the manufacturer's.

What you can do about it on your own phone

The apps themselves uninstall normally, and Samsung documents how to disable preloaded apps on its own support pages. Stopping the next batch means finding what put them there first.

Here's how to find and disable the app installing things

1. Open Settings, tap Apps, then tap one of the apps you didn't install.
2. Scroll to the bottom of that page to see which store or service installed it.
3. Go back to Apps and turn on Show system apps, either from the three-dot menu or the filter icon depending on your phone.
4. Find Verizon App Manager and DT Ignite in the list, open each one and tap Disable.
5. Uninstall the unwanted apps the usual way, by holding the icon and tapping Uninstall.

There are two catches worth knowing about. The install source often still reads as Google Play even when it wasn't, and both apps tend to switch back on after the next update, so you may have to run through this again.

The carrier discount comes with a bill you don't see

There's a fair defense of this, and it gets made in the thread. Carriers subsidize phones heavily, and preinstalled apps are part of how that gets paid back.

Still, this isn't a setup screen you can decline once. It's software that keeps working months later, on a phone the owner already paid for, with no off switch that survives an update.

The honest workaround is buying unlocked, which costs real money rather than being a free tip. I'd rather see carriers turn this into a genuine opt-in, and I don't think that's much to ask in 2026.

• Our Galaxy S25 review covers how the phone holds up on its own merits.
• The Galaxy S26 Ultra review is worth a read if you're eyeing this year's flagship instead.
• Follow me @jojothetechie on X and Threads for hot takes and behind-the-scenes coverage.